Guest Lecture with Jeffrey Angles

 みんなさんこんにちは！

Yesterday, I attended a lecture by Jeffrey Angles. It was a fairly long walk to the Jenkins Nanovic building, but it was more than worth it to hear Mr. Angles talk about his experiences learning Japanese and translating Japanese works into English. I was impressed by how fluent speaker Mr. Angles was. His poetry was awarded the Yomiuri Prize, a prestigious literary honor usually only given to native Japanese authors, and he spoke Japanese with the speed and fluidity of a native speaker.

Mr. Angles in his home office (source: Margaret DeRitter)

One of the things that surprised me most about the lecture was that I'd read some of Mr. Angles's work before. I checked out Writing the Love of Boys from the Hesburgh library in September and couldn't put it down. I was captivated by the lives of the three authors covered, especially Edogawa Ranpo, and how they translated their experiences with male love and friendship into their work.

I was also surprised by the types of works Mr. Angles chose to translate. He told us about Ito Hiromi, a poet who writes about the underrepresented sides of womanhood, such as menstruation and childbirth. I'd like to read more of her work, especially since her poem "The Maltreatment of Meaning" resonated with me as someone who struggles to articulate themselves verbally in their second language. I'm also very interested in purchasing Mr. Angles's translation of the two original Godzilla novels once it's released later this year.

Hearing Mr. Angles's speak inspired me to get back into writing. I haven't felt like I've had any time or ideas to work on fiction since school started, but the way he described his writing made me miss the accomplishment I got from creative writing. I'm very thankful I had the opportunity to see him in person and talk about his work.

よむでありがとう！