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Suzanne

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

I live in Tokushima, on the island of Shikoku. My first novel, LOSING KEI, which is mostly set here, will be published by Leapfrog Press in January. I'm also the editor of two anthologies - THE BROKEN BRIDGE: FICTION FROM EXPATRIATES IN LITERARY JAPAN - and LOVE YOU TO PIECES: CREATIVE WRITERS ON RAISING CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS which will be published by Beacon Press in the spring of 2008. Here's a little about the novel:"Suzanne Kamata has a gift for the thoughtful investigation of complicated subjects. With sensitivity and surety, she guides her readers on a journey through worlds both painfully familiar and utterly alien, always leading to surprising, sometimes poignant conclusions."—Andrea Buchanan, Author of Mother Shock A young mother fights impossible odds to be reunited with her child in this acutely insightful first novel about an inter-cultural marriage gone terribly wrong.Told with tenderness, humor, and an insider’s knowledge of Japanese family life Losing Kei is the debut novel of an exceptional expatriate voice.

My Interests

reading, writing, travel, disability issues, Deaf culture, sign language, music, movies, food, mermaids

Music:

U2, Sinead O'Connor, Angela Aki, Hootie & the Blowfish, Snow Patrol, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Tekameli, The Psychedelic Furs, Lila Downs, The Cure, alternative '80s stuff

Movies:

The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The English Patient, The King and I, Lost in Translation, The Year of Living Dangerously, Almost Famous, Dreamgirls, The Constant Gardener

Television:

Desperate Housewives, 24, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

Books:

Tender is the Night, The Great Gatsby, The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan, The English Patient, Green Tea to Go, All We Know of Heaven, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Marquis of Mooikloof, Writing Open the Mind, Accidents of Nature, What is the What? by Dave Eggers, Ash by Holly Thompson, anything by Chitra Divakaruni, Pam Houston, Lorrie Moore, Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Marge Piercy, Sherman Alexie, Peter Carey, Assia Djebar, Marguerite Duras, Julio Cortazar, Louise Erdrich, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Julia Alvarez, Josephine Humphreys, Alice Hoffman.

Heroes:

Jackie O, Grace Kelly, Helen Keller, Frida Kahlo, intrepid woman Victorian travelers, Sally Ride

My Blog

Love You to Pieces

My anthology Love Yot to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child With Special Needs, is about to go into production, although it won't be officially published until next June.  Over the past ...
Posted by Suzanne on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:57:00 PST

Losing Kids

My novel Losing Kei, is about an American woman who loses custody of her only son to her Japanese ex-husband.  As anyone who lives in Japan knows, the Japanese do not allow joint custody and oft...
Posted by Suzanne on Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:02:00 PST

expat women writers in Japan

This is the full text of an article that appeared in the June issue of Being A Broad magazine: Women Writers in Japan By Suzanne Kamata As a young aspiring writer, I imagined myself in a garret in Ne...
Posted by Suzanne on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 02:36:00 PST

Houston, We Have a Title!

I'm happy to report that we (meaning my editors at Beacon) have finally come up with a title for my anthology of literature on parenting disabled children.  My original title was However Green t...
Posted by Suzanne on Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:33:00 PST

Midori by Moonlight

Check out my interview with Wendy Tokunaga, the author of Midori by Moonlight.  The book features a Japanese heroine, something of a rarity in women's lit, and lots of yummy desserts!  ...
Posted by Suzanne on Sun, 15 Jul 2007 07:17:00 PST

my interview with Angela Aki

My interview with Angela Aki appears in the latest issue of http://www.river-f.com/angela/ magazine.
Posted by Suzanne on Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:34:00 PST

Japanese mothers-in-law - menacing or mild?

This is an article I wrote for the now defunct MAINICHI DAILY NEWS on Japanese mothers-in-law: Menacing Mothers-in-Law Turn Mild The Japanese mother-in-law looms large in popular imagination.  Ac...
Posted by Suzanne on Sun, 10 Jun 2007 02:30:00 PST

Movie of the Week - an essay

It's come to my attention that yet another book about the murder of Shari Smith has been published.  A long time ago, before there were books, I wrote this brief essay: Movie of the Week In the m...
Posted by Suzanne on Sun, 27 May 2007 06:19:00 PST

Losing Kei available for Pre-order!

Losing Kei is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com!  Hooray! Of course, it's best if you buy books from your local independent bookstore, but if you're stuck on an island in the Pacific li...
Posted by Suzanne on Thu, 17 May 2007 04:47:00 PST

Daruma

Daruma I'm all for rituals, so I decided I'd begin my next big writing project with one. I bought a papier mache daruma doll and colored in one eye, as per custom. Often, Japanese politicians colo...
Posted by Suzanne on Sun, 22 Apr 2007 05:36:00 PST