Write Now With Karen Hill Anton
Today's Write Now interview features Karen Hill Anton, author and newspaper columnist living in Japan.
Who are you?
My name is Karen Hill Anton. I am a columnist, memoirist, and novelist. I'm married to Billy Anton, my best friend since we were teenagers. We have four children and eleven grandchildren. I’m originally from New York City. My home, since 1975, is in rural Shizuoka province, Japan.
What do you write?
I began writing in 1978 when my first article was published as a Sunday feature in the Japan Times—Japan’s oldest and largest English-language newspaper. I later wrote a regular column for the paper titled “Crossing Cultures.” Many readers commented the column gave them a glimpse of the “real Japan” as I wrote about rural community life. Beginning in 1983, I was invited to write a regular column for a regional edition of the national newspaper Chunichi Shimbun. Titled “Another Look” that column addressed an exclusively Japanese audience, giving them 'another look' at their society from the perspective of an American woman. That perspective included my participation in Japanese society from the PTA to serving as a member of a Prime Minister’s committee focused on international education.