JUNGLE CROWS, expat lit, Hillel Wright (editor)

      The voices of expatriates issue from the edges of existence, and in Tokyo, this means half-empty cars on wee-hour train commutes, sparse beaches in swimming-pool sized parks, darkened cinemas at the peak of the morning rush-hour -- precious loci of intimacy in the world's most populous mega-city. ("At night Tokyo expands," writes Jonathan Mack. "Air rushes in.") Some of these writings move far beyond the city's perimeters to recount pasts often desperately escaped but still longed for, still present (we even visit Dostoevsky in Germany!), because living elsewhere provides a fresh perspective on the new land and the old. Samuel Johnson wrote: "To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition," and perhaps of all expatriates. This rich collection of stories, poems and musings is a testament to the power of language to traverse time and space in the global sprawl of the 21st century -- and its writings strongly suggest that 'home' is fast being redefined. (Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture has invaded the US)
      Jungle Crows sheds light on what's been going on in English ex-pat fiction and poetry (most especially performance poetry) in recent years, and in dark and light places in the greater Tokyo area. The writing in this anthology tends toward the urban and colloquial. Ribs crack "like so many chopsticks." A newly-fired worker, to a junior high school student in a sailor uniform: "I don't usually like to be seen, but I've seen you here before." See it for yourself. (Jane Joritz-Nakagawa, poet, author of Skin Museum)
     Hillel Wright was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in Harford, Connecticut. He received a BA from Temple University, Philadelphia, and an MA from Southern Illinois University where he studied under the Irish poet Thomas Kinsella and the American novelist John Gardner.After dropping out of the PhD program he moved to Hawaii and began a career as a commercial fisherman. He later moved to Canada and lived on several West Coast islands where he worked in commercial fishing, forestry and free-lance writing and raised a family of four children, including 16 years as a single parent. He also published and sometimes edited MINUS TIMES magazine, an international literary review, for 10 years, between 1987-1997. Hillel moved to Japan in 1997. He currently lives in Kawasaki with his wife and Muse, Shiori Tsuchiya, and works as a university lecturer, language consultant, television extra, free-lance magazine writer/reviewer, and Japan correspondent for the London, England based Fishing News International.

Alphabetical list of authors represented in jungle crows.
David Brennan, John Carroll, Tom Dunnam, Tim Fagan, Aileen Fedullo, Wallace Gagne, Morgan Gibson, Jesse Glass, John Gribble, Edgar Henry, Michael Hoffman, Brian Howell, Levi Jacobs, Mike Jones, Suzanne Kamata, Leza Lowitz. Jonathan Mack, Taylor Mignon, Mong-Lan, Steven Nichol, Leigh Norrie, Dom Pates, Wayne Pounds, Ian Priestley, Patrick Rial, Donald Richie, Alan Botsford Saitoh, Owen Schaefer, Eric Shade, John Solt, Frank Spignese, Hillel Wright, Janice Young, Joe Zanghi