Andrew Campana, assistant professor of Asian studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, has received the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for East Asian Studies from the Modern Language Association of America for his book “Expanding Verse: Japanese Poetry at the Edge of Media,” a study of work by poets who push the genre in unexpected directions.
The prize is awarded annually for an outstanding scholarly work in East Asian or East Asian diaspora literary or linguistic studies. It will be presented on Jan. 9 during the Modern Language Association’s annual convention.
“Andrew Campana’s ‘Expanding Verse: Japanese Poetry at the Edge of Media’ is a tour de force of intellectual range and imaginative insight,” the award committee wrote in its citation. “Writing with brilliant conceptual lucidity, elegance, and a warmly attentive perspective, Campana powerfully illuminates how the intermediality of poetic experimentation in modern Japan not only prompts rethinking of media ideologies and technologies but also redefines the very boundaries of literariness. Grounded in meticulous engagement with previously unexplored materials, ‘Expanding Verse’ opens a strikingly original conversation at the crossroads of media, language, technology, and the body.”
In an interview when it was published in December 2024, Campana said one of his aims for the book was to introduce readers to a wide range of exciting poets who are not usually discussed as literary figures, even within the realm of Japanese poetry. He features the poetry of, among others, 1920s socialite Sachiko Ōi, disability rights activist Hiroshi Yokota, 1980s alternative pop star Jun Togawa and contemporary feminist poet ni_ka, who draws together girl’s culture and digital technology.
“Most of the poets featured in the book are at the margins of the margins, representing communities often left out of the history of literature, despite their incredible innovations,” Campana said. “I’m hugely honored to be selected for this prize, and I hope that this will help ensure that these kinds of figures and practices remain a crucial part of how we think about what literature can be, and what it can do.”
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