Sawako Nakayasu-- yes--
was born in Yokohama, Japan, and has lived in the United States
since she was six.
She received her MFA from Brown University.
And she currently teaches at Bard College.
Her publications include Nothing Fictional but the Accuracy
or Arrangement (She, put out by Quale Press in 2005.
So We Have Been Given Time Or, her 2004 book,
put out by Verse.
Balconic, an e-book published by Duration Press.
And, Clutch: Hockey Love Letters, a chapbook
published by Tin Fish in 2002--
and multiple translations both online, and in print.
Nakayasu is an active participant in a wide variety
of creative endeavor.
In addition to publishing, she also
co-edits Factorial, a journal devoted
to collaborative writing and translations
of contemporary Japanese poetry.
Her work in other media includes the Open Poetry Studio,
a poetry installation performance, plays, and movies.
In her books, Nakayasu engages the postmodern wariness
of narrative and pushes it to its' limit.
Fragments that manage to be poignant,
humorous, and nuanced.
Parts which accumulate in the mind
of the reader, who assembles from them an emotional nucleus.
She attempts to introduce human experience
into the incantatory structures of language-based post-modern
tradition.
Creating a multitude of meanings,
and a sense of the familiar, out of the stalled language
by folding it in on itself.
What comes across most clearly is her love of play.
This is actually the thing that I ended up
appreciating the most.
Some poems appropriate the format of playwriting,
and then turn those theatrical dialoguing conventions
into definitions or commands.
Some call attention to their physicality.
Interlocking pieces staggered on opposing
pages ready to slip together, or create a commentary,
on their mirroring pages' white space.
Finally, I want to point out something
that I hope will shed light on her person, if not on her work.
Of all the filthy words in this world, her favorite is fuck.
I'm happy to introduce to you, Sawako Nayasaku.