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Paper short abstract

This study focuses on Hajime Kijima, who participated in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in the 1970s, and Kenji Nakagami, who attended in the 1980s. Drawing on archival research conducted at the University of Iowa, it examines their experiences in Iowa and the influence on their literary development.

Paper long abstract

Drawing on primary materials collected through archival research in the Special Collections of the University of Iowa Libraries, this study examines the experiences of Japanese writers who participated in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and considers how their encounters in Iowa influenced the development of Japanese literature. By focusing on two authors from different generations—Hajime Kijima and Kenji Nakagami—the presentation highlights the contrasting ways in which Japanese writers engaged with the Workshop and the broader cultural environment of Iowa.

Hajime Kijima, a central figure in “the postwar poetry movement” of the 1950s, attended the Workshop in 1972–73. His participation served as a crucial catalyst for the publication of "The Poetry of Postwar" (1975) Japan, an English-language anthology introducing Japan’s “postwar poetry”, issued by the University of Iowa Press. Extensive archival materials—including correspondence with Paul Engle, then director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop—reveal the complex intentions, negotiations, and institutional dynamics that shaped the publication process. These documents demonstrate that the anthology emerged not simply from literary enthusiasm but from a convergence of cultural diplomacy, institutional interests, and personal networks that positioned Kijima as a mediator of Japanese poetry abroad.

A decade later, Kenji Nakagami—who became the first postwar-born recipient of the Akutagawa Prize and a major literary presence in the 1980s—joined the Workshop. Unlike Kijima, Nakagami actively sought interaction with other participants. During his stay, he engaged extensively with writers from Europe, Africa, and especially Asia, cultivating sustained cross-cultural exchanges. The interviews he conducted with these participants were later compiled into a book and published in Japan. His activities in Iowa thus reveal a markedly different mode of engagement, one shaped by his position within the Japanese literary establishment and his interest in developing new forms of dialogue with international writers.

By comparing these two Iowa experiences, this presentation examines how the Iowa Writers’ Workshop functioned as a site of encounter for Japanese writers and explores the broader impact of such encounters on the development, translation, and international dialogue surrounding modern Japanese literature.