62 min listen
Hiromi Ito, "Tree Spirits Grass Spirits" (Nightboat Books, 2023)
Hiromi Ito, "Tree Spirits Grass Spirits" (Nightboat Books, 2023)
ratings:
Length:
50 minutes
Released:
Apr 28, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
A collected series of intertwined poetic essays written by acclaimed Japanese poet Hiromi Ito--part nature writing, part travelogue, part existential philosophy. Written between April 2012 and November 2013, Tree Spirits Grass Spirits (Nightboat Books, 2023) adopts a non-linear narrative flow that mimics the growth of plants, and can be read as a companion piece to Ito's beloved poem "Wild Grass on the Riverbank". Rather than the vertiginously violent poetics of the latter, Tree Spirits Grass Spirits serves as what we might call a phyto-autobiography: a recounting of one's life through the logic of flora. Ito's graciously potent and philosophical prose examines immigration, language, gender, care work, and death, all through her close (indeed, at times obsessive) attention to plant life.
For a better understanding of this collection and the author, the following books are recommended by translator Dr. Jon Pitt:
Hiromi Ito - Wild Grass on the Riverbank
Hiromi Ito - The Thorn Puller
Robin Wall Kimmerer - Braiding Sweetgrass
Hope Jahren - Lab Girl
Jeanie Shinozuka - Biotic Borders
Banu Subrahmaniam - Ghost Stories for Darwin
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
For a better understanding of this collection and the author, the following books are recommended by translator Dr. Jon Pitt:
Hiromi Ito - Wild Grass on the Riverbank
Hiromi Ito - The Thorn Puller
Robin Wall Kimmerer - Braiding Sweetgrass
Hope Jahren - Lab Girl
Jeanie Shinozuka - Biotic Borders
Banu Subrahmaniam - Ghost Stories for Darwin
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
Released:
Apr 28, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
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