Kazuko Shiraishi

Kazuko Shiraishi
Born	(1931-02-27)27 February 1931 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Died	14 June 2024(2024-06-14) (aged 93)
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation(s)	Poet, translator

Kazuko Shiraishi (白石 かずこ, Shiraishi Kazuko, 27 February 1931 – 14 June 2024) was a Japanese poet and translator who was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was a modernist, outsider poet who got her start in Katsue Kitazono's "VVOU" poetry group, which led Shiraishi to publish her first book of poems in 1951. She also read her poetry at jazz performances. She appeared at readings and literary festivals all over the world.

Kenneth Rexroth called her "the Allen Ginsberg of Japan," and edited a volume of her poetry in English for New Directions Press.

Shiraishi died on 14 June 2024, at the age of 93.

Translations available in English

Hiroaki Sato translated Shiraishi's poetry for BOMB Magazine, and several of her anthologies have appeared in English:

• Seasons of Sacred Lust. Translated by Ikuko Atsumi, John Solt, Carol Tinker, Yasuyo Morita, and Kenneth Rexroth. Edited by Kenneth Rexroth. New Directions Press, 1975.
• Let Those Who Appear. Translated by Samuel Grolmes and Yumiko Tsumura. New Directions Press, 2002.
• My Floating Mother, City. Translated by Samuel Grolmes and Yumiko Tsumura. New Directions Press, 2009.
• Sea, Land, Shadow. Translated by Yumiko Tsumura. New Directions Press, 2017.

Further reading

• Quarterly Conversation. "My Floating Mother, City by Kazuko Shiraishi," by Levi Stahl.