Hisaye Yamamoto is an American writer best known for her short story collection, Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories, published in 1988. Her work is diverse and provocative and her stories have influenced many young writers and filmmakers. This article focuses on her life and work.
Her father
Hisaye Yamamoto was born in Redondo Beach, California. Her father was a farmer. Her mother, however, was well-educated and was inspired by literature and the arts. Her father’s education did not inspire her to pursue an education, but her mother’s passion for learning did.
Hisaye Yamamoto’s father was a Japanese American who moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, with his two younger brothers. He found work as a domestic, but found the town unfriendly and the conditions harsh. Luckily, he made friends with biracial Nisei socialist Yone Stafford, who organized financial aid for the inmates. He then returned home to take care of his young family, adopting a Sansei child.
Yamamoto’s family was interned at Poston, Arizona. He was twenty years old when they arrived. He had two brothers, one of whom was killed in combat in the United States army. While he was in the United States, Yamamoto was able to work at the Poston Chronicle. She also began writing for the paper and published her first fiction piece in the paper. In addition to her journalism, Yamamoto also wrote about her experience of being uprooted. As a writer, Yamamoto was able to deal with the psychological uprooting that her family suffered. Her first short story was titled “Death Rides the Rails to Poston” and was later added to a collection of short stories called “Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories.”
Her husband
Hisaye Yamamoto was born in 1921 and was an influential writer during World War II. He published many short stories that dealt with the plight of Japanese Americans in internment camps. His works also explored the generation gap between Japanese immigrants and their children. His short story collection, Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories, won an Association of Asian American Studies Award.
Yamamoto began writing regularly at age fourteen. His column, titled “Napoleon’s Last Stand,” featured dialogue with his brother, Kenny Murase. During his time with the newspaper, Yamamoto developed an interest in foreign languages and majored in German, French and Latin.
Yamamoto’s short stories have been widely published in anthologies, including Asian American literature collections and women writers anthologies. The author’s fiction has been compared to Flannery O’Connor’s, Grace Paley, and Katherine Mansfield.
Her work
Hisaye Yamamoto is a Japanese American writer. Her work has been compared to that of masters of the short story form, including Flannery O’Connor, Grace Paley, and Katherine Mansfield. Her short stories are poignant and witty, and offer insight into the lives of Japanese American immigrants in America.
Yamamoto began writing fiction at age fourteen and received her first literary magazine acceptance at age 27. Before that, she had received dozens of rejection slips. She wrote dozens of short stories, many of which were published in journals and short story collections. Her best known collection, Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories, was published in 1988.
In 1945, Yamamoto arrived in Los Angeles. She applied for a job at the Los Angeles Tribune, a black weekly. The position did not last long, but she received her first acceptance to a literary magazine at age twenty-seven. Soon after, she quit journalism and devoted herself to writing. Her family supported her and gave her an insurance bequest. In 1948, she adopted a five-month-old boy.