WELCOME TO EXCOGITATING OVER COFFEE!

AND THE RIVER FLOWED AS A RAFT OF CORPSES

Poetry by Yamaguchi Tsutomu
Translated and Edited by Chad R. Diehl

And the River Flowed as a Raft of Corpses is the first official collection of translated tanka poetry composed by Yamaguchi Tsutomu (1916-2010), a survivor of both atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Chad Diehl, the translator and creator of this volume, lived with Yamaguchi in Nagasaki during the summer of 2009 to gain insight and instruction in order to create the most accurate translations possible. Diehl includes in the book a lengthy introductory essay about Yamaguchi's experience to provide essential context for the poems, and he has also written a preface in Japanese for readers in Japan. He has since published an academic article on Nagasaki survivor poetry, which includes an analysis of Yamaguchi's work.

    Diehl selected and translated a total of sixty-five of Yamaguchi's tanka poems to commemorate the sixty-fifth anniversary of the bombings in 2010, when the book was first published. The book also includes numerous photographs and images of Yamaguchi's hand-written poems and calligraphy.  Some of Yamaguchi's paintings add an additional layer to the book, and Diehl hopes that the many other poems included that do not address the bombings will provide readers with a better understanding of Yamaguchi's life and personality.

​

Chad Diehl originally founded Excogitating Over Coffee Publishing in order to publish this book. He is working now to keep EOC running in order to provide a creative outlet for like-minded authors and artists.