14 February 2012, 2:00 – 4:00pm
Daiwa Foundation Japan House
Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
Hans Brinckmann, author of The Undying Day: Poems by Hans Brinckmann, will be reading a selection of his poems followed by translations by Hiromi Mizoguchi. After the reading, there will be a discussion on the writing and translation of poetry.
Brinckmann’s book The Undying Day: Poems by Hans Brinckmann, contains a selection of poems written over the past half-century. Only a few of them have a Japanese theme, but with the Japanese market in mind, the book shows the poems side by side with Japanese translations by Hiromi Mizoguchi.
Unconstrained by locale or subject matter, Brinckmann’s lines illuminate the marvel of love and ponder life’s irretrievable losses. He is no stranger to whimsy either, nor to the search for life’s ultimate meaning.
The book, The Undying Day: Poems by Hans Brinckmann, will be available to purchase on the day, as well as Brinckmann’s latest book of fiction, The Tomb in the Kyoto Hills.
Hans Brinckmann
Hans Brinckmann, born in The Hague, joined an international Dutch bank after graduating from high school in 1950. The following year, he was transferred to Japan, where he lived for the next 24 years. In 1986 he was made him an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau for cultural and business accomplishments in Japan and the USA. He left banking early and turned to writing in Amsterdam, London and Sydney before settling again in Japan in 2003. His publications since then include: The Magatama Doodle, a Japan memoir (2005); Noon Elusive, a collection of short stories (2006); Showa Japan, a history of post-war Japan (2008); and The Tomb in the Kyoto Hills (2011).
Hiromi Mizoguchi
Hiromi Mizoguchi is a translator, born in Tokyo. Mizoguchi obtained an MA from the Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University. Her translation work includes the Japanese versions of The Magatama Doodle and Showa Japan.
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