David
Mura is a poet, creative nonfiction writer, critic, playwright
and performance artist. His second book of poetry The Colors
of Desire (1995, Anchor-Random), won the Carl Sandburg Literary
Award from the Friends of the Chicago Public Library. His first,
After We Lost Our Way (Carnegie Mellon U. Press), won
the 1989 National Poetry Series Contest.
Mura
has written two memoirs: Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei
(Anchor-Random), which won a 1991 Josephine Miles Book Award
from the Oakland PEN and was listed in the New York Times Notable
Books of Year, and Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey
of Race, Sexuality and Identity (1996, Anchor-Random). His
book of critical essays, Song for Uncle Tom, Tonto & Mr.
Moto: Poetry & Identity , appeared inthe U. of Michigan
Press Poets on Poetry series (2002). Along with novelist Alexs
Pate, Mura has created and performs a multi-media performance
piece, Secret Colors , about their lives as men of color
and Asian American-African American relations. A film adaptation
of this piece, Slowly, This , was broadcast in the PBS
series ALIVE TV.
Mura
has served as the Artistic Director of the Asian American Renaissance
and has taught at the the Voices of the Nation Association, Hamline
Univeristy, University of Minnesota, St. Olaf College, the Loft,
and the University of Oregon. Among his awards are a Lila Wallace
Reader's Digest Writers' Award, a US/Japan Creative Artist Exchange
Fellowship, NEA Fellowships, Bush Fellowships, and Loft-McKnight
Writers' Awards. He gives readings and speaks on the issues of
race and diversity throughout the country. He lives in Minneapolis
with his wife, Dr. Susan Sencer, and three children, Samantha,
Nikko, and Tomo.
BOA
books by David Mura:
Angels for the Burning
