Lawson Fusao Inada (born May 26, 1938) is a
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 ...
poet. He was the fifth
poet laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
of the state of
Oregon.
Early life
Born May 26, 1938, Inada 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 ...
(''
Sansei''). His father, Fusaji, worked as a dentist, while his mother, Masako, helped run the family fish market in Fresno's Chinatown.
In May 1942, at the age of three years, Inada and his family were
interned for the duration of
World War II at camps in
Fresno,
the
Jerome War Relocation Center in Arkansas,
and
Granada War Relocation Center in Colorado.
After the war, the Inadas returned to Fresno and once again ran the fish market, having trusted the business to family friends who operated it on their behalf during their confinement.
[
]
Jazz influences
Following the war, Inada became a jazz musician, a bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low br ...
, following the work of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...
, to whom he would later write tributes in his works.[ Inada cites jazz and his time in the internment camps as his chief influences as a poet.] He studied writing at the Fresno State University, the University of Oregon, and the University of Iowa.
Career highlights
Inada's first teaching job was at the University of New Hampshire, from 1962 to 1965. He moved to Oregon and earned an MFA from the University of Oregon in 1966, beginning teaching poetry at Southern Oregon University
Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...
later that year.[
In 1994, Inada's ''Legends from Camp'' won an ]American Book Award
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
, and he has received several poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
.[ He also won the 1997 Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry.
In 2006 Inada was named Oregon's fifth poet laureate, the first person to fill the position since William Stafford in 1990.] He was succeeded by Paulann Petersen in 2010.
Select works
* ''Three Northwest Poets: Drake, Inada, Lawder, Madison'': Quixote Press, 1970.
* ''Before the War; Poems as They Happened'', New York: Morrow, 1971.
* '' Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers'', Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1974 (Coeditor).
* ''The Buddha Bandits Down Highway 99'', Mountain View: Buddhahead Press, 1978 (With Garrett Kaoru Hongo and Alan Chong Lau).
* ''The Big Aiiieeeee!: An Anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature'', New York: Penguin, 1990 (Coeditor).
* ''Legends From Camp'', Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1993. Winner, American Book Award. Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Award for Poetry.
* ''In This Great Land of Freedom: The Japanese Pioneers of Oregon'', Los Angeles: Japanese American National Museum, 1993 (Contributor).
* ''Touching the Stones: Tracing One Hundred Years of Japanese American History'', Portland: Oregon Nikkei Endowment, 1994 (Contributor).
* ''Just Intonations'', Ashland, Oregon: Graven Images Gallery Press, 1996.
* ''Drawing the Line'', Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1997. Winner, Oregon Book Award for Poetry. A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age.
* ''Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience'', Berkeley: Heyday Books
Heyday is an independent nonprofit publisher based in Berkeley, California.
Heyday was founded by Malcolm Margolin in 1974 when he wrote, typeset, designed, and distributed ''The East Bay Out'', a guide to the natural history of the hills and ba ...
, 2000 (Editor and author of introduction).
* ''Unfinished Message: Selected Works of Toshio Mori'', Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2000 (Author of introduction).
* ''A Matter of Conscience: Essays on the World War II Heart Mountain Draft Resistance Movement.'' Powell, Wyoming: Western History Publications, 2002 (Contributor).
See also
* List of Asian American writers
This is a list of Asian American writers, authors, and poets who have Wikipedia pages. Their works are considered part of Asian American literature.
A-D
* Ai
* Shaila Abdullah
* Aria Aber
* George Abraham
* Jessica Abughattas
* Dilruba Ahme ...
* Japanese American Internment
* Japanese American Historical Plaza, Portland
Notes
References
* Leonard, George. (1999)
''The Asian Pacific American Heritage: A Companion to Literature and Arts.''
London: Taylor & Francis. ; 10_ISBN 978-0-8153-2980-0
* Niiya, Brian. (1993)
''Japanese American History: An A-to-Z Reference from 1868 to the Present.''
New York: Facts on File; Bonn: Verlag für die Deutsche Wirtschaft AG.
OCLC: 26853950
External links
* PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
"Oregon Laureate Reflects on Japanese Internment,"
NewsHour. October 3, 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inada, Lawson Fusao
1938 births
Living people
Writers from Fresno, California
American writers of Japanese descent
Japanese-American internees
Southern Oregon University faculty
Writers from Ashland, Oregon
American poets
American poets of Asian descent
Poets Laureate of Oregon
American Book Award winners