Monster Colored Glasses

Hapa Mag - December 11, 2019

 
A black and white illustration of a faceless person with long black hair looking into a tv with a broken screen showing themselves. Other identical, non-broken tvs are next to them. They are wearing a kimono

Ken Yoshikawa is set to release his first full length poetry book, Monster Colored Glasses. In 2019 he released his first spoken word album Quiver (Lightship Press), and performed his autobiographical poetic solo play The Art of Fly Swatting at the Pan Asian Repertory off-broadway in NYC. His poems have appeared in Nailed Magazine, Letters from the Void, Discover Nikkei, and right here in Hapa Mag.

Monster Colored Glasses will be released this December, also published on Lightship Press. You can pre-order at yoshikawaken.com.

“Monster Colored Glasses is a timeless quest to transcend into adulthood unfolding in our tumultuous crux of history. Through his quest the poet and reader both will scale the broken branches of a family tree, brave the barrows of abandonment, abuse, and racism, and traverse morasses of toxic masculinity all in search of understanding, acceptance, and a greater kindness for ourselves and others. To read these pages leads to many treasures, but while the rewards may be great, be warned: here there be monsters.”

 
An image promoting preorders for the poetry book "Monster Colored Glasses," featuring the book cover and an image of the author throwing around calligraphy sheets. A promo quote is featured on the left
 
 
A headshot of a mixed Asian man with a soft smile. He has short dark hair and is wearing a grey shirt against a black background

Ken Yoshikawa is a half-Japanese, quarter Italian, quarter Irish actor and spoken word poet from Portland, OR. He received his B.A in Theatre Arts from Reed College. A big fan of ensembles and Shakespeare, he has recently been into writing sonnets for fellow theatre artists. He likes spinach and soft cheese, chocolate and tea, spicy eggs and astrology. You can find him walking in parks while memorizing his lines, or eating tacos at any of the many Portland food cart pods.

Why not follow him on IG at @yoshakeawaken and at @backflip.jupiter!