Verve Poetry Press are thrilled that the wonderful Katrina Naomi has asked us to publish the poems that came out of her recent Arts Council supported writing trip to Japan. And a wonderful group of poems they are, that at once depict Japan, its traditions, its customs with great enthusiasm but also a healthy dose of heart-on-sleave puzzlement. Katrina doesn’t pretend she is an expert. She is very much an English poet abroad.

Also included are Katrina’s translations of Haiku by two Japanese masters which have previously been published in MPT magazine. Altogether, this is Katrina trying something new, but with the quality, the wonderful way with words, the earnest grappling with the perceived world that characterises all her work.