Japanese Literary Awards

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Nishiou San

にしおう さん

Nishiou San

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1950-12-29 （Nanjo District, Fukui Prefecture, Japan）
Died
2023-03-18 age 72
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
tanka poet
Active Years
1966-2023
Affiliations
Tanka-jin (contributor, former editorial committee member)
Influenced By
Kunio Tsukamoto, Mitsusada Fukasaku, Ryuichiro Fujiwara, Hikaru Koike

Education

Ritsumeikan University
Faculty of Letters / Japanese Literature
Country: Japan

Awards

Tanka-jin Prize
1981
Organization: Tanka-jin Editorial
Result: winner
Kadokawa Tanka Award (runner-up)
1982
Work: Birdland's Lullaby
Organization: Kadokawa Publishing
Result: runner-up

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Birdland's Lullaby

1982 tanka collection

An experimental tanka collection notable for having poems uniformly set at 27 morae. Includes palindromic poems and is regarded as an avant-garde work reflecting residues of the student movement generation.

avant-garde tankapalindromesurban/political imageryrequiem motifs

Bibliography

  • Birdland's Lullaby

Style & Themes

Literary Style
avant-garde expressionexperimental manipulation of form
Recurring Motifs
palindromesrevolutionary/requiem imageryremnants of collective movements

Health

  • lymphoma
    2021–2023
    Announced health condition that may have affected his activities.

Legacy

Left behind many experimental tanka works and influenced linked-verse (renga) activities in both literary societies and online communities. He published most of his works on his website and effectively relinquished copyright.

Archives

  • National Diet Library (identifier present)
  • VIAF (identifier present)

Quotes

  • A requiem with revolutionary inclinations
    Source: Critique by Naoji Goto (tanka poet)

Trivia

  • He published nearly all of his tanka works on his website and declared that he abandoned copyright.
  • His wife, Takeshita Nanako, is also said to be a tanka poet and a recipient of the 1983 Tanka Kenkyu Newcomer Prize (as mentioned in sources).
  • There is a record of two non-traditional poems included in a high school literary anthology in 1966.