Yay! We've done it!

Above is Kaya Press' very first book trailer, created by the very talented Sam Arbizo.

We know that there's no evidence in favor or against the effectiveness of book trailers. We also know they're very trendy. But we saw here an opportunity to ... uh ... further the art form ;) ... and also just to have a little fun with some footage Sam shot during Brian Castro's US author tour in May.

This is by way of an experiment, and we'd love to get your feedback on it. We happen to think it's pretty cool, of course, but we could be biased.

Is Courtney Love A Secret Brian Castro Fan?

Why yes, that is Courtney Love leaving Book Soup in Los Angeles ... last Monday ...

It seems that Courtney was getting her book on. Lots of books, in fact. So many, that she managed to crash Brian Castro's Book Soup reading, distracting Brian and the audience by carrying armfuls (or armsful?) of books past Brian's lectern, repeatedly. Brian himself, not a grunge fan, only saw "a blonde in a prom dress."

Awesome.

New LA Tour Date for Brian Castro!

Angelenos: we're very excited to add one more tour date for Brian Castro! (And I really think this will be it, because we don't have any more free dates!)

Brian will be appearing with Colin Dickey at Betalevel in Los Angeles Chinatown (how appropriate!) on May 6.

Once again:
WHERE: Betalevel, 963 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA
WHEN: Weds, May 6; 8 PM
WHAT: Reading with Brian Castro, Colin Dickey, and TBA

And New Yorkers shouldn't forget that Brian's appearing at AAWW tonight!

Kaya's Events This Week!

Hey boys and girls! This week kicks off Kaya's long-anticipated (by us, anyway) US author tours for both Brian Castro and Kazuo Hara. (See the links for complete tour dates and information.)

We can't believe it, but Brian is already here (in NY) and Hara will be here (in Berkeley) this weekend! So here's a quick 'n' dirty run-down of the events you can see on both coasts this week:


WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29:

BRIAN CASTRO in New York at New York University's A/P/A Institute

This will be Brian's first ever appearance on American soil! He'll be appearing solo and giving a slideshow presentation about his book, SHANGHAI DANCING. His other appearance in the Tri-State area will be shared with other authors, so this is your chance to really delve into his work and find out what one of Australia's premier authors is about.

THURSDAY, APRIL 30:

BRIAN CASTRO in New York at the Asian American Writers Workshop

This is going to be entirely awesome. The event is about welcoming Brian into the family of Kaya authors, in the context of AAWW's Asian American literary scene. The party features wine, chocolate, candlelight, and readings by Thad Rutkowski, Eric Gamalinda, and Ishle Yi Park (who is hosting.) And, of course, Brian Castro.

SATURDAY MAY 2:

BRIAN CASTRO in San Francisco at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

This will be another wonderful event, in the YBCA museum in the afternoon. Brian will be appearing with Kaya author Sesshu Foster, who is promoting his latest book from City Lights, WORLD BALL NOTEBOOK. They'll be doing a reading and then will have a moderated discussion with each other, followed by audience Q & A. You can also take in the wonderful exhibitions while you're there, and talk to the authors at an early dinner/reception at 5 in the Yerba Buena Gardens. RSVP for the dinner at kayapress at the domain of yahoo.

KAZUO HARA in Berkeley at Pacific Film Archive

This is going to be a fantastic, two-day event in Berkeley sponsored by the Center for Japanese Studies. The first day, Saturday, will see a screening of two of Hara's films, appearances by Kazuo Hara and his producer Sachiko Kobayashi, and a booksigning of CAMERA OBTRUSA. The following day will bring a mini-conference on the topic of Hara's films (but I'll detail that more next week!)

If you can't make any of these, don't despair: there's more coming next week! Including some Southern California appearances for both. Hope to see you there!

SHANGHAI DANCING Release Around the Corner!

Hi everyone!

We're working very hard to make the SHANGHAI DANCING and CAMERA OBTRUSA author tours a beautiful thing. We can't believe Brian Castro will be here within the week, and Kazuo Hara next week!

Anyway, the lovely news today is that SHANGHAI DANCING just shipped to us today! We can't wait to have the actual book in our hands, and we hope and expect you will love it, too!

