Join the University of Iowa (UI) Center for Asian and Pacific Studies (CAPS), an International Programs affinity group, for a special evening of bilingual readings featuring acclaimed Japanese poet Kawaguchi Harumi and translator Rina Kikuchi.
Kawaguchi Harumi, a member of the 2026 International Writing Program (IWP), will read selections from her poetry alongside her longtime translator, Rina Kikuchi, an Obermann-CAPS International Fellow. Members of the UI Japanese Program's Workshop in Japanese Literary Translation will also participate in the reading.
The evening will feature works presented in both Japanese and English, offering audiences a unique opportunity to experience contemporary Japanese poetry through original texts and translation. Additional International Writing Program participants will read from their own work in the original language and in translation.
This event is co-sponsored by the Japan Foundation, the International Writing Program, the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, and the UI Japanese Program.
About the Speakers
Kawaguchi Harumi is a poet based in Tokyo and one of Japan's most acclaimed contemporary literary voices. Her collection To the Witches' Forest (Yagate Majo no Mori ni Naru, 2021) received the 30th Hagiwara Sakutarō Prize in 2022, and Tiger is Here. (2015) won the 46th Takami Jun Prize in 2016. Her poetry explores women's experiences and memory, while bridging literature and popular culture, particularly manga and anime. Her work has been translated into English, German, Italian, and Korean, and she has taught creative writing for more than three decades. Her participation is made possible by a grant from the Japan Foundation.
Rina Kikuchi is a literary scholar, poetry translator, and professor of literature at Shiga University in Japan, as well as an adjunct professor of poetry at the University of Canberra. Her research focuses on Japanese women's poetry of the Asia-Pacific War, and her translation practice emphasizes collaborative approaches to literary translation. Her publications include Poet to Poet: Contemporary Women Poets from Japan, Pleasant Troubles, and The Selected Translations of Sagawa Chika Poems.