University of Chicago Library

Guide to the Leza Lowitz Papers 1982-2005

Acknowledgments

The Leza Lowitz Papers were processed and preserved as part of the "Uncovering New Chicago Archives Project," funded with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Descriptive Summary

Title:	Lowitz, Leza. Papers
Dates:	1982-2005
Size:	16 linear feet (25 boxes)
Repository:	Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.
Abstract:	Leza Lowitz, writer, editor, and Japanese translator. The Leza Lowitz Papers contain correspondence, photographs, Japanese ephemera, articles, literary reviews, art and literary publications, artwork, drafts and manuscripts, audio-visual material. The collection documents Lowitz’s work as a professional writer and translator.

Information on Use

Access

Series III, Audio-Visual, does not include access copies for part or all of the material in this series. Researchers will need to consult with staff before requesting material from this series.

The remainder of the collection is open for research.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Lowitz, Leza. Papers, [Box#, Folder#], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

Leza Lowitz was born December 29, 1962 in San Francisco. Lowitz received a B.A. in English Literature from the University of California-Berkeley 1984 and a M.A. in English from San Francisco State University 1988. She was a lecturer at San Francisco State University, Rikkyo University in Tokyo, and Tokyo University.

Lowitz worked as an advertising copywriter for Kanebo Cosmetics. She wrote about Japanese literature and art for the Japan Times, Art in America, the Asahi Evening News and Tokyo Journal, and The San Francisco Chronicle. Her essays on expatriate life were broadcast regularly on NHK Radio’s “Japan Diary.” Lowitz, alongside Edgar Honetschlager, co-wrote a Japanese film entitled MILK. She was also a corresponding editor for Mānoa.

Lowitz’s publications include, NPR’s “The Sound of Writing;” Yellow Silk; Awaiting a Lover; An Eye For An Eye: Poets on 9/11, etc.; Translations in A Chorus for Peace; A ZigZag Joy; It’s A Woman’s World; and Haiku: The Poetry of Zen.

She was honored with the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, a fellowship in Translation from the National Endowment for the Arts, an Independent Scholar Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the California Arts Council Artists Fellowship in Poetry, the Tokyo Journal Fiction Translation Award and, the Japanophile Fiction Award.

Lowitz married Japanese writer and translator Shogo Oketani in March 1995. She is currently reviewing books for KQED Radio’s “Pacific Time,” writing and teaching yoga.

Scope Note

The Leza Lowitz Papers are organized into four series: Series I, Personal; Series II, Publications and Translations; Series III, Audio-Visual; and Series IV, Oversize. The Leza Lowitz Papers contain correspondence, photographs, Japanese ephemera, articles, literary reviews, art and literary publications, artwork, drafts and manuscripts, audio-visual material. The collection documents Lowitz’s work as a professional writer and translator.

Series I, Personal, contains announcements, biographies, correspondence, class notes, photographs, and Japanese ephemera. The announcements feature events and poetry readings given by Lowitz and other literary figures. Biographies are from the Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series, Volume 24 and feature poet Jack Foley and Lowitz. The class notes are from a course, “Thinking in Film,” given by Professor David Korr. The correspondence is kept in Lowitz's original order and arranged chronologically. The letters document the publishing of Lowitz’s work and include correspondence between Lowitz and literary publishers such as Stone Bridge Press, Orion Literary Agency, Graywolf Press, and Yellow Silk. Also included is correspondence between fellow Japanese translators and literary friends and colleagues. Some correspondence is in Japanese. Japanese ephemera includes a Japanese comic book, I Saw It, and a museum booklet. See Series II and Series IV for additional correspondence.

Series II, Publications and Translations, contains manuscripts, drafts, Japanese translations of poetry, short stories, and essays, correspondence, artwork, articles, interviews, reviews, and journals. The articles feature Donald Richie. There are drafts and manuscripts of poems, fiction, translations, and a film script, MILK, translated and edited by Lowitz. Interviews are conducted by Lowitz. The reviews are written by Lowitz as well as others reviewing Lowitz’s work. The artwork features the work of artists David Lynch, Andres Serrano, and Yukinori Yanagi. The journals, including Mānoa, Tokyo Journal, Runes, Harper’s, and San Francisco Focus, feature Lowitz’s poetry, articles, essays, and translations. Some journals and publications are in Japanese, such as The Subaru Monthly, Blue Flame, Poetry Kanto, and Japan Poetry Review. Lowitz edited and translated “Boy’s Town” and “Four Hours Sleep.” She was also the editor of Donald Richie’s The Japan Journals, The Erotic Gods, and A Richie Reader. See Series IV for additional publications and translations.

