Lawson Fusao Inada facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lawson Fusao Inada
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Lawson Inada (left) with Frank Chin, Shawn Wong, and Michael Chan on the set of John Korty's 1976 film, Farewell to Manzanar
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| Born | May 26, 1938 |
| Occupation | poet |
Lawson Fusao Inada, born on May 26, 1938, is a famous Japanese American poet. He was even named the official poet for the state of Oregon, called the "poet laureate." This means he was chosen to represent the state through his poetry.
Contents
Lawson Inada's Early Life
Lawson Inada was born in Fresno, California. His family was Japanese American, and he was a "Sansei," which means his grandparents were the first in his family to move to America from Japan. His dad, Fusaji, was a dentist, and his mom, Masako, helped run their family's fish market.
When Lawson was only three years old, in May 1942, his family had to leave their home. During World War II, many Japanese American families were forced to move to special camps. This was called Japanese American internment. Lawson and his family lived in camps in places like Fresno, Arkansas, and Colorado. After the war ended, the Inada family returned to Fresno and reopened their fish market.
How Jazz Music Inspired His Poetry
After World War II, Lawson Inada became a jazz musician. He played the bass and loved the music of famous artists like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Billie Holiday. He even wrote poems later that honored these musicians.
Lawson says that both his time in the internment camps and his love for jazz music were the biggest influences on his poetry. He studied writing at California State University, Fresno, the University of Oregon, and the University of Iowa.
Lawson Inada's Career Highlights
Lawson Inada started teaching at the University of New Hampshire in 1962. In 1966, he moved to Oregon and began teaching poetry at Southern Oregon University.
In 1994, his book Legends from Camp won an American Book Award. This was a big honor! He also received several special awards for poets from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1997, he won the Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry.
In 2006, Lawson Inada was chosen as Oregon's fifth poet laureate. He was the first person to hold this important position since 1990. He served until 2010, when Paulann Petersen became the next poet laureate.
Selected Works by Lawson Inada
- Three Northwest Poets: Drake, Inada, Lawder, Madison: Quixote Press, 1970.
- Before the War; Poems as They Happened, New York: Morrow, 1971.
- Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers, Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1974 (Coeditor).
- The Buddha Bandits Down Highway 99, Mountain View: Buddhahead Press, 1978 (With Garrett Kaoru Hongo and Alan Chong Lau).
- The Big Aiiieeeee!: An Anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature, New York: Penguin, 1990 (Coeditor).
- Legends From Camp, Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1993. (This book won the American Book Award and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Poetry.)
- In This Great Land of Freedom: The Japanese Pioneers of Oregon, Los Angeles: Japanese American National Museum, 1993 (Contributor).
- Touching the Stones: Tracing One Hundred Years of Japanese American History, Portland: Oregon Nikkei Endowment, 1994 (Contributor).
- Just Intonations, Ashland, Oregon: Graven Images Gallery Press, 1996.
- Drawing the Line, Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1997. (This book won the Oregon Book Award for Poetry and was chosen as a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age.)
- Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience, Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2000 (Editor and author of introduction).
- Unfinished Message: Selected Works of Toshio Mori, Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2000 (Author of introduction).
- A Matter of Conscience: Essays on the World War II Heart Mountain Draft Resistance Movement. Powell, Wyoming: Western History Publications, 2002 (Contributor).
See Also
- List of Asian American writers
- Japanese American Internment
- Japanese American Historical Plaza, Portland
