Kerri Sakamoto
Encyclopedia
Kerri Sakamoto is a Canadian
novelist. Her novels commonly deal with the experience of Japanese Canadians.
Sakamoto's debut novel
, The Electrical Field (1998), won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book. It also won the Canada-Japan Literary Award and was a finalist for a Governor General’s Award
. Her second novel, One Hundred Million Hearts, was published in 2003. Both books have been published in translation internationally. She is presently at work on a third novel for which she received a Chalmers Fellowship. Sakamoto has given talks and readings and has participated in literary festivals in Canada, the United States
, Europe
and Asia
.
Sakamoto is also known as a writer of screenplays and essays on visual art. She co-wrote (with director Rea Tajiri
) the screenplay to the 1997 film, Strawberry Fields. She often collaborates with filmmakers as story editor or script editor on narrative, experimental and experimental documentary works. She has also written on visual art for museums and galleries in Canada and the United States, such as the Walter Phillips Gallery at the Banff Fine Arts Centre, the Whitney Museum of American Art
, and the Honolulu Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2004, she contributed a catalogue essay on the work of Painters Eleven abstract expressionist Kazuo Nakamura
for an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario
.
In 2005, Sakamoto was appointed the Barker Fairly Distinguished Visitor at the University of Toronto
, and a member of the Toronto Arts Council in 2007.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
novelist. Her novels commonly deal with the experience of Japanese Canadians.
Sakamoto's debut novel
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...
, The Electrical Field (1998), won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book. It also won the Canada-Japan Literary Award and was a finalist for a Governor General’s Award
1998 Governor General's Awards
The winners of the 1998 Governor General's Literary Awards were announced by Jean-Louis Roux, Chairman, and Shirley L. Thomson, Director of the Canada Council for the Arts on November 17 in Ottawa...
. Her second novel, One Hundred Million Hearts, was published in 2003. Both books have been published in translation internationally. She is presently at work on a third novel for which she received a Chalmers Fellowship. Sakamoto has given talks and readings and has participated in literary festivals in Canada, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
Sakamoto is also known as a writer of screenplays and essays on visual art. She co-wrote (with director Rea Tajiri
Rea Tajiri
Rea Tajiri is a Japanese American video artist and filmmaker.She was born in Chicago, Illinois. Tajiri attended California Institute of the Arts and worked as a producer on various film and video projects in Los Angeles and New York....
) the screenplay to the 1997 film, Strawberry Fields. She often collaborates with filmmakers as story editor or script editor on narrative, experimental and experimental documentary works. She has also written on visual art for museums and galleries in Canada and the United States, such as the Walter Phillips Gallery at the Banff Fine Arts Centre, the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, and the Honolulu Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2004, she contributed a catalogue essay on the work of Painters Eleven abstract expressionist Kazuo Nakamura
Kazuo Nakamura
Kazuo Nakamura was a Japanese-Canadian painter and sculptor and a founding member of the Toronto-based Painters Eleven group in the 1950s.-Life:...
for an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Gallery of Ontario
Under the direction of its CEO Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO embarked on a $254 million redevelopment plan by architect Frank Gehry in 2004, called Transformation AGO. The new addition would require demolition of the 1992 Post-Modernist wing by Barton Myers and Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg...
.
In 2005, Sakamoto was appointed the Barker Fairly Distinguished Visitor at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, and a member of the Toronto Arts Council in 2007.
External links
- One Hundred Million Hearts - book review