Karen Tei Yamashita is a Japanese American writer and Associate Professor of Literature at University of California, Santa Cruz

University of California, Santa Cruz

The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...

, where she teaches creative writing and Asian American literature

Asian American literature

Although immigrants from Asia and Americans of Asian descent have been writing in the United States since the 19th century, Asian American literature as a category of writing only came into existence in the early 1970s...

. Her works, several of which contain elements of magic realism

Magic realism

Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...

, include novels I Hotel (2010), Circle K Cycles (2001), Tropic of Orange (1997), Brazil-Maru (1992), and Through the Arc of the Rain Forest

Through the Arc of the Rain Forest

Through the Arc of the Rain Forest is a novel by Japanese-American author Karen Tei Yamashita. The novel follows several characters over the course of several years - including a man who discovers the healing properties of feathers, a pilgrim named Chico Paco, pigeon caretakers and the three-armed...

(1990). Tei Yamashita's novels emphasize the necessity of polyglot, multicultural communities in an increasingly globalized age, even as they destabilize orthodox notions of borders and national/ethnic identity.

She has also written a number of plays, including Hannah Kusoh, Noh Bozos and O-Men which was produced by the Asian American theatre

Asian American theatre

Asian American theater is theater written, directed or acted by Asian Americans.- Background :Asian American theater emerged in the 1960s and the 1970s with the foundation of four theatre companies: East West Players in Los Angeles, Asian American Theatre Workshop in San Francisco, Theatrical...

 group, East West Players

East West Players

East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As one of the nation's first Asian American theatre organizations, East West Players today continues to produce works and educational programs that give voice to the Asian Pacific American...

.

Yamashita is a finalist for the 2010 National Book Award.

Selected Writings

• Through the Arc of the Rain Forest
  Through the Arc of the Rain Forest
  Through the Arc of the Rain Forest is a novel by Japanese-American author Karen Tei Yamashita. The novel follows several characters over the course of several years - including a man who discovers the healing properties of feathers, a pilgrim named Chico Paco, pigeon caretakers and the three-armed...
  
  (1990)
• Brazil-Maru (1992)
• Tropic of Orange (1997)
• Circle K Cycles (2001)
• I Hotel (2010)

Sources and Further Reading

Gier, Jean Vengua and Carla Alicia Tejeda. "An Interview with Karen Tei Yamashita." Jouvert: Journal of Postcolonial Studies. 1998. Accessed 29 Mar. 2006. http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/Jouvert/v2i2/yamashi.htm

Murashige Michael. "Karen Tei Yamashita." Textbook Site for the Heath Anthology of American Literature. Accessed 29 Mar. 2006. http://college.hmco.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/students/author_pages/contemporary/yamashita_ka.html

V.G. Artist Biography. "Karen Tei Yamashita." Accessed 29 Mar. 2006.
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/yamashita_karen_tei.html - Includes a list of critical work on the author and additional biographical details

Cheng, Wendy. "Karen Tei Yamashita: A Twist on the Mix." http://www.loggernaut.org/interviews/karenteiyamashita/ - A long interview from 2005 at the journal Loggernaut

Loggernaut

Loggernaut Reading Series is a reading series in Portland, Oregon founded in 2005. Each reading features three readers and a prompt to which they respond....

. Accessed 3 July 2006.

Covella, Linda. "UC Santa Cruz Professor Announced as National Book Award Finalist" http://santacruz.patch.com/articles/uc-santa-cruz-professor-announced-as-national-book-award-finalist