About the Author:
Heralded as a “big talent” by the Los Angeles Times, extolled by the New York Times for her “mordant wit,” and praised by Newsday for “wrestl[ing] with profound philosophical and social issues” while delivering an “immensely entertaining story,” Karen Tei Yamashita is one of the foremost writers of her generation. She is the author of Through the Arc of the Rainforest, Brazil-Maru, Tropic of Orange, and Circle K Cycles, all published by Coffee House Press. Her fifth novel and magnum opus, I Hotel, took over a decade to write and research and is a 2010 National Book Award finalist in the fiction category.
Yamashita is the recipient of an American Book Award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Award. A California native who has also lived in Brazil and Japan, she teaches at the University of California-Santa Cruz, where she received the Chancellor’s Award for Diversity in 2009.
Awards
National Book Award finalist – I Hotel
American Book Award – Through the Arc of the Rainforest
Janet Heidinger Kafka Award – Through the Arc of the Rainforest
Interview
Read an interview between Karen Tei Yamashita and Bret Anthony Johnston, director of creative writing at Harvard, on The National Book Foundation website.
Books Available:
