Welcome
Ken Yoshikawa’s premier book of poetry, Monster Colored Glasses (Lightship Press, 2019) 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.
“In an astounding new narrative, Monster Colored Glasses gives readers a hyper-intimate look into Ken Yoshikawa's ancestry and American experience. You'll believe you're right there with him, living his gut-wrenching personal tale of a man torn between who our country tells him to be and who he knows he is. This book is a ferocious and proud proclamation to the world that he and his people will not be erased, nor forgotten, nor whited out. Trust me when I say this is a wake-up call you'll never want to stop reading.”
—Nikki Burian, author of Letters In My Nightstand
Ken Yoshikawa is a half-Japanese third culture American poet-actor from Portland, Oregon. He has been active in the Portland spoken word community since 2014. In his theatre career he’s appeared at Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, NW Children’s Theatre, Oregon Adventure Theatre, and Portland Playhouse.
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, Hapa Mag, and Discover Nikkei.
His first full length poetry book Monster Colored Glasses is out now on Lightship Press.
© 2018-2019 Ken Yoshikawa. All Rights Reserved.