Series III, Audio-Visual, contains audio cassettes, compact discs, and video cassettes of literary interviews, poetry readings, a documentary, and a film. The documentary is on the children of Japanese internment camps and there are video cassettes of the film MILK. Literary interviews include those of Allan Ginsberg, Jack Foley, and Lowitz. The NHK broadcasts feature readings given by Lowitz. Also included are readings by Jack Foley and Morgan Gibson. Digital documentation of a protest march Lowitz participated in is included. An interview conducted by Lowitz with Nadine Gordimer is featured in The Study of Current English, 1993.

Series IV, Oversize, contains artwork, Japanese translations, drafts, correspondence, reviews, and journals. The manuscripts, translations, and correspondence are for the creation of a Japanese women’s poetry anthology compiled by Lowitz. Articles document the Suntory Beer Hall anti-Nazi protest movement. There is a film promotion kit for the Japanese film Natasha and a poster for the Japanese film MILK. Also included is the first draft of a novel, Kakoe no Tsuyoka, by Shogo Oketani, written in Japanese.

Related Resources

Browse finding aids by topic.

Elliott, William I. Papers

Stroud, Drew McCord (Ryu Makoto). Papers

Subject Headings

Lowitz, Leza
Richie, Donald, 1924-
Art, Japanese
Japan -- Civilization -- 1945-
Haiku -- Translations into English
Japanese poetry -- Women authors -- Translations into English
Japanese poetry -- 20th century -- Translations into English
Waka -- Translations into English

