David Mura (born 1952) is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
,
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
, novelist, playwright, critic and performance artist whose writings explore the themes of race, identity and history. In 2018, Mura has published a book on creative writing, ''A Stranger’s Journey: Race, Identity & Narrative Craft in Writing,'' in which he argues for a more inclusive and expansive definition of craft.
Mura has published two memoirs, ''Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei'', which won the Josephine Miles Book Award from the Oakland PEN and was listed in the New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and ''Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality and Identity'' (1995). His most recent book of poetry is ''The Last Incantation'' (2014); his other poetry books include ''After We Lost Our Way'', which won the National Poetry Contest, ''The Colors of Desire'' (winner of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award), and ''Angels for the Burning''. His novel is ''Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire'' (
Coffee House Press
Coffee House Press is a nonprofit independent press based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The press’s goal is to "produce books that celebrate imagination, innovation in the craft of writing, and the many authentic voices of the American experience ...
, 2008).
Mura communicates frequently through his social media accounts: blog.davidmura.com; @MuraDavid
Early life and education
David Mura was born in 1952 and grew up in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, the oldest of four children. He is a third generation
Japanese American
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
son of parents
interned
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. After the war, his father changed the family name "Uemura" to "Mura." His grandparents came to USA from Japan before the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
(1904).
Mura earned his B.A. from
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College.
Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-st ...
and his M.F.A. in creative writing from
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level art school in Montpelier, Vermont. It offers Master's degrees in low-residency and residential programs. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award winners, ...
. He has taught at the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
,
St. Olaf College,
The Loft Literary Center
The Loft Literary Center is a non-profit literary organization located in Minneapolis, Minnesota incorporated in 1975. The Loft is a large and comprehensive independent literary center, and offers a variety of writing classes, conferences, grants ...
, and the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
. He currently resides in
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
, Minnesota, with his wife Susan Sencer and their three children; Samantha, Nikko and Tomo.
Published works
Full-Length Poetry Collections
* ''The Last Incantations'' (
Northwestern University Press
Northwestern University Press is an American publishing house affiliated with Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It publishes 70 new titles each year in the areas of continental philosophy, poetry, Slavic and German literary criticism ...
, 2014)
* ''Angels for the Burning: Poems'' (
BOA Editions, Ltd., 2004)
* ''The Colors of Desire: Poems'' (
Anchor Books
Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was purchased by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Hous ...
, 1995)
* ''After We Lost Our Way'' (Dutton, 1989; Carnegie-Mellon Press, 1997 - 2nd Edition)
Novels
* ''Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire'' (Coffee House Press, 2008)
Memoirs/Nonfiction
* ''Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality and Identity'' (Anchor Books, 1995)
* ''Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei'' (
Atlantic Monthly Press
Grove Atlantic, Inc. is an American independent publisher, based in New York City. Formerly styled "Grove/Atlantic, Inc.", it was created in 1993 by the merger of Grove Press and Atlantic Monthly Press. As of 2018 Grove Atlantic calls itself "A ...
, 1991; Anchor Books, 1992;
Grove Press
Grove Press is an United States of America, American Imprint (trade name), publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it in ...
, 2005 - 3rd Edition)
* ''A Male Grief: Notes on Pornography and Addiction: An Essay'' (
Milkweed Editions
Milkweed Editions is an independent nonprofit literary publisher that originated from the ''Milkweed Chronicle'' literary and arts journal established in Minneapolis in 1979. The journal ceased and the business transitioned to publishing. It relea ...
, 1987; republished as an Amazon e-book 2010)
Literary Craft/Criticism
* ''Song for Uncle Tom, Tonto, and Mr. Moto: Poetry and Identity'' (
University of Michigan Press
The University of Michigan Press is part of Michigan Publishing at the University of Michigan Library. It publishes 170 new titles each year in the humanities and social sciences. Titles from the press have earned numerous awards, including L ...
, 2002)
* ''A Stranger’s Journey: Race, Identity & Narrative Craft in Writing'' (University of Georgia Press, 2018)
Films
*''Slowly, This''—written & featuring David Mura & Alexs Pate; dir. by Arthur Jafa; produced by the PBS Series ALIVE TV, 1995
*''Relocations''—written and performed by David Mura; directed by Mark Tang (four selections from the performance piece, ''Relocations: Images from a Sansei''), 1998
Awards and honors
His honors include two
NEA fellowships, the 1994 Lila Wallace-
Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
Writers Award (which includes a cash prize of $105,000), and a US/Japan Creative Artist Fellowship, two
Bush Foundation
The Bush Foundation was created in 1953 by Archibald Granville Bush an American businessman primarily involved with 3M and his wife, Edyth Bassler Bush. The organization awards $40 million a year to philanthropic organizations, primarily located ...
Fellowships, four Loft-McKnight Awards, several Minnesota State Arts Board grants, and a Discovery/The Nation Award. He has had his work published in literary journals and magazines including ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'', ''
The American Poetry Review
''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizabe ...
'', ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'', ''
The Missouri Review
''The Missouri Review'' is a literary magazine founded in 1978 by the University of Missouri. It publishes fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction quarterly. With its open submission policy, ''The Missouri Review'' receives 12,000 manuscripts ...
'', and ''
Crazyhorse''.
* 1994 Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers Award
* 1993 National Endowment for the Arts - Literature Fellowships
* 1988 National Poetry Series
The National Poetry Series > 1988 Winners
/ref>
* 1987 Discovery/The Nation Award
* 1985 National Endowment for the Arts - Literature Fellowships
* 1984 U.S. - Japan Creative Artist Fellowship
References
External links
* ttp://www.davidmura.com/ Author Website
Library of Congress Online Catalog > David Mura
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mura, David
American writers of Japanese descent
1952 births
Living people
Vermont College of Fine Arts alumni
Writers from Minneapolis
Writers from Chicago
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
American memoirists
American poets
American poets of Asian descent
American novelists of Asian descent
St. Olaf College faculty
University of Oregon faculty
University of Minnesota faculty
20th-century American poets
21st-century American poets
American male poets
American male essayists
20th-century American essayists
21st-century American essayists
PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
Novelists from Illinois
Novelists from Minnesota
Novelists from Oregon