Jean Gordon Kocienda Brings GIRL IN A BOX to Haiku In the Garden to Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross, CA
Join Jean Gordon Kocienda on May 8 at 3 pm in the lovely garden among the flowers for a poetry workshop and short lecture on Japanese tanka poetry and the bohemian lives of early twentieth century Japanese poets. This event is typically held outside with lemon water on hand. Jean will read from her new novel Girl in a Box and will sign copies.
About Girl in a Box:
The tangled life of the Japanese poet Yosano Akiko
In early twentieth century, Japan, women have few rights. Yet one precocious poet—a brooding daughter, locked in her room at night by protective parents—runs away from home to live a life of her choosing . She falls in love with a fellow poet and follows him across Siberia to Paris, where they witness the last days of the Belle Êpoque. She perseveres through poverty, back-to-back pregnancies, infidelity, earthquake, and fire, to become a name every Japanese schoolchild knows today as a pioneering feminist poet and the first person to translate the classical Tale of Genji into modern Japanese. In her single-minded dedication to her art, she inflicts wounds on a daughter that echo from her own childhood. She sets out to make amends, knowing it may be too late. Based on the life of poet Yosano Akiko (1878-1942) and filled with original translations of her poetry, Girl in a Box will ignite the discussion about the female artist’s challenge to create while juggling family, career, and personal freedom. Historical fiction at its best.
About Jean Gordon Kocienda:
A former intelligence officer and Silicon Valley geopolitical analyst, Jean Gordon Kocienda is now focused on writing and volunteering with refugee families in the Bay Area. Jean holds a B.A. in English Literature (Colgate University) and M.A. in International Affairs (George Washington University). Currently nestled in the redwoods of Marin County with her husband and cats, she has lived in Japan and speaks Japanese. She is Vice President of the California Writers Club Marin Chapter.
