The Poetry of Chuya Nakahara - (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"A landmark book that will redefine Nakahara's place on the international stage." --Paul Perry, novelist and poet

This definitive bilingual edition of Chuya Nakahara (1907-1937) brings the most dynamic voice in Japanese early Modernist poetry to English-language readers. Goat Songs and Songs of Bygone Days--the two volumes that Chuya prepared for publication during his brief lifetime--are presented in luminous translations by poet Christian Nagle that capture the music, formal integrity and soul of the original poems.

With an extensive biographical and critical introduction, foreword by leading Chuya scholar Mikiro Sasaki, rare archival photographs and informative notes, this volume offers an indispensable gateway to one of Japan's most brilliant writers.

With free online audio recordings of the poems in Japanese and English.

Review Quotes

"A poet who devoted his entire being to poetry." --Mikiro Sasaki, poet and editor of Chuya's complete works

"Chuya's poems echo in your ears and sink into your memory." --Ryozo Kato, former Ambassador of Japan to the United States

"Nagle combines fidelity to the Japanese text with a poet's ear, making Nakahara's voice feel as if it were written yesterday--urgent, musical, unforgettable. A landmark book that will redefine Nakahara's place on the international stage." --Paul Perry, Interational bestselling poet and novelist

About the Author

Chuya Nakahara (1907-1937) was the coddled eldest son of an army physician in western Honshu. When he was eight, the death of his brother Tsuguro spurred him to begin writing poetry. In Kyoto he encountered the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud and other French Symbolists, which he translated, and which profoundly influenced his own poetry. He soon moved to Tokyo and became active in literary circles. His first poetry collection, Goat Songs was published in 1932 but sold only fifty copies. His second collection, Songs of Bygone Days, was published in 1938, shortly after his death at age thirty from tuberculosis. His poems gained great acclaim after the war and were later published in a six-volume collection.

Christian Nagle, PhD, is a poet, musician and filmmaker. His award-winning work has appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, The Kenyon Review, Raritan, Subtropics, AGNI, and other leading publications. For more than two decades he has divided his time between Tokyo and Alexandria, Virginia, translating the poetry of Chuya Nakahara and co-directing The Brothers Murasaki film group, whose documentaries about Japanese culture include Carriers and Six Beats to Heaven.

Mikiro Sasaki is a poet and leading authority on Chuya Nakahara. He is the editor of Chuya's collected works and the author of Chuya Nakahara: The Music of Silence, as well as over ten volumes of poetry, essays and criticism.