Forest of Eyes:Selected Poems of Tada Chimako

"Tada Chimako was one of the few overtly intellectual modern Japanese poets, but she donned her erudition with lightness and humor. She was also one of the few who went beyond the realm of "free verse" and tried the traditional forms of tanka and haiku, even occasionally using rhymes. Jeffrey Angles brings across Tada's distinct voice and approach with elegance and skill in his translations, making her poems come alive."--Hiroaki Sato

"Marvelous. An important introduction to modern Japanese literature for the English-reading world."--Liza Dalby, author of Geisha

"Up until now, a few translations in scattered sources have suggested something of the range and depth of the poetry of Tada Chimako; now, this new and extensive collection of translations by Jeffrey Angles reveals an astonishing talent, confirming for readers everywhere the respect and admiration which Japanese readers have long felt for this body of work. Hers is a poetry of that possesses a virtual tactile energy, moving across time and space, absorbed in nature, glancing at the literary heritage of the world (in particularly those of Japan, China, France, and ancient Greece), as well experimenting with literary form (modern verse, tanka, and haiku). All this is accomplished with an astonishing grace and a spiritual fastidiousness, as serene as a mathematic equation. In these limpid and elegant translations, Mr. Angles proves himself at the forefront of his generation in his skill at gently and firmly moving this elegant poetry from one language to another. With this collection, postwar Japanese poetry seems suddenly, wonderfully, different, and truly enriched."--J. Thomas Rimer, co-editor, The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature

The writing of Tada Chimako (1930-2003) is crucial to understanding modern Japanese poetry although her work is situated outside the poetic mainstream. A solitary visionary, Tada is uniquely admired in Japan for her poems, essays, and translations. Withdrawing to Kobe after the publication of her first collection, she spent most of her life close to nature, far from Tokyo, Japan's literary epicenter. Writing poetry in both traditional Japanese forms and Western free verse and prose poetry, Tada is known as a poet of intellect and erudition but also as one of sensuality and emotion. Jeffrey Angles is Associate Professor at Western Michigan University. He is coeditor, with J. Thomas Rimer, of Japan: A Traveler's Literary Companion. He has won translation grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the PEN Club of America.