Hiromi Itō
| Hiromi Itō 伊藤 比呂美 |
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|---|---|
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| Born |
September 13, 1955 Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Poet, novelist |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Period | Modern |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Partner | Harold Cohen |
Hiromi Itō (伊藤 比呂美 Itō Hiromi?, born September 13, 1955) is one of the most prominent woman writers of contemporary Japan, with more than a dozen collections of poetry, several works of prose, numerous books of essays, and several major literary prizes to her name. She divides her time between the towns of Encinitas, California and Kumamoto in southern Japan.
Born in 1955 in Tokyo, Itō became well known in the 1980s for a series of dramatic collections of poetry that described sexuality, pregnancy, and feminine erotic desire in dramatically direct language. From her earliest work, Itō embarked on a lifelong battle against the stylized and artful language common in 20th-century Japanese poetry. Much of her poetry is narrated in extended passages of relatively colloquial text. Her poems so skillfully represent spoken language that they often give the illusion of being records of spoken speech. Not coincidentally, commentators have often described Itō as a "shamaness" for her ability to channel voices onto the page.
In 1982, Itō's book Unripe Plums (青梅 Aoume?),'appeared in the series "The Present State of Women's Poetry," which was published by the Japanese publisher Shichōsha and also featured a number of rising young female poets, including Toshiko Hirata, Yōko Isaka, and Kōko Shiraishi. In the mid-1980s, Itō's writing gravitated to issues of the feminine body, sexuality, and motherhood, making her the most prominent voice of what came to be known as the "women's poetry boom." The two collections On Territory 2 (テリトリー論1 Teritorī ron 2?), published in 1985, and On Territory 1 (テリトリー論2 Teritorī ron 1?), published in 1987, describe her feelings after giving birth to her first daughter, Kanoko Nishi. These poems probe the meaning of the mother-child relationship and the demands that motherhood places on the mother's identity and sexuality. For instance, in the often anthologized poem "Killing Kanoko" (カノコ殺し Kanoko-goroshi?), she describes the feelings of a young mother experiencing postpartum depression and anger at her newborn, even though the world is congratulating her on becoming a mother. Her eagerness to explore women's issues has led some to think of her as a feminist writer, although this is a term that Itō has not always embraced in building her public persona.
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