Kizuna: Fiction for Japan

It seems there is a second fiction anthology out there to benefit the tsunami relief, and since I am the kind of person who believes in sharing this kind of information, I would like to introduce you to the New Sun Rising: Stories for Japan.

They are currently open for submissions for the following:
— your stories, poems, and artwork
— your tweets and blogs and vlogs and facebooks
— your eyeballs and discerning literary and artistic judgement

So if you are interested in getting involved with them, head to their page and click on the Submissions button.

After a couple days deliberation, the title of the book has been decided upon: Kizuna: Fiction for Japan.

“Kizuna” is the Japanese word for “emotional ties” or “bonds”. “Kizuna” has been a buzzword in Japan for a few years now, so perhaps it’s appropriate as the authors of this anthology want to bond with the survivors of the Tohoku disaster (and Japan in general) in a way that is not possible to put directly into words.

My gratitude to all the participants (authors and readers alike) who posted their opinions at our FaceBook group.

EDIT: After noting that there is another publication with the subtitle “Stories for Japan”, I decided to change ours to “Fiction for Japan”.

Since there were a great number of authors from a variety of different genres who wanted to submit work to anthology, I thought it best as editor, NOT to limit the genre. Thus the anthology will offer up a little something for all readers. Even if a reader is not particularly fond of a specific genre, they can still enjoy the book as a whole because each story is only 1000 words long, and there is a good balance of all genres.

Genres submitted so far include (but are not limited to): crime, humor, dark humor, new weird, bugpunk, gothic, satire, fantasy, and mythology. That said, we are still weeks away from the deadline, and there are science fiction authors, romance authors, historical fiction authors, samurai fiction authors, lightnovel authors and a full two-thirds of the crew involved yet to submit. So don’t fret if you don’t see your favorite genre included yet.

As for tone and theme, while there was no limitation set on tone, authors from unanimously agreed that they did not want this to be a disaster-themed work.

If you have any questions about the book, feel free to contact me at FaceBook, Twitter, or made.in.dna AT GMail.

Today is full of good news.

Italian author and Japanese-Italian translator Massimo Soumaré sent me the three stories Davide Mana localized into English, plus two that Davide and Massimo themselves wrote in English.

Also received Spanish author Lucia Gonzalez Lavado’s and found a translator with experience in fiction to translate it into English. Thanks David Church, and welcome to the team.

“We are a group of writers in Japan who are publishing an ebook to benefit survivors of the March 11, 2011 Tohoku-Kanto earthquake and tsunami. This project has two goals: to raise money for earthquake victims and to help overseas readers understand more about Japan and the kindness and hospitality of its people. All proceeds from the sale of the ebook will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross.

Chapter themes are:

Tohoku people & their kindness
Foreigners’ stories of adapting to Japanese culture and customs
Daily life in Japan
Coming to feel that Japan is home; experiences of feeling welcome here
Discovering beautiful places in Japan
Japanese people’s strength during disasters
Traveling in Japan & learning more about the country/culture (we have great stories from both foreign & Japan-raised writers)
Funny stories about culture/language mistakes or travel mishaps”

More info at Write for Tohoku

We are closing on a cover design. German artist Christian Krank has sent me three different covers, and we have decided on an amalgamation of two of them. So hopefully we can get a design up for you within the next week or so.

Simply put, it is a charity fiction project collecting all-new, all-original, open-genre flash fiction stories from various authors around the world (including authors from Japan, Italy, Australia, the USA…). 100% of the proceeds will be given to a proper charity (like Red Cross Japan) to help the survivors of the 2011 earthquake/tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan.

What it will not be though, is a recounting of tales fictional or otherwise of the event, or a disaster-themed project. All the authors who have signed on board from all countries agreed that they did not want to create something that could be construed as depressing.

There is no current release date set. Please watch this site for more information.