Watanabe reads from story collection

Sylvia Watanabe, new member of creative writing department, reads her work

Oberlin College's creative writing department has introduced a new member to its team of fine professors. Sylvia Watanabe is here as visiting professor of creative writing, substituting for Diane Vreuls, who is on leave this semester.

Watanabe gave a reading in Wilder on Feb. 19. She read the story "The Ghost of Fred Astaire" from her collection of published short stories entitled Talking to the Dead. The story is autobiographical, and was told in a humorous yet serious manner. Her writing is poetic and matter-of-fact, showing rather than telling what is going on. Her detailed descriptions of her past are touching and pull the reader into the story. Soft-spoken yet enigmatic, Watanabe spoke with a calm self-assurance that displayed a rather confident personality. The reading was well attended and her story drew people into her work as she poured her soul into her writing and brought it to life with her words and expressions.

Watanabe is a qualified presence in the field of writing. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, where she grew up. She then completed her Master of Arts in Creative Writing from SUNY Binghamton. Later she and her husband traveled to Berkeley so she could further pursue her studies, but her husband took a job in Michigan so they moved there, where Watanabe recieved her Master's from the University of Michigan.

Watanabe started writing seriously in 1983, although she had begun experimenting with it much earlier. Her short story collection was published, and Watanabe has also edited two collections of short stories.

Having an extensive teaching career behind her - one that has taken her to many institutions such as Western Michigan University, Berkeley, University of Hawaii - Watanabe offers Oberlin's creative writing students an opportunity to grow under her tutelage and support. Her husband is still in Michigan and she laughs, they "are running a commuter marriage." She is thoroughly enjoying what Oberlin, and its faculty and students, have offered her so far and looks forward to working in collaboration with other faculty members.

Ghosts and memories: Sylvia Watanabe, visiting professor of creative writing, reads her short story entitled "The Ghopst of Fred Astaire," from her collection Talking to the Dead. (photo by Richard Hong)