Japanese Mennonite poet, Yorifumi Yaguchi, to offer reading Oct. 24

Event: Poetry reading by Yorifumi Yaguchi
Date and time: Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Newcomer Center Room 19
Cost: Free and open to the public
Event sponsor: Goshen College English Department

GOSHEN, Ind. – Japanese Mennonite poet Yorifumi Yaguchi will offer his words of poetry about beauty and pain of life in Japan at Goshen College on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Newcomer Center Room 19. He will read from the recently published book “The Poetry of Yorifumi Yaguchi: A Japanese Voice in English” (July 2006, Good Books), edited by Wilbur J. Birky, a 1963 Goshen College graduate and professor emeritus of English and director emeritus of international education.

The book features 150 poems by Yaguchi, who studied at Goshen Biblical Seminary from 1962 to 1965 to earn a bachelor of divinity degree. The collection of poems spans Yaguchi’s life, from a childhood shaped by World War II to a career as a poetry professor, editor, Mennonite Christian pastor and internationally-recognized Japanese poet.

Yaguchi is a nationally known poet in Japan. During World War II, watching while bombs split his countryside to pieces, while the neighbor girl fell prey to soldiers, while an American soldier crept into his home, hoping for rest and safety.

Since 1976, Birky and Yaguchi have been friends and colleagues. At Yaguchi’s invitation, Birky was a visiting professor of English in Japan in 1977-78.

This poetry reading is being sponsored by the Goshen College English Department. For more information, contact Professor of English Ann Hostetler by calling (574) 535-7469. 

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.