INVENTORY

Series I: Personal

Box 1 Folder 1

Announcements, undated

Box 1 Folder 2

Biography, Jack Foley, 1996

Box 1 Folder 3

Biography, Lowitz, undated

Box 1 Folder 4

Class Notes, undated

Box 1 Folder 5

Correspondence, 1982-2003

Box 1 Folder 6

Correspondence, 1989-1996

Box 1 Folder 7

Correspondence, 1989-2003

Box 1 Folder 8

Correspondence, 1989-2003

Box 1 Folder 9

Correspondence, 1990-2004

Box 2 Folder 1

Correspondence, 1990-2004

Box 2 Folder 2

Correspondence, 1991-1995

Box 2 Folder 3

Correspondence, 1991-1997

Box 2 Folder 4

Correspondence, 1991-1997

Box 2 Folder 5

Correspondence, 1991-1998

Box 2 Folder 6

Correspondence, 1991-1998

Box 2 Folder 7

Correspondence, Publishers, 1991-1998

Box 2 Folder 8

Correspondence, Publishers, 1991-1998

Box 2 Folder 9

Correspondence, 1991-2000

Box 3 Folder 1

Correspondence, 1991-2002

Box 3 Folder 2

Correspondence, 1992-1997

Box 3 Folder 3

Correspondence, 1992-2000

Box 3 Folder 4

Correspondence, 1992-2000

Box 3 Folder 5

Correspondence, Donald Richie, 1993-2004

Box 3 Folder 6

Correspondence, Donald Richie, 1993-2004

Box 3 Folder 7

Correspondence, 1994-1997

Box 3 Folder 8

Correspondence, 1995-1997

Box 4 Folder 1

Correspondence, MILK, 1995-1997

Box 4 Folder 2

Correspondence, MILK, 1995-1997

Box 4 Folder 3

Correspondence, Japan Society Talk, 2002

Box 4 Folder 4

Grant Application, 1993

Box 4 Folder 5

Grant Application, 1997

Box 4 Folder 6

Himeyuri Peace Museum, undated

Box 4 Folder 7

I Saw It: The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, 1982

Box 4 Folder 8

Photographs, Donald Richie, 1992-1993

Box 4 Folder 9

Photographs, Lowitz and Others, 1993-1994

Box 4 Folder 10

Program, Memorial Service for David Silverstein, 1992

Series II: Publications and Translations

Box 4 Folder 11

All Asia Review, 1990

Box 4 Folder 12

Art in America, 1991

Box 4 Folder 13

Art in America, 1991-1992

Box 4 Folder 14

Art in America, 1992

Box 5 Folder 1

Articles, 1993-2004

Box 5 Folder 2

"Arts for a Better World," 1987

Box 5 Folder 3

Artwork, 1990-1994

Box 5 Folder 4

Artwork, Andres Serrano, 1991

Box 5 Folder 5

Artwork, David Lynch, 1991

Box 5 Folder 6

Artwork, Yukinori Yanagi, 1991

Box 5 Folder 7

Athena Incognito 10, 1989

Box 5 Folder 8

Being A Broad, 1998

Box 5 Folder 9

Blue Flame, 1994-2000

Box 5 Folder 10

"Boy's Town: The Concrete Murder," 1990-1994

Box 5 Folder 11

"Boy's Town: The Concrete Murder," 1990-1994

Box 6 Folder 1

"Boy's Town: The Concrete Murder," 1993

Box 6 Folder 2

"Boy's Town: The Concrete Murder," 1993

Box 6 Folder 3

Brick, 2005

Box 6 Folder 4

Convolvulus, 1998-2001

Box 6 Folder 5

Coracle, 1998-1999

Box 6 Folder 6

The Dickens, 2000-2001

Box 6 Folder 7

Donald Richie and Kenkichi Ito, The Erotic Gods, 1967

Box 6 Folder 8

Donald Richie, The Japan Journals, 1996

Box 6 Folder 9

Donald Richie, The Japan Journals, 1996

Box 7 Folder 1

Donald Richie, The Japan Journals, 1996

Box 7 Folder 2

Donald Richie, Manuscripts, 1992-2004

Box 7 Folder 3

Donald Richie, Manuscripts, 1993-2004

Box 7 Folder 4

Donald Richie, A Richie Reader, 1947-1994

Box 7 Folder 5

Electric Rexroth, 1994

Box 7 Folder 6

Eye-Ai, 2004

Box 7 Folder 7

Five Fingers Review 12, 1993

Box 8 Folder 1

"Four Hours Sleep," 1993

Box 8 Folder 2

"Four Hours Sleep," 1993-1994

Box 8 Folder 3

"Four Hours Sleep," 1994

Box 8 Folder 4

"Four Hours Sleep," 1994

Box 8 Folder 5

Harper's, 1992

Box 8 Folder 6

Hummingbird, 1993

Box 8 Folder 7

Ink 4, 1990

Box 8 Folder 8

Interviews, 1992-1993

Box 8 Folder 9

Japanese Environment Monitor, 1991-1995

Box 8 Folder 10

Japan Poetry Review, 1995

Box 9 Folder 1

Japan Scope, 1994

Box 9 Folder 2

Japanese Journals, 1994-1998

Box 9 Folder 3

Japanese Journals, 2000-2005

Box 9 Folder 4

Japanese Literature Today, 1992

Box 9 Folder 5

Japanophile, 1999-2000

Box 9 Folder 6

JSelect, 2004

Box 9 Folder 7

Kanebo Cosmetics, undated

Box 9 Folder 8

Kyoto Journal, 1999

Box 9 Folder 9

Lines to Unfold By, undated

Box 9 Folder 10

Magazine, 1990

Box 9 Folder 11

Mānoa, 1991

Box 10 Folder 1

Mānoa, 1992

Box 10 Folder 2

Mānoa, 1993

Box 10 Folder 3

Mānoa, 1993

Box 10 Folder 4

Mānoa, 1995

Box 10 Folder 5

Mānoa, 1996

Box 10 Folder 6

Mānoa: Century of Dream, 1997

Box 11 Folder 1

Mānoa: Inland Shores, 1998

Box 11 Folder 2

Mānoa: Secret Places, 2001

Box 11 Folder 3

Mānoa: Silenced Voices, 2000

Box 11 Folder 4

Mānoa: Silence to Light, 1999-2000

Box 11 Folder 5

