W-Women Globally

Suzanne Kamata’s recent book Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering takes an unusual approach to mothering: on the base of the real women’s stories it describes what are the challenges that meet a mother who is raising a child across 2 different cultures. With us, the author shared the story about herself.

W-Women Globally:  How long have you been writing? when it all started? why?

Suzanne Kalmata, writer: I decided when I was a child that I would be a writer when I grew up. I’ve always loved words, always loved reading and writing. I started submitting my short stories to journals and magazines in a serious way when I was about 23, and got my first acceptance shortly after that.

W-WG: What is your professional background, education?

SK: I majored in English at the University of South Carolina and minored in French. I thought it would be interesting to live abroad for awhile, so after graduating from college, I applied to the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program, a program sponsored by the Ministry of Education which intends to expose Japanese public school students to English as spoken by native speakers. In my second year teaching English on the program, I met the man who would become my husband and wound up staying in Japan. I now teach part-time at a couple of local colleges and write. My first novel, Losing Kei, was published last year by Leapfrog Press in the United States, along with my first picture book, Playing for Papa (Topka Books, Spain). I’ve also edited three anthologies – Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs (Beacon Press, 2008) The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 1997), and Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering (Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing).

W-WG: Where do you sell your books?

SK: Thanks to the Internet, my books are available worldwide.

W-WG: When did you get the idea for your new book, Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering, what is the story about?

SK: This book is a collection of 20 essays by women on the unique joys and challenges of raising a child across two or more cultures. After I married a Japanese man and became the mother of bicultural children here in Japan, I was eager to learn about other mothers in the same boat – mothers dealing with language issues, and trying to share their cultural traditions while living in another country. I couldn’t find any essay collections on the topic, so I decided to put one together myself.

W-WG: What is your purpose with this book, your message to the readers? who are your readers (your target group)?

SK: I hope to create a sense of community and perhaps provide companionship to mothers like me who are raising their children with an awareness of two or more cultures. I think this book would be of interest to parents who are raising children with a partner who is of a different culture, to parents who have adopted internationally, and to expatriate parents. I think it would also be of interest to those who are raising kids in an ethnically diverse area.

W-WG:  What is your source of inspiration?

SK: My children have served as my muses for the past several years. I’m also inspired by current events, old family stories, works of art, and Japanese culture.

W-WG: Do you have any heroes, role models in literature and life?

SK: I have a great deal of respect for Pearl S. Buck, who was brought up in Chinese but managed to write many novels in her second language, English; who advocated on behalf of mixed race children in Japan; and wrote about
her mentally disabled daughter when such things were not spoken of.

W-WG: In what direction would you like go with your writing in the future?

SK: I am interested in many things, but I would like to try my hand at a young adult novel, and also historical fiction. I’d also like to write more about multicultural families and about disability.

W-WG: What are your professional/private short- and long term plans, where do you think you will be in 5 years from now?

SK: Short term: I’d like to finish the novel that I’m working on now. I’d like to publish a collection of short stories, and maybe another anthology. I’m hoping that five years from now I will still be publishing my writing. I’d love to be mentoring other writers at writing workshops in exotic locales.

Visit also Suzanne Kamata’s website.