Articles

On Wakame and Bicultural Fiction for Children

by Avery Udagawa

SWET core member and regional advisor of the Japan chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Holly Thompson has lived in the Kamakura-Yokohama area since 1998 and teaches poetry and fiction writing at Yokohama City University. She is the author of the novel Ash (Stone Bridge Press, 2001)... more

Writing and Publishing Fiction

by Dianne Highbridge

The first words I have here in my notes are: “No one reads fiction any more.”

In the world we live in, we are surrounded by stories. We consume stories. You look at the newspaper, turn on the TV, and there are stories, stories—some of them so outrageous that you wonder why you bother to write fiction at all.... more

Nurturing Literature in Translation

by Ginny Tapley • Interview with Chad W. Post  Among initiatives aimed at stimulating interest in the English-speaking world for reading literature in translation is the work of Dalkey Archive Press and Reading the World. SWET interviewed Chad W. Post, who has been active in both these initiatives and whose career is devoted to encouraging translation and international literature. (This is the full... more

For the Sake of a Book

by George Bourdaniotis and Richard Sadowsky

On September 10, 2006, Philip Harper, then chief sake brewer at Daimon Shuzō (aka Sakahan) in Katano, east Osaka, explained the intricacies of sake brewing and talked about his new book, The Book of Sake (Kodansha International, 2006) to SWET Kansai members. Color photos of the brewery tour are... more

Editorial Insights: The Book of Sake

by Barry Lancet

SWET asked Barry Lancet of Kodansha International, to recall the experience of working with Philip Harper on The Book of Sake, featured in the SWET Newsletter article here. His account offers an insider’s insights on how a book is born and reared and a glimpse of the hard work as well as enjoyment involved.

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Translation and Editing

by Lynne E. Riggs

On average, an editor (if he or she cares at all about the book) must spend two to three times as much time working on a translation than on a book originally written in English; most editors I know have argued, at one time or another, that they—rather than the translator—have translated the book, given how much... more