José Watanabe

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The Peruvian poet Jose Watanabe (left)

José Watanabe Varas (born April 1946 in Laredo , Departamento La Libertad , † April 25, 2007 in Lima ) was a Peruvian modern poet . He is considered to be one of the most important poets in his country alongside César Vallejo . He also worked as a screenwriter . He was also one of the most famous representatives of the Japanese minority in Peru, together with Alberto Fujimori .

Life

José Watanabe Varas spent his childhood in his birthplace; he was the fifth of eleven children of a Japanese immigrant and a mestizo . By winning the lottery, the family could afford to move to the city of Trujillo , where Watanabe spent his youth. First he attended the School of Fine Arts (Escuela de las Bellas Artes) in Trujillo with courses to train as a sculptor . He also attended courses in architecture at the Universidad de Federico Villareal. In the 1970s he was the head of children's programming at a television station. He wrote several scripts and was also artistic director for the overall production of feature films.

Watanabe's first book, Album de Familia , was published in 1971 and earned him the Premio Poeta Joven del Peru . His second book was not published until 1989. Numerous other books by him appeared before his death.

In addition to his work for the cinema, José Watanabe also worked regularly as a journalist, especially as a film critic , for various Peruvian magazines and newspapers, such as Maruja en el invierno , La ciudad y las pessoas , Alias ​​la Gringa . He was also an important writer of children's books in Peru. Watanabe was fluent in French and English. A selection of his poems has so far only been published in English in Europe under the title Path through the canfields , 1997. Watanabe's poetry is strongly influenced by Japanese poetry, here especially by haikus that he wrote about his father, a passionate haiku reader , got to know.

Jose Watanabe Varas died in Lima in April 2007 at the age of 61.

Work (selection)

  • Album de Familia (debut), 1971, poems.
  • El huso de la palabra , 1989, short stories.
  • Cosas de Cuerpo , 1999, poems.
  • La memoria del ojo - Cien anos de presencia japonesa en el Peru , (Study of the hundred-year presence of the Japanese in Peru), 1999.
  • El guardian de hielo , 2000, poems.

swell

personal data
SURNAME Watanabe, José
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Watanabe Varas, José (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Peruvian poet and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH April 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Laredo (Peru)
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 2007
Place of death Lima