When Otaru University of Commerce Prof. Shawn Clankie attended the 11th annual Japan Writers Conference in Tokyo last year, he was so impressed that he decided to host this year's version of the event at his university in Otaru, Hokkaido.
The Japan Writers Conference is a two-day gathering of English-language novelists, poets, journalists, educators and other writers held in a different part of Japan each year. Admission is free, with no registration required.
This year's event, scheduled for Oct. 13-14, is planned to go ahead despite Hokkaido's recent earthquake.
It will include about 36 presentations, most of them 50 minutes long, on topics ranging from indie publishing and fan fiction to writing textbooks and adapting novels for the screen. There will also be two longer workshops, one for poets and one for travel writers.
Presenters will include translator Juliet Winters Carpenter, picture-book author Holly Thompson, novelist Charles Kowalski and -- full disclosure -- Japan News Staff Writer Tom Baker.
Representatives of poetry publisher Isobar Press and literary journal The Font will present readings of some of their recent works.
"I was most impressed with the writers themselves," Clankie said of last year's event. "Such variety and such talent, from not only Japan, but also writers from as far away as Australia as well. This year's conference is the 12th, so clearly the organizers are doing something right."
The conference is organized by coordinators John Gribble, a poet whose books include "Ueno Mornings," and fiction writer Karen McGee, whose work was featured in the 2017 edition of "The Best American Mystery Stories."
McGee told The Japan News that "there are all levels of writers present, from people just considering their first writing project to experienced, prolific writers with long lists of published work."
In previous years, the event has been held in Kobe, Kyoto, Morioka, Naha and Tokushima as well as in Tokyo, but this will be its first stop in Hokkaido.
"Otaru is inspiring and intriguing and that should attract a lot of interest among writers," Clankie said in an email. He mentioned that the old seaside town has a long history in Japanese literature, and even boasts a literary museum.
Asked who should attend the conference, Clankie said: "Writers of all stripes (and future writers), readers, editors, clowns and jesters. Anyone interested in learning firsthand skills and tools of the trade from some of Japan's best English-language authors. Anyone thinking of writing that first novel, that first song, that first poem, and of course, students and the general public ... Come find out why Otaru has inspired so many."
Visit www.japanwritersconference.org/ for details.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
