Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 18 (1980) award
Masao Nakagiri
なかぎり まさお
Nakagiri Masao
Aliases:
白神 鉱一
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1919-10-11 （Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan）
- Died
- 1983-08-11 （Home (study, unspecified)） age 63
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese, English
Career
- Occupations
- poet, translator, English literature lecturer, journalist
- Active Years
- 1939-1983
- Affiliations
- Organizer of the poetry magazine 'Le Bal', Founding member of the poetry magazine 'Arechi', Contributor to the poetry magazine 'Rekitei', Yomiuri Shimbun (political affairs reporter), Taught English literature at institutions including Aoyama Gakuin University and Hosei University
- Influenced By
- W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Cecil Day-Lewis
- Influenced
- Atsuko Himi
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyogo Prefectural Kobe Higher Commercial School | — | — | — | 在学中中退（1939年） | Japan |
| Nihon University | College of Arts | Department of Arts | — | — | Japan |
Hyogo Prefectural Kobe Higher Commercial School
Period:
在学中中退（1939年）
Country:
Japan
Dropped out in 1939 due to insufficient attendance in English composition and drill
Nihon University
College of Arts
/ Department of Arts
Country:
Japan
Entered mid-course to avoid conscription and is recorded as having graduated
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 18th Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize | Company Personnel | — | Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize (Rekitei-related) | 受賞 |
18th Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize
1980
Work:
Company Personnel
Organization:
Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize (Rekitei-related)
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Company Personnel
1979 poetry collectionRepresentative poetry collection addressing urban life, labor and death. Noted for its attention to language and critical stance on euphemism.
urban lifelabordeathlanguage
Masao Nakagiri: Collected Poems
1964 poetry collectionA collection of early poems showing the influence of British modernism; published alongside his translation work.
modernismselfthe city
Bibliography
- Poets of Crisis - Auden, Spender, Lewis, etc. (1953)
- Masao Nakagiri: Collected Poems (1964)
- Dreaming a Dream: Poetry (1972)
- Company Personnel: Poetry (1979)
- How to Read Poems, How to Make Poems (1980)
- The Complete Poems of Masao Nakagiri (1990)
Translations by Author
- Earthlight (Arthur C. Clarke) — translated by Masao Nakagiri (1969)
- A World Out of Time / Dark Light Years (Brian W. Aldiss) — translated by Masao Nakagiri (1970)
- Anthology of Contemporary British Poetry (ed./tr., 1963)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- A style influenced by British modernism, attentive to form and dictionLanguage-focused poetry reflecting his experience as a translator of English
- Recurring Motifs
- the citywork/labordeathlanguage and euphemism
Health
-
alcohol dependence; liver disease晩年（1980年代初頭）Health deterioration in later years contributing to his death; per his will no wake or funeral was held.
Legacy
A respected translator of Anglo-American poetry and a postwar modernist poet. Valued for both his original poetry and translations, he influenced subsequent poets through magazine work and teaching.
Museums
- Kibiji Literary Museum (has a profile page)
Archives
- National Diet Library holdings and materials
Quotes
-
"The word 'way of living' originally comes from 'way of dying' and I dislike it. ...No matter how you rephrase it, death is death; disguising it by euphemism only conceals emptiness of content."
Source: From 'Company Personnel' (1979)
Trivia
- Birth name was Koichi Shirakami.
- There is an episode that he stole his father's bankbook and ran away to Tokyo in 1939.
- Although newspapers reported sudden heart failure at his death in 1983, his widow later stated the actual cause was liver damage from alcohol dependence.
- Per his will, no wake or funeral was held.