Poet. He was a Japanese poet for the Proletarian literature movement, which was literature written by the working class about the working class for political reasons. Poets and writers in his day risked arrest for thought-crime. Many recanted; Oguma stood firm. Born in Otaru on the island Hokkaido, Japan, he was the son of an unwed mother. Most of this area of Japan was still wilderness being brash, raw, and crude; those words can also describe the lifestyle that he knew as a child. After working several odd jobs, including being a watchman at a poultry farm, he became a newspaper reporter in 1922. It was around this time that he started writing poetry. Only five years before his early death, he became an established poet in 1935 with the first publication of his collection of poems. In 1940, using the pen-name of Asahi Tarou, he wrote an early science fiction manga entitled “Mars Expeditio”; this work has greatly influenced other writers. He was noted for writing children's stories, comic books and literary criticism. His works have been translated into English by David G. Goodman and Arthur Binard. The prestigious “Hideo Oguma” poetry award is presented for new poetry writers. Some of his published writings include “Long, Long Autumn Nights: Selected Poems of Oguma Hideo”, “Oguma Hideo Fairy Tale Collection”, “Oguma Hideo Collection of Poems”, and “Yakareta Sakana Grilled Fish” By Oguma Hideo ; Translated By Arthur Binard ; Etchings By Ichikawa Yoko, which can be purchased for $135. In the poet’s own words: “It is not easy being a knight of freedom, Living in a perpetual battle, With poverty like this.”
Poet. He was a Japanese poet for the Proletarian literature movement, which was literature written by the working class about the working class for political reasons. Poets and writers in his day risked arrest for thought-crime. Many recanted; Oguma stood firm. Born in Otaru on the island Hokkaido, Japan, he was the son of an unwed mother. Most of this area of Japan was still wilderness being brash, raw, and crude; those words can also describe the lifestyle that he knew as a child. After working several odd jobs, including being a watchman at a poultry farm, he became a newspaper reporter in 1922. It was around this time that he started writing poetry. Only five years before his early death, he became an established poet in 1935 with the first publication of his collection of poems. In 1940, using the pen-name of Asahi Tarou, he wrote an early science fiction manga entitled “Mars Expeditio”; this work has greatly influenced other writers. He was noted for writing children's stories, comic books and literary criticism. His works have been translated into English by David G. Goodman and Arthur Binard. The prestigious “Hideo Oguma” poetry award is presented for new poetry writers. Some of his published writings include “Long, Long Autumn Nights: Selected Poems of Oguma Hideo”, “Oguma Hideo Fairy Tale Collection”, “Oguma Hideo Collection of Poems”, and “Yakareta Sakana Grilled Fish” By Oguma Hideo ; Translated By Arthur Binard ; Etchings By Ichikawa Yoko, which can be purchased for $135. In the poet’s own words: “It is not easy being a knight of freedom, Living in a perpetual battle, With poverty like this.”
Bio by: Linda Davis
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