Before the wave of “New Narrative” swept the west coast with its confessional-styled prose, the Shishosetsu (also known as Watakushi Shosetusu or I-novel) emerged in the early part of the 20th century in Japan. The genre is distinguished by self-revealing narrative with the author as the central character, allowing for the author to enter their narrative on an intimate level. Curator Leanne Dunic selected Sally Ito (Manitoba), Lydia Kwa (British Columbia), and Marie Mutsuki Mockett (New York) to interpret the shishosetsu while considering the theme of this year’s festival: Roots. Each author has written a new piece adapted into a limited edition chapbook available at the Festival (at the PSFS merch booth and at reading). Excerpts from these chapbooks are featured in Ricepaper magazine. Come listen to readings with a Q&A session.
Leanne Dunic is a multi-disciplinary artist and a writer of music, poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. She is a graduate of SFU’s The Writer’s Studio, where she focused on poetry and lyric prose. She is currently a mentor at SFU’s Southbank Writers’ Program, and the singer/guitarist of the band Luck Commander. More info ›
The Colours of Heroines was Lydia Kwa’s first book of poetry, followed by three novels: This Place Called Absence, The Walking Boy and Pulse. sinuous is her latest book-length poem . She has self-published an unbound art/chapbook called linguistic tantrums. She is currently working on the prequel to The Walking Boy. More info ›
Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s memoir, Where the Dead Pause: A Journey with Japanese Spirits (to be published in March 2015), examines grief against the backdrop of the 2011 Great East Earthquake and Mockett’s family temple, located 25 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power reactor. Mockett’s awards include a Fellowship from the US/Japan Creative Artist Fellowship, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. More info ›
Sally Ito is a writer, translator, teacher and editor who lives in Winnipeg. Her most recent book is Alert to Glory, published in 2011 by Turnstone Press. More info ›
