Karen Tei Yamashita

Born January 8, 1951 in Oakland, California, Karen Tei Yamashita is a Japanese American writer and Associate Professor of Literature at University of California, Santa Cruz, where she teaches creative writing and Asian American Literature. Her works, several of which contain elements of magic realism, include novels "Circle K Cycles" (2001), "Tropic of Orange" (1997), "Brazil-Maru" (1992), and "Through the Arc of the Rainforest" (1990). Tei Yamashita's novels emphasize the absolute 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 group, East West Players [ [http://www.eastwestplayers.org/history1970.htm Production history] at East West Players] .

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". Accessed 3 July 2006.

References