Toshiko Hirata

Toshiko Hirata (b. 1955) is a Japanese poet, playwright, and novelist associated with the “women’s boom” in contemporary literature. These poems are from her collection Shinanoka (Shichōsha, 2004), which we are calling, in English, “Is It Poetry?” This book earned Hirata the Hagiwara Sakutarō Prize for poetry. 

  • A black and white photo of flowers entangled in barbed wire with a cityscape out of focus in the background
    Toshiko Hirata
    Photo: jamesjustin / Flickr Open House: Riverside Fujimi Town #103, two rooms with wooden flooring and a small finished basement. A ninety-eight-square-foot basement with no windows, no c...

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