Thank you so much for visiting Naoko Fujimoto's website.
Dear Writers, Poets, Translators, and Artists,
Hello,
My name is Naoko Fujimoto. I am a Japanese woman who came to study creative writing in the U.S. Japanese is my mother tongue and English is my second language. Occasionally I study Italian and Arabic when I travel. I am also a translation editor at RHINO Poetry and Tupelo Quarterly, so I try to learn another language as much as possible.
I graduated from public elementary and junior high school in Nagoya, Japan. I was nearly a high school dropout (I talked about this depressing era in my translation chapbook, 09/09). Thankfully, I had an opportunity to pursue an English education at Nanzan Junior College. My family went to college but was not fluent in English (typical Japanese!). However, they were open to international culture and communication, so they took me to many countries and suggested that I study in the U.S.
My professor at Nanzan Junior College became an ESL director at Indiana University, so I enrolled there. In addition, Indiana University South Bend generously gave me scholarships and allowed me to work at the Franklin D. Schurz Library. I became sustainable until graduating with master's courses.
My first publication was in Puerto del Sol in 2008. My first full-length, Where I Was Born, was published in 2019. I wrote about my grandparents who survived World War II. My grandfather witnessed the horrific historical moment in Hiroshima, and my other grandfather, who was in China, had a difficult time going back to Japan. My grandmothers worked for the Mitsubishi plants manufacturing war equipment in Nagoya.
All my first drafts were written in English. I might take notes in Japanese, but I started writing phrases or stanzas in English. My childhood dream was to become an international journalist like the Adventures of Tin Tin, so my main focus was writing in English. But I know that I cannot write perfectly, so I have my support. I had proofreaders since I was a student at Indiana University South Bend. I also use spell-check and grammar-check when on the computer, but I want to discuss my sentence structures with my proofreaders to get the best outcome.
There were about ten years from my first magazine piece to my first full-length publication. I published four chapbooks and many pieces during that time. I struggled to juggle two jobs and wrote pieces during my lunch breaks in my car. I also had a challenging time with family in both Japan and America. However, I saved my expenses to have one year off in 2016. I talked about the process in What is Trans. Sensory and Discover the Marvels Within You. I also wrote about how I met my publisher, Tupelo Press, in those articles.
I think that my books were progressing with every collection. I am proud of all my collections, but the newest title is my best creative output yet! I was thankful that Tupelo Press published the all-color GLYPH Graphic Poetry = Trans. Sensory (2021). C&R Press accepted one long experimental poem of about 30 pages in We Face The Tremendous Meat On The Teppan (2022). I am excited to have my new translation collection, of Women, in 2026. I am currently writing a new manuscript.
Please explore my website. There are plenty of free educational materials on this website. I do not charge my visitors because I would love to support their creative writing and careers. In addition, there are wonderful guest writers on Working On Gallery where they teach about their creative processes. Working On Gallery gave me a new prospect on creativity. I have been a part of wonderful creative communities in the last twenty years; and because of this, I can keep pursuing writing as a career.
Have a wonderful poetic day!
遊びに来てくれてありがとう。
Yours,
Naoko Fujimoto
Hello,
My name is Naoko Fujimoto. I am a Japanese woman who came to study creative writing in the U.S. Japanese is my mother tongue and English is my second language. Occasionally I study Italian and Arabic when I travel. I am also a translation editor at RHINO Poetry and Tupelo Quarterly, so I try to learn another language as much as possible.
I graduated from public elementary and junior high school in Nagoya, Japan. I was nearly a high school dropout (I talked about this depressing era in my translation chapbook, 09/09). Thankfully, I had an opportunity to pursue an English education at Nanzan Junior College. My family went to college but was not fluent in English (typical Japanese!). However, they were open to international culture and communication, so they took me to many countries and suggested that I study in the U.S.
My professor at Nanzan Junior College became an ESL director at Indiana University, so I enrolled there. In addition, Indiana University South Bend generously gave me scholarships and allowed me to work at the Franklin D. Schurz Library. I became sustainable until graduating with master's courses.
My first publication was in Puerto del Sol in 2008. My first full-length, Where I Was Born, was published in 2019. I wrote about my grandparents who survived World War II. My grandfather witnessed the horrific historical moment in Hiroshima, and my other grandfather, who was in China, had a difficult time going back to Japan. My grandmothers worked for the Mitsubishi plants manufacturing war equipment in Nagoya.
All my first drafts were written in English. I might take notes in Japanese, but I started writing phrases or stanzas in English. My childhood dream was to become an international journalist like the Adventures of Tin Tin, so my main focus was writing in English. But I know that I cannot write perfectly, so I have my support. I had proofreaders since I was a student at Indiana University South Bend. I also use spell-check and grammar-check when on the computer, but I want to discuss my sentence structures with my proofreaders to get the best outcome.
There were about ten years from my first magazine piece to my first full-length publication. I published four chapbooks and many pieces during that time. I struggled to juggle two jobs and wrote pieces during my lunch breaks in my car. I also had a challenging time with family in both Japan and America. However, I saved my expenses to have one year off in 2016. I talked about the process in What is Trans. Sensory and Discover the Marvels Within You. I also wrote about how I met my publisher, Tupelo Press, in those articles.
I think that my books were progressing with every collection. I am proud of all my collections, but the newest title is my best creative output yet! I was thankful that Tupelo Press published the all-color GLYPH Graphic Poetry = Trans. Sensory (2021). C&R Press accepted one long experimental poem of about 30 pages in We Face The Tremendous Meat On The Teppan (2022). I am excited to have my new translation collection, of Women, in 2026. I am currently writing a new manuscript.
Please explore my website. There are plenty of free educational materials on this website. I do not charge my visitors because I would love to support their creative writing and careers. In addition, there are wonderful guest writers on Working On Gallery where they teach about their creative processes. Working On Gallery gave me a new prospect on creativity. I have been a part of wonderful creative communities in the last twenty years; and because of this, I can keep pursuing writing as a career.
Have a wonderful poetic day!
遊びに来てくれてありがとう。
Yours,
Naoko Fujimoto
Burano, 2023
RHINO Poetry
With CRASH (2019)
Rikuzentakata - Japan, 2019
