Alice Major and Yukari Meldrum have just published their translation of 24 poems by the beloved Japanese author, Misuzu Kaneko.

The story of Misuzu’s short, tragic life is the backdrop to these poems, written a century ago. They are poems for children — wise, observant children, who may be occasionally and quietly rebellious but are conscious (in a very Japanese way) of the duty not to burden others –flowers that do not want to make a bee feel badly by shedding a tear-like drop of dew. They are children who empathize with the whale-child whose parents have been caught by fishermen. They notice the dreamy light on roof-tops. 

As Alice writes in her notes about translating from a totally unfamiliar language, “I simply brought my own experience of poetry in English to help. It was a privilege to do so. In that process, this small collection of translated poems became, for me, a glimpse through a window, beckoning.”

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