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Member Spotlights

Member Spotlight: Avery Fischer Udagawa

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? I practice a particular form of writing: translation of Japanese children’s literature into English. I think it’s important as a means of humanizing Japanese children for young readers of English.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I don’t know that literary translators experience writer’s block. I, for one, always have more works in mind that I would like to translate. There’s never enough time!

What is your favorite time to write? In the morning! I do my best drafting and revising with my morning brain.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Never give up.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? A growing interest in children’s literature in English translation, thanks in great part to initiatives such as #WorldKidLit Month in September.

Avery Fischer Udagawa’s translation of Temple Alley Summer written by Sachiko Kashiwaba and illustrated by Miho Satake is out now with Restless Books.