About
My name is Kathryn Hemmann. I’m a graduate student studying Japanese literature at the University of Pennsylvania. I translate short stories in my spare time.
When it comes to Japanese literature, I am attracted to the horrific, the bizarre, the wondrous, the terrible, and the cruel. I especially enjoy translating works embodying these themes. Read them at your own risk!
My favorite Japanese author is Kurahashi Yumiko (倉橋由美子). I’m especially fond of her short story collections Cruel Fairy Tales for Adults (大人のための残酷童話) and Kurahashi Yumiko’s Creepy Little Stories (倉橋由美子の怪奇掌編). Kurahashi has found a wonderful translator in Atsuko Sakaki; so, if my translations intrigue you, by all means check out the collection of translations by Dr. Sakaki.
It’s too bad that Dr. Sakaki’s translations are out of print, as well as the wonderful translation of “The Adventures of Sumiyakist Q”. I, however, am a huge fan of Oba Minako, whose work is also quite hard to find in English.
That is the sad truth about Japanese women’s literature – it goes out of print almost as soon as it is published, even in America! Thankfully for Kurahashi, there has been something of a “Kurahashi boom” in Japan recently, and several illustrated, hardcover editions of her work were published over the summer.
I love Ōba Minako as well. A new translation of her novel “Birds Crying” (Naku tori no) just came out last year, and I hear it’s really good!
Hi,
I’m a french publisher working in Paris and I share your taste for bizarre and grotesque in japanese literature. I would like to publish, in french, Kanai Mieko’s Usagi this year. Do you know whom I should ask for permission to reproduce the text?
Thank you for your answer. I’m very interested in your blog. Sandrine
Thank you so much for your kind words!
I have never published a translation before, so I asked one of my professors how one goes about doing so. My professor told me that your publisher will help you take care of things. If you yourself are the publisher, however, I’m not sure what to tell you.
An American publisher that specializes in Japanese translations that might be able to help you is Vertical. They seem to be a down-to-earth and approachable company, so you might want to try contacting them. Their website is:
http://www.vertical-inc.com/
I’m excited that you are trying to publish “Unagi!” It’s a really cool story, isn’t it? I’m always jealous of all the Japanese literature that has been and is being translated into French. I’m trying to learn to read the language, but it’s taking awhile. So many verb tenses! And I thought Japanese was hard.