Jonathan Crisman and Jason Sexton interview Karen Tei Yamashita about motivating and influential features behind her novels and plays, which are difficult to define by genre: they have been called science fiction, speculative fiction, postmodern, postcolonial, magic realist, and most certainly experimental. Between her transnational history, her role as a maker, and the strong spatiality of her writing, Yamashita’s insights have shaped the way urban humanities are practiced. Her landmark 1997 novel, Tropic of Orange, has become a key text and model for creative practice for urban humanists based in Los Angeles.

Keywords:
Oakland, Los Angeles, the North, creative writing, LA literature, Japanese Americans, Japanese churches, spatiality, time, Urban Humanities
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2016