Mānoa: Silence to Light, 1999-2000

Box 11 Folder 6

Mānoa: Silence to Light, 1999-2000

Box 12 Folder 1

Mānoa: Song of the Snow Lion, 2000

Box 12 Folder 2

Mānoa: Special Japan Feature, 1995

Box 12 Folder 3

Mānoa: Special Japan Feature, drafts 1992-1995

Box 12 Folder 4

Mānoa: The Wounded Season, 1999

Box 12 Folder 5

Mānoa: The Zigzag Way, 1998

Box 12 Folder 6

Marion Poetry Center Anthology, 2000

Box 12 Folder 7

Metropolis, 2004

Box 12 Folder 8

MILK, Drafts, 1995-1999

Box 13 Folder 1

MILK, 1st Draft, 1995

Box 13 Folder 2

MILK, 4th Draft, 1996

Box 13 Folder 3

MILK, Notecards, 1995-1996

Box 13 Folder 4

MILK, Reciepts, 1995-1996

Box 13 Folder 5

MILK, Script, 1996

Box 13 Folder 6

MILK, Script Workbook, 1995-1996

Box 13 Folder 7

Modern Haiku, 2003

Box 13 Folder 8

Ms. Special Issue, 1995

Box 13 Folder 9

My Neighbors Life: The San Damiano Anthology, 1999

Box 13 Folder 10

National Endowment for the Arts: Operation Homecoming, undated

Box 13 Folder 11

National Institute for Research Advancement Annual Report, 1993

Box 13 Folder 12

National Institute for Research Advancement Research Output,1992

Box 14 Folder 1

Noctiluca, 1992

Box 14 Folder 2

The New England Journal of Medicine, 1990

Box 14 Folder 3

Out of Line, 2003

Box 14 Folder 4

"Outward Bound—The Millennial Haiku Circle," 1998

Box 14 Folder 5

The Plaza, 1993

Box 14 Folder 6

Poetry Kanto, 1993-2001

Box 14 Folder 7

Prairie Schooner, 1996

Box 14 Folder 8

Printed Matter, 1990-1991

Box 14 Folder 9

Printed Matter, 1992-1994

Box 14 Folder 10

Reviews, 1997-2000

Box 14 Folder 11

Reviews, by Lowitz, 1984-2000

Box 14 Folder 12

Reviews, A Long Rainy Season and Other Side River, 1992-1995

Box 15 Folder 1

Rooms, 1998

Box 15 Folder 2

Runes: A Review of Poetry, 2002

Box 15 Folder 3

San Francisco Focus, 1986

Box 15 Folder 4

The San Francisco Review, 1997

Box 15 Folder 5

San Francisco State University Magazine, 2001

Box 15 Folder 6

Sculptus, 1991

Box 15 Folder 7

Shearsman, 1993

Box 15 Folder 8

Shirim: A Jewish Poetry Journal, 1988

Box 15 Folder 9

"Snow White/Snow Write: Donald Barthelme and the Making of a

Modern Fairy Tale In Memoriam 1931-1989," undated

Box 15 Folder 10

Studies in American Literature, 1991

Box 15 Folder 11

The Subaru Monthly, 2001

Box 15 Folder 12

Tokyo Journal, 1992-1994

Box 15 Folder 13

Tokyo Time Out, 1991

Box 16 Folder 1

Tokyo Today, 1990-1993

Box 16 Folder 2

Tokyo Today, 1993-1994

Box 16 Folder 3

Transfer, 1987-1988

Box 16 Folder 4

Translations, Lowitz, 1997

Box 16 Folder 5

Translations, Lowitz, 1997-1998

Box 16 Folder 6

Translations, Lowitz, 1998

Box 16 Folder 7

Translations, Lowitz, Signed Contracts, undated

Box 16 Folder 8

Translations, Lowitz, Signed Contracts, undated

Box 17 Folder 1

Translations, Lowitz, Tanka Poetry, 2002

Box 17 Folder 2

Trends, 1993

Box 17 Folder 3

Tsubushi, 1991

Box 17 Folder 4

Tundra, 1999-2001

Box 17 Folder 5

Ultra Haiku Magazine, 1998

Box 17 Folder 6

Weatherhill, 1994-1995

Box 17 Folder 7

Winds, 1992-1994

Box 17 Folder 8

Wingspan, 2002-2003

Box 17 Folder 9

Wingspan, 2003-2004

Box 17 Folder 10

Yellow Silk, 1994

Box 18 Folder 1

Yoga Poems, Drafts, 2005

Box 18 Folder 2

Yoga Voices, 2000

Box 18 Folder 3

Yominono, undated

Series III: Audio-Visual

Box 18 Folder 4

Audio Cassette, Interviews, 1976, 1996-1997

Box 18 Folder 5

Audio Cassette, Jack Foley, 1996

Box 18 Folder 6

Audio Cassette, Kenkyusha, 1992

Box 18 Folder 7

Audio Cassette, NHK Broadcasts, 1992-1994

Box 18 Folder 8

Audio Cassette, NHK Broadcasts, 1992-1994

Box 19 Folder 1

Audio Cassette, Poetry Readings, 1991-2001

Box 19 Folder 2

Audio Cassette, The Study of Current English, 1993

Box 19 Folder 3

Compact Disc, Collected Poems of Shuntaro Tanikawa, 2000

Box 19 Folder 4

Compact Disc, Generator 12, undated

Box 19 Folder 5

Compact Disc, Japanese, undated

Box 19 Folder 6

Compact Disc, Lowitz Peace March, 2003

Box 19 Folder 7

Compact Disc, Masters of Modern Japanese Poetry, undated

Box 20 Folder 1

Compact Disc, The Oracles of Distraction, 1989

Box 20 Folder 2

Compact Disc, Poetry Readings, 2001-2003

Box 20 Folder 3

Video Cassette, Children of the Camps, 1999

Box 20 Folder 4

Video Cassette, MILK, circa 1996

Series IV: Oversize

Box 21 Folder 1

Articles, circa 1990

Box 21 Folder 2

Articles, by Lowitz, circa 1991

Box 21 Folder 3

Artwork, undated

Box 21 Folder 4

The Bloomsbury Review, 2001

Box 21 Folder 5

Correspondence, 1989-1995

Box 21 Folder 6