© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2008 University of Chicago Library
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.
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.
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
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.
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.