Poetry. Asian American Studies. Is there a relationship between the population density of Tokyo and the pinkest part of a hamburger? Can one touch the inside of a noun to learn the difference between one bicycle and a field of bicycles? How close is yellow to need? How far are human fears from the fears of insects? Through a sequence of prose investigations, directions, theoretical performances, and character sketches, Sawako Nakayasu's TEXTURE NOTES presses itself against everything. Here is a book of liminal cartography, where textures are percolated by thought and propelled by feeling, where intellectual frottage meets sunlight, moonlight, the pain of seeing something beautiful and an entire town enamored by a simple rock. Once again, Nakayasu's writing explodes with genre-bending fury and fine-tuned improvisation, leaving in its wake a largess of feeling for the things of the world.

Author City: SAN FRANCISCO, CA USA

Sawako Nakayasu was born in Japan and has lived mostly in the US since the age of six. She is the author of SO WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN TIME OR (2004), NOTHING FICTIONAL BUT THE ACCURACY OR ARRANGEMENT (SHE (2005), and TEXTURE NOTES (2009). Translations include FOUR FROM JAPAN: CONTEMPORARY POETRY & ESSAYS BY WOMEN (2006), To the Vast Blooming Sky by Sagawa (2007), and For the Fighting Spirit of the Walnut by Hiraide (2008). Her own poetry has been translated into Japanese, Swedish, Arabic, Chinese, and Vietnamese. She holds an MFA from Brown University and has received grants from the NEA and PEN for translating Japanese poetry.

Reviews and Other Links
Kevin Killian @ Third Factory
Karen An-hwei Lee @ CutBank
author site
Brian Henry @ Verse
Daniela Olszewska @ H_NGM_N