Hiromi Goto is an emigrant from Japan who gratefully resides in W̱SÁNEĆ Territory. Her first novel, Chorus of Mushrooms, won the 1995 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best First Book, Canada and Caribbean Region, and was the co-winner of the Canada-Japan Book Award. Her second adult novel, The Kappa Child, was awarded the 2001 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award. She’s published three novels for children and youth, a book of poetry, and a collection of short stories (adult). Her other honours include The Sunburst Award and the Carl Brandon Parallax Award.
Hiromi's most recent book, Shadow Life (2021) with artist Ann Xu and published by First Second Books, is her first graphic novel. It was the 2022 Asian/Pacific American Literature Award winner for Adult Fiction and an LA Times Book Prize finalist. She is currently at work trying to decolonize her relationship to writing and the land.
Hiromi Goto is represented by Cooke McDermid.
Presentation would depend upon the context of the event. I can adapt my content to the broad needs of the audience. I.e. if speaking to a youth audience in a school I might speak to how I became a professional writer, the challenges I faced, how I trained for the work, etc. This would all be subjectively situated-- I would speak about how this path was shaped by my experiences and my culture(s). This author's talk could be paired with a PowerPoint slide presentation. A creative writing prompt could also be integrated into this presentation as well as a short reading of my creative work.
If I were speaking to an adult audience I would select an excerpt to read from my range of publications that would best speak to the interests of the group. I can also develop a discussion in relation to specific themes. I could also integrate writing prompts to create a more interactive engagement. Q & A.
Areas of interest: Speculative Fiction, land-based writing, centring cultural identity/ies as the foundation of stories.
Presentation would depend upon the context of the event. I can adapt my content to the broad needs of the audience. I.e. if speaking to a youth audience in a school I might speak to how I became a professional writer, the challenges I faced, how I trained for the work, etc. This would all be subjectively situated-- I would speak about how this path was shaped by my experiences and my culture(s). This author's talk could be paired with a PowerPoint slide presentation. A creative writing prompt could also be integrated into this presentation as well as a short reading of my creative work.
