Book record
Sea, Land, Shadow
Kazuko Shiraishi
Translated from Japanese by Yumiko Tsumura
Sea, Land, Shadow, by Kazuko Shiraishi and translated by Yumiko Tsumura, carries a title that already feels elemental: three zones of perception, three kinds of surface, three ways of losing the body into the world. Shiraishi is often associated with jazz-inflected modern Japanese poetry, and this book feels like an invitation to listen for movement rather than simply follow argument. I would read it as work that lets image and rhythm talk to each other across the page. The sea gives scale, the land gives ground, and the shadow gives that necessary uncertainty poetry is so good at preserving. Tsumura’s translation brings this Japanese lyric energy into English without needing to over-explain it. This seems ideal for readers who want modern poetry with atmosphere, music, and drift.
- Published
- 2017
- Publisher
- New Directions
- Language
- Japanese
- Country
- Japan
- ISBN
- 9780811226950