Butterflies and Poetry

Chiyo Kitahara in silhouette art

I am very proud that several of my photo artwork inspired by silhouette cutting and Japanese sumi-e have been selected by the renowned Japanese artist Koji Ise. He worked for the literary essayist Atsuko Suga (1929–1998), and in these days designs e.g. the covers of the poetry books by Chiyo Kitahara.

Mrs. Kitahara is a noted Japanese poetess who was awarded the 67. Mr H. prize. Her latest book, “Suga Atsuko san e okuru hanataba” (“Bouquet sent to Atsuko Suga“), is an essay collection dedicated to the multicultural writer and leading translator of Japanese literature into Italian. Atsuko Suga went to Europe in the 1950s for her studies. One of her main ideas was that intercultural barriers can be overcome by respect for cultural identities and acknowledgement of differences.

Read more about Chiyo Kitahara here, and also visit an exhibition on her poetry here.

If your are interested in contemporary Japanese poetry, you might enjoy “Duet of Water. For this poetry book, published in 2018, the poetesses Donatella Bisutti (Italy) and Chiyo Kitahara (Japan) bridge the language gap and open up soul worlds. Using images of water, they skilfully tell about change, love and passion. All poems are presented in their original language and an English translation.

Here are some photos of Mrs. Kitahara’s beautifully designed books:

Cover for ‘A River of pearls – Barroco’ (left) and ‘Bouquet send to Atsuko Suga’ (right)

 

Don’t forget to lift the cover.