New Yorkers: Brian Castro's first event in NY will be on April 29 at NYU.
Yay Areans: Brian will first appear in SF on May 2 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Angelenos: Brian will appear in LA first on May 4 at Book Soup.

Please check out Brian's tour dates for a complete listing of events!

Brian Castro SHANGHAI DANCING FAQ

Who are you?
Publicly I am a writer and an academic with something different to offer. I’m an Asian-Australian writer who was born in Hong Kong and who has lived in Australia for over 45 years. My father was Portuguese and my mother Eurasian. My grandmother on my mother’s side was born in Liverpool. My father’s people came from Portugal and Holland.

Australia is just as globalised as the rest of the developed world, but there isn’t the critical mass here that is necessary for minorities to sometimes make themselves heard. Personally I feel less anxiety than I used to. Anti-Asian movements in the past have been disturbing, but hopefully Australians have put that behind them.

What do you write?
My books take in the whole sweep of multicultural Australia without pushing any particular issue, and they place language, literature and irony at the forefront of their endeavour. I feel I am better able to speak than most by standing at the confluence of three cultures, being enriched by them without being compromised; seeing the humour in their assumptions; triangulating a moment of history without being one-eyed. My mission has been to write the best prose possible so that aesthetics, the creative construction of style and form, can all be appreciated by the reader. It’s not the message, but how it’s delivered.

What is the novel Shanghai Dancing?
Shanghai Dancing was an opportunity to fictionalise lives that were familiar to me. I was not interested in telling people this was ‘true’ so much as creating a psychological truth which they have to discover. I used bits of my family’s lives, but mainly I used the whole spectrum of literature. Shanghai is also Joyce’s Dublin. My father was also a character out of Stendhal or Hemingway. Antonio the narrator is the portrait of an artist as a young man. I've been influenced by Beckett and Sebald, Bernhard and Proust. These are my masters and they formulate my dreams. And that’s all I can do: lay my dreams at the reader’s feet.

Where did the idea for Shanghai Dancing originate?
The book arose out of the realization that my family’s lives were really quite extraordinary. To have gone through huge wealth and then terrible tragedy, to have lived in slums and prison camps, these things made them interesting. The book challenged me to look at memory and its recall in different ways. It affected my view of my parents. It gave me hope when the despair of writing led me to depression and to thoughts of suicide. Hyperbole is a great friend in the writing of lives.

Why did you include archival photographs in the book?
The photos are not illustrative. They have a narrative of their own. People always believe photos. They think there is ‘truth’ there. But in this book, this is put into doubt. The photos are images which have captured a dead moment which may be related to the narrative but may not be either. It is the story which weaves a life behind the images. It is the fiction which resurrects a dead moment. In the same way, memory weaves a story. Memory works in a fragmented fashion. Each time something is recalled there is a little change or embellishment or difference in mood. Memory takes a photo each time it functions. That photo-process is never stable.

What does Shanghai Dancing have to offer an American audience?
Perhaps Americans should know China better, since China is the future. I think also the colonial history of Britain in China is important. I came out of this miscegenation between colonials and Chinese, so I understand it a lot more than those who simply want to make ideological points on cultural grounds. A novel is probably the best vehicle for this kind of ambiguous reflection, which takes in loyalties, disloyalties, moods and resonances. The Shanghai in the 20s and 30s will never come again.

What do you want to tell your readers?
I guess I'm saying readers have to read better. Just reading a story is not good enough. Just getting a message across is not good enough. But having an experience is another thing. I'm saying: experience the flavours of a time which will never return. Experience life writ large.

About Hara Kazuo's Films

We just got tipped off to this terrific article from 2007 in the Village Voice by Ed Halter about Hara Kazuo's films.

Kazuo Hara's The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987) nonetheless stands as one of the most harrowing, astonishing documentaries about war ever thrown onto celluloid. It reveals a side of Japan little seen by American audiences: the repressed culture of an older generation, still struggling with the demons unleashed by the atrocities of World War II, souls broken beyond repair.

... Imagine the setup of Roger and Me with the payoff of Winter Soldier, or a version of Shoah in which the director walks around with a sidekick who bitch-slaps wartime memories out of the more reticent interviewees.

Check it out!