Julie Otsuka Interviewed by Andrew Duncan on IndieBound
What made you choose Japanese-American internment camps as the subject matter for your first novel?
I feel like the subject matter chose me. I had never planned to write a novel about the camps -- too daunting, subject-matter-wise, and who was I to tell this particular story anyway? Would anyone even want to hear about the camps? But images of the war seemed to keep surfacing in my work, so clearly the camps were something I needed to write about.
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"Simmering Perfection" by William Nakayama on Goldsea.com
Every first novelist daydreams of having the editors at a prestigious literary house fall in love with the manuscript over a weekend and call Monday with a handsome offer. Julie Otsuka may be the exception. read more
Densho archive interview (free guest registration required)
http://archive.densho.org/Core/SegmentsByInterview.aspx?id=234