Aiaigasa
Quentin S. Crisp
with illustrations by Beehive Crick
Aiaigasa—1. (adverb) under one umbrella 2. (noun) a romantically shared umbrella.
Here, under one umbrella, shared by author and illustrator, are poems, zuihitsu (essays) and illustrations from a three-week sojourn in Japan in the autumn of 2015.
Covering over a dozen locations between Osaka in the south and Naruko in the north, this travelogue now and then crosses the older path of Basho, geographically, and the footsteps of the travellers awaken echoes of the past, both cultural and personal.
Far from a guidebook, this is a bewilderment of detours and digressions, a celebration of the intersections of shared experience, and a time-steeped meditation on the meaning of a life’s attachment to a place that is not home.
About the Author
Quentin S. Crisp was born in 1972, in North Devon, U.K. Leaving A-level college without grades, he spent five years working with Wolf and Water Arts Company as an actor and stage manager before going on to study Japanese at Durham University, graduating in the year 2000. His first collection of fiction, The Nightmare Exhibition, was published in 2001, by BJM Press, while he was teaching English in Taiwan. He returned to Japan later that year to research Japanese literature on a scholarship at Kyoto University, studying in particular the works of Higuchi Ichiyo. He returned to Britain in 2003, and his second collection, Morbid Tales, was published by Tartarus Press in 2004. Since then he has had work released through a number of publishers, including the novella Shrike (PS Publishing), which was shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Award in 2009. His work has been translated into German and Spanish and he was a speaking guest at the 15th International Book Fair in Mexico City. He currently resides in a damp flat in the London Borough of Bexley, and works as a freelance writer and editor. His first collection of poetry, September, was published by Snuggly Books in May, 2016.
Paperback, 164 pages. Release date: June 5, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1943813650
Price: US$16.00
Hardcover, 166 pages. Limited edition of 60 copies.
Release date: June 5, 2018
Price: US$29.00