Eve Kushner, Freelance Writer

Eve Kushner is a freelance writer in Berkeley, California. Her book Crazy for Kanji: A Student's Guide to the Wonderful World of Japanese Characters is forthcoming at some point this year, though the timing is uncertain. You can pre-order it on Amazon. Eve's first book, Experiencing Abortion: A Weaving of Women's Words, came out in 1997 from Harrington Park Press.

Eve writes many types of articles, including profiles, feature articles, book reviews, personal essays, how-to articles, and social commentary. She's open to exploring all sorts of things, but she most enjoys writing about:

  • The Japanese language and writing system
  • People with fascinating passions and visions
  • Innovative and environmentally sensitive architecture

In the past, she has written about the following interests:

  • Reproductive issues
  • Movies
  • Writing technique
  • Personal experiences
  • Food

Eve has published 156 articles in 30 markets. (Writers are like baseball fans with their love of statistics!) She has a monthly column in Builder/Architect magazine on achieving creative freedom in architecture, as well as a weekly blog about kanji on JapanesePod101.com. She often writes for the East Bay Monthly, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Design Build Network. For more on her background, see About Eve.

What's New

May 2008

My profile of Oakland architect Kirk Peterson appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle's Home & Garden section on May 10.

My latest Kanji Curiosity blog for JapanesePod101.com appeared on May 9. Don't miss the great photos of swirling water!

My May column in Builder/Architect is the fourth in a series on outsider architects and tells the story of how underground architect Malcolm Wells went to extremes after an epiphany.

Write-ups of three buildings have appeared on Design Build Network (all without bylines):

  • Coop Himmelb(l)au's performing arts center in Zarautz, Spain
  • Tadao Ando's Shibuya Station in Tokyo
  • OMA's residential complex in Singapore
  • There's a bit of forthcoming work:

    • A profile of Bay Area TV news reporter Robert Handa in the second issue of Ameridreams
    • A feature article about innovative building exteriors in the next LEAF Review
    • A feature article about Scandinavian architecture in that issue of LEAF
    • An interview with architect Wiel Arets in the same LEAF issue
    • Write-ups of a Beijing building and of a Zaha Hadid museum for Design Build Network
    • An article for the San Francisco Chronicle about construction in the Oakland hills
    • A profile of a Nigerian Harvard professor for the third issue of Ameridreams
    And at some point this year, Crazy for Kanji will finally be published!

    A Sampling of Articles on This Site

    • "The Way of Kanji"
      The East Bay Monthly published Eve's essay on kanji as her path to serenity. You can download this essay as a PDF.
    • "The Greater Goods: East Bay Companies Live by the Triple Bottom Line: Profits, the Planet and People"
      This feature story about an inspiring new sector of the economy ran in the East Bay Monthly. Don't miss the five profiles posted on their own pages. (See the red links on the right-hand side of the main page.) The business world was uncharted territory for Eve, but the article fit with her longtime interest in profiling people with passions, visions, and missions. Susan H. Mac Cormac's InSight magazine article "The Emergence of New Corporate Forms" references "The Greater Goods."
    • "Building Blocks: Coordinating Contractors and Other Disasters"
      This two-parter ran on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle's "Home & Garden" section in November 2003. It has attracted more attention than perhaps anything else Eve has written. Don't miss Part Two, which is posted on its own page.
    • "Life Ahead of the Curve"
      A profile of visionary architect Dan Liebermann, whose houses abound with curves and salvaged materials. This ran on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle's "Home & Garden" section in July 2003. Don't miss the accompanying sidebar about a colony Liebermann has built.
    • "Artist Loves Chanciness"
      A profile of papermaker Linda Lemon, who lets randomness control her artistic process. This ran inside the San Francisco Chronicle's regional section in May 2002.
    • "Go Forth and Multiply: Abortion in Hollywood Movies of the '90s"
      On abortion in Hollywood movies. This article originally appeared in Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture. Now the piece has achieved eternal life on the site of Bright Lights Film Journal. That's where the article link will take you. The article has also been reprinted in ProQuest Information and Learning, an educational database. In spring 2006, the article was recommended as side reading in a Rutgers University course, "Current Moral and Social Issues." And in summer 2007, the article was quoted extensively in a piece by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists.
    • "Beagleman"
      This has to do with Eve's dog, her husband, and a man they met every night for years. The piece appeared in the East Bay Monthly.

    Eve Kushner, Freelance Writer
    1730 Martin Luther King Way
    Berkeley, CA 94709
    eve@evekushner.com

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