POETRY - SAM HAMASHIMA

Hamashima's poetry and spoken word are influenced by the works of Mine Okubo, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, and William Carlos Williams. Hamashima is passionate on capturing the minute details of a person's day in order to shed light on universal truths. Recurring themes and topics in their work include: Sexuality, Heritage, Nature, and Mental Illness. Hamashima's poetry and spoken word have been presented in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Portland, Maine; Raleigh, North Carolina; Boise, Idaho; and Washington D.C.. Their spoken word piece, Queer Ocean was recently featured as part of the National Equality Action Team's (NEAT) Town Hall for Fulton v. Philadelphia a supreme court decision that dramatically shifts the security of LGBTQ+ Parents in this country. Hamashima uses their poetry with intention and regularly presents their work as calls to action.

In August of 2022, Hamashima will present their anthology Family Heirlooms at the Japanese American Citizens League National Conference in Las Vegas.

ANTHOLOGIES:

DEMONS BUILD A HOUSE:
Poems & One Short-Short Story
without wounds, who are we? without scars, have we lived? Demons is a meditation on the pain that make us who we are. Winner of the Roy Cowden Fellowship ($3,000) at the University of Michigan, Demons marks Hamashima's first full length anthology.

-The American Standard
-Vegans Among Man
-The Twelfth of January was a Sunday
-A Grandon's Confession
-Gravy Fat

FAMILY HEIRLOOMS:
A Collection
Sent exclusively through the mail, Family Heirlooms parallels the same experiences and thoughts Hamashima had going through their family's archives. Family Heirlooms garnered national attention as the winner of the JACL Award in Storytelling.

-Language.
-stories.
-Pearl Harbor.
-My Father's Advice to Me.
-Desert Fences.
-To Feel ____.