Literature / Art / Japan
56 Pages, Accordion-Boxed
ISBN: 1-59766-015-9
Cloth: $30.00
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Distant Rain records a conversation between the eloquent American poet Tess Gallagher and the renowned Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakuchō Setouchi that took place in 1990 at Jakuan, Jakuchō Setouchi’s home temple, in Sagano, Japan. It is a frank and, at times, humorous exchange, during the course of which Gallagher talks about the death of her husband, Raymond Carver, and Setouchi speaks of the loss of her lover. The two women trade observations about love and loss and about the role of writing in coping with grief. Their words, reproduced in both English and Japanese, unfold accordion-style across the striking wood-block and stencil prints of artist Keiko Hara, in an intricate masterpiece of book design. The book is complemented by the exquisite lettering of typographer Maki Yamashita and the influence of master bookbinder Atsuo Ikuta. Distant Rain is not only a moving tribute to love, but a stunning example of the art of book design.
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Tess Gallagher is the author of Dear Ghosts, her recently released collection of poetry from Graywolf Press. Her honors include the Maxine Cushing Gray Foundation Award, the Elliston Award, and a Guggenheim fellowship.
(For a listing of Tess Gallagher's upcoming readings and appearances, please click HERE.)
The popular and prolific novelist Jakuchō Setouchi recently completed a contemporary rendition of The Tale of Genji, in ten volumes, that has sold over 2.3 million copies in Japan.
Keiko Hara is a well-known painter, printmaker, book artist, and a former professor of art at Whitman College, in Walla Walla, Washington. |
