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A Writer with an Insatiable Passion for Kanji!
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Eve Kushner is a writer in Berkeley, California. She has published two books, as well as hundreds of articles in dozens of markets. To learn about her background, see About Eve.
Current Focus: Joy o' Kanji
Eve has written about kanji since 2005, first in creating Crazy for Kanji, then in writing the blog Kanji Curiosity for JapanesePod101.com from 2007 through 2010. All the while, she wrote other articles.
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Now Eve is focusing exclusively on kanji as part of her lifelong project Joy o' Kanji. With this undertaking she is writing an essay about each of the 2,136 Joyo kanji, the characters needed for daily use in Japan. These extremely affordable essays, which are downloadable in PDF format, give readers a