Marie Mutsuki Mockett, author of Picking Bones from Ash, appears at Wordstock on Saturday, October 10, at 11 a.m. on the Powell’s Books Stage; she will also participate in the panel discussion “My First Book,” on Sunday, October 11 at 3 p.m. on the Columbia Sportswear Stage.
In the opening chapter of my novel, young Satomi recounts the story of the Moon Princess, who was discovered inside a bamboo shoot. The Moon Princess, or Kaguyahime, is a classic Japanese fairy tale that most school children learn. It’s so popular, even Hello Kitty has done her time posing inside a bamboo stalk.
I’ve always loved this story–it’s beautiful, haunting and like all Japanese fairy tales, a little bit sad at the very end. It’s difficult for me to go to Japan and look at a bamboo forest and not see it as a potential hiding space for an adventure or a story. Look, for example, at this photo of a bamboo forest that I snapped one fall. To me, this looked like the entryway to a secret world.
Now imagine that you grew up in a little town like this, nestled in a small valley. The dark patches of green are pine, the lighter patches bamboo. If you were an adventurous, imaginative kid, well . . . aren’t all kids? It’d be hard not to explore your surroundings.
You may read Marie’s full post on her own blog by clicking on this link.