How to Write Poetry Like a Monster: Fiction as a Guide to Poetic Creativity in Early Modern Japan

Professor David Atherton of Harvard examines how eighteenth-century Japanese writer Ueda Akinari (1734–1809) tackled questions still debated today: Can poetic creativity be taught? Where does poetic authority come from? Does originality or intention matter? Instead of writing a formal treatise, Akinari embedded his poetic theories in fiction, voiced by alter egos such as past poets, gods, and monsters. Focusing on the story “The One-Eyed God,” Atherton explores links between monstrosity, creativity, and unconventionality, showing how fiction gave shape to ideas that lacked expository language. The talk reveals surprisingly modern pathways for authorship in the eighteenth century. Free and open