Isolarii #17
72 x 108 mm (tiny!), 324 pages
Bi-monthly
First published in 2020
Editor: Sebastian Clark
Translator: Adam Sutherland
Cover by: Alaska Alaska
‘Dunderhead’
A series by Common Era, the seventeenth edition of the diminutive Isolarii (meaning ‘island texts’) arrives wrapped in a hair-textured forest green cover, adorned with the press’s signature font in hot pink.
Published with the support of the Japan House London Trust, ‘Dunderhead’ marks the English-language debut of 92-year-old Japanese writer Tomoko Yoshida. Known for her award-winning, ‘clinically precise’ yet surreal prose, Yoshida paints worlds filled with darkness and tragedy, with quiet affection for the ‘dunderheads’ who inhabit them. Drawn from work written between 1966 and 1967, the three stories within mark a long overdue landmark English-language introduction to of one of the most singular voices of the Japanese avant-garde, celebrating a prolific career spanning over six decades.
It’s this one thing (on Isolarii #5): ‘Each edition of the tiniest publication on magCulture’s shelves, isolarii, is by its very nature a (miniaturised, printed) cousin of the ‘It’s this one thing’ column. Published once every two months, the series is ‘a world of many worlds’ where, with each new addition, a different niche subject is rather beautifully and deftly explored...’
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