American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 15 (1994) Winner
Lawson Fusao Inada
いなだ ふさお
Inada Fusao
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1938-05-26 （Fresno, California, United States）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Fresno, California → Oregon (Portland / Ashland region)
Career
- Occupations
- poet, educator, editor
- Active Years
- 1962-
- Affiliations
- University of New Hampshire (faculty), Southern Oregon University (faculty), Oregon Poet Laureate (state appointment)
- Influenced By
- Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Japanese American internment experience
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California State University, Fresno | — | Writing / English | — | — | United States |
| University of Oregon | Graduate school | Creative writing (MFA) | MFA | — | United States |
| University of Iowa | — | Attended writing programs | — | — | United States |
California State University, Fresno
Writing / English
Country:
United States
Studied writing (undergraduate studies)
University of Oregon
Graduate school
/ Creative writing (MFA)
Degree:
MFA
Year of Graduation:
1966
Country:
United States
Received MFA in 1966
University of Iowa
Attended writing programs
Country:
United States
Studied writing at University of Iowa; degree details unclear
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | American Book Award | Legends From Camp | — | Before Columbus Foundation | Winner |
| 1997 | Oregon Book Award (Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry) | Drawing the Line | 詩 | Oregon literary community / awarding body | Winner |
| 2006 | Poet Laureate of Oregon | — | — | State of Oregon | 任命 |
| — | National Endowment for the Arts fellowships | — | — | National Endowment for the Arts | Fellowship(s) |
American Book Award
1994
Work:
Legends From Camp
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation
Result:
Winner
Oregon Book Award (Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry)
1997
Work:
Drawing the Line
Category:
詩
Organization:
Oregon literary community / awarding body
Result:
Winner
Poet Laureate of Oregon
2006
Organization:
State of Oregon
Result:
任命
National Endowment for the Arts fellowships
Organization:
National Endowment for the Arts
Result:
Fellowship(s)
Awards & Nominations
Oregon Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 11 (1997) Winner
Works
Major Works
Three Northwest Poets: Drake, Inada, Lawder, Madison
1970 poetry / anthologyA collaborative volume featuring poets of the Northwest region.
regionalismcollaboration
Before the War; Poems as They Happened
1971 poetryA collection addressing memories and personal experiences around wartime.
memoryhistory
Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers (coeditor)
1974 anthology (coeditor)An influential anthology collecting works by Asian-American writers.
Asian-American literatureidentity
The Buddha Bandits Down Highway 99
1978 poetryAn experimental poetry collection co-created with other poets.
collaborationcultural intersections
Legends From Camp
1993 poetryA poetry collection centered on internment camp experience, depicting personal and collective memory.
internmentmemoryhistory
Drawing the Line
1997 poetryA collection exploring boundaries between personal and social history; winner of the Oregon Book Award.
self and societyhistorical consciousness
Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience (editor & introduction)
2000 editorial / documentaryEdited volume documenting the Japanese American internment experience; Inada authored the introduction.
internment historydocumentation and testimony
Bibliography
- Three Northwest Poets: Drake, Inada, Lawder, Madison (1970)
- Before the War; Poems as They Happened (1971)
- Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers (coeditor, 1974)
- The Buddha Bandits Down Highway 99 (coauthored, 1978)
- The Big Aiiieeeee!: An Anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature (coeditor, 1990)
- Legends From Camp (1993)
- In This Great Land of Freedom: The Japanese Pioneers of Oregon (contributor, 1993)
- Touching the Stones: Tracing One Hundred Years of Japanese American History (contributor, 1994)
- Just Intonations (1996)
- Drawing the Line (1997)
- Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience (editor, 2000)
- Unfinished Message: Selected Works of Toshio Mori (introduction, 2000)
- A Matter of Conscience: Essays on the World War II Heart Mountain Draft Resistance Movement (contributor, 2002)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- jazz-influenced rhythmic poetryoften free verse with colloquial expression
- Recurring Motifs
- internment experiencememory and transmissionidentity (Japanese American)music, especially jazz
Legacy
Lawson Fusao Inada is a significant poet who incorporated Japanese American internment experience and jazz influences into his work, contributing to the development of Asian-American literature and regional poetic traditions. He served as Oregon Poet Laureate and has had notable cultural impact both within and beyond Oregon.
Archives
- Japanese American National Museum (related materials / potential holdings)
In Popular Culture
- Cultural references related to internment memory, including photographs of Inada on the set of the 1976 film 'Farewell to Manzanar'.
Trivia
- He is a Sansei (third-generation Japanese American).
- Interned with his family as a child during World War II.
- His background as a jazz bassist influenced his poetic rhythm and style.