ニッケイを見いだす：詩のコラム

「ニッケイを見いだす：詩のコラム」は、文化や歴史、個人的な体験をめぐるストーリーを、多様な文章表現を通して共有するニッケイ・コミュニティのためのスペースです。過去から今に至る歴史、儀式・祭事・伝統としての食、伝統の儀礼と前提、土地・場所・コミュニティ、愛など、歴史やルーツ、アイデンティティに関わるさまざまなテーマによる幅広い形式の詩をご紹介します。

この月刊コラムの編集者として、作家、パフォーマー、詩人のトレイシー・カトウ=キリヤマさんをお招きしました。毎月第三木曜日には、詩作を始めたばかりのシニアや若者から、出版歴を持つ全米各地の詩人まで、1～2名の作品を発表します。無数の相違や共通の経験の間で織りなされる、人々の声の交差が見いだされることを願っています。

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In memoriam...Jim Matsuoka

ジム・H・マツオカ , トレイシー・カトウ=キリヤマ
2022年11月17日

It is with my heaviest, yet most grateful heart that I present this poetic speech from our beloved Jim Matsuoka, who passed on towards the end of October. Jim meant so much to surely countless many and I am simply another person who benefited greatly from his presence in so many threads of my life.

He was a staunch supporter, attendee, and featured artist over literally all the years of Tuesday Night Cafe since its inception in February of 1999. He was a champion of my artistic work from my earliest days as a young poet, actor, and performance artist …

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Fruits of connection

ニキコ・マスモト , トレイシー・カトウ=キリヤマ
2022年10月20日

Happy autumn, all! This month we feature organic farmer, artist, and Yonsei Memory Project co-founder, Nikiko Masumoto with a delicious set of poetry that reaches us from soil nurtured through the generations and welcomes “city cousins..into a relationship with the land.”

Nikiko was asking questions when penning this piece—“What will happen to our farm if people don’t remember what a succulent peach tastes like, or perhaps someone has never tasted one at peak ripeness? How can I help nurture connections with other yonsei and gosei whose ancestors farmed in the same countryside that I get to call home?” In particular …

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An Unstoppable Fluttering

ケルシー・カワナ , トレイシー・カトウ=キリヤマ
2022年9月15日

Yonsei entrepreneur and writer Kelsey Kawana was introduced to me by kindred friend and artist Beau Sia, and I was honored to support them both in co-producing an upcoming short film, The Unreachable Star (more in Kelsey’s bio). It was such a delight to later come across her wonderful poetry and we’re excited to present a few pieces from her 2018 book, The Long Drive Home. The three pieces shared here give insight to her voice and what she is proclaiming to the world of herself, whispering to a former love, and witnessing from places of awe, love and …

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Explosión

ホセ・ナツハラ , トレイシー・カトウ=キリヤマ
2022年8月18日

Este mes, nuevamente con la ayuda de la mamá de mi pareja (una artista nikkei nacida y criada en Perú), llegué a apreciar este poema por su intensidad, escrito por el poeta nikkei radicado en Lima, Perú, José Natsuhara. Una fuerte imaginería abunda a lo largo de este poema, lleno de imágenes impresionantes, de lo cotidiano a una mayoría de edad sobrenatural... Un poema al ataque. Disfruten...

—traci kato-kiriyama

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José Natsuhara es un poeta nikkei de Lima, Perú, director de la plataforma de poesía y humanidades Tríada Primate. Es director de la Colección Total …

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Gnawing

W. トッド・カネコ , トレイシー・カトウ=キリヤマ
2022年7月21日

This month’s feature comes to us from Grand Rapids, Michigan, with selections from This Is How the Bone Sings, a poetry collection by Todd Kaneko. These pieces resonated at a gut level for me—they poke and prod, nudge and whack, muse and gnaw at our past through a present lens that is close, sometimes overwhelmingly close, to the ghosts, the land, the sentient cries. This beautiful writing points us toward Minidoka as much as it positions us firmly in the wonder of all places and people who have had to endure disappearance, silence, and reckoning. Enjoy...

— traci kato-kiriyama …