Join us as we hear from Fredrick Cloyd, author of the book Dream of the Water Children. Born to an African American father and Japanese mother, Frederick D. Kakinami Cloyd, the narrator of Dream of the Water Children, finds himself not only to be a marginalized person by virtue of his heritage, but often a cultural drifter, as well. Indeed, both his family and his society treat him as if he doesn’t entirely belong to any world. Tautly written in spare, clear poetic prose, this memoir explores the specific contours of Japanese and African American cultures, as well as the broader experience of biracial and multicultural identity. To tell his story, Cloyd incorporates photographs and Japanese writing, history, and memory to convey both rich personal experience and significant historical detail. Bringing together vivid memories with a perceptive cultural eye, Dream of the Water Children brings readers closer to a biracial experience, opening up our understanding of the cultural richness and social challenges people from diverse backgrounds face.

The book talk will be followed by a Q&A. Discussants include Hapa professors Velina Hasu Houston (USC School of Dramatic Arts) and Duncan Williams (USC Shinso Ito Center). 

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Bios:
Fredrick D. Kakinami Cloyd is an independent scholar-artist-performer-anti-oppression activist. He was born in Japan shortly after the official U.S. Occupation of Japan to a Japanese mother and African-American father in the U.S. military. Cloyd has been published in such publications as Kartika Review, Oakland Word, Nikkei Heritage, and The Pacific Reader, as well as featured on various radio and television programs and interviews. His poetry has been featured at the Japanese National Historical Society and his presentations have been featured in various Asian-American, social justice, Queer-of-Color, Mixed-race, and African-American history websites and publications. He received his Masters in Social-Cultural Anthropology and Social Transformation. In 2017, Fredrick's essay: “On Being a Black-Japanese Amerasian Being,” was published by 2Leaf Press in the anthology: The Beiging of America: Personal Narratives About Being Mixed Race in the 21st Century. He is the author of Dream of the Water Children: Memory and Mourning in the Black Pacific. Fredrick has been a staff writer for the Hapa Japan Database Project at the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Cultures.  

Discussants: 
Velina Hasu Houston is an internationally celebrated writer with over 28 commissions in theatre and opera.  While she is foremost a playwright, her writing includes theatre, film, television, essays, poetry, and journalism. In New York, US nationwide, and globally, her work has been produced to critical acclaim at many prestigious institutions. For film and television, she has written work-for-hire for several mainstream companies and independent producers. While her work explores a variety of themes, it also is the most-produced work about the Japanese female experience in the U.S.  Honored by the Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Institute, Rockefeller Foundation, Japan Foundation, Wallace Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and others, she founded graduate studies in playwriting at the USC School of Dramatic Arts, where she is Distinguished Professor of Theatre in Dramatic Writing, Director of Dramatic Writing, and Resident Playwright. A Fulbright Scholar, she was on the U.S. Department of State's Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission for six years.  In Japan, she has served as visiting faculty at key institutions.  Her archives are with the U.S. Library of Congress and the Huntington Library. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild of America-West, Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, and League of Professional Theatre Women; and an Associate Artist of Playwrights’ Arena. Currently, she is Bookwriter for a musical project. For more information, click here. 

Duncan Ryuken Williams was born in Tokyo, Japan to a Japanese mother and British father. After growing up in Japan and England until age 17, he moved to the U.S. to attend college (Reed College) and graduate school (Harvard University, where he received a Ph.D. in Religion). Williams is currently a Professor of Religion and East Asian Languages & Cultures and the Director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture. Previously, he held the Shinjo Ito Distinguished Chair of Japanese Buddhism at the University of California at Berkeley and served as the Director of Berkeley's Center for Japanese Studies for four years. He has also been ordained since 1993 as a Buddhist priest in the Soto Zen tradition and served as the Buddhist chaplain at Harvard University from 1994-96. His latest book is American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2019). For more information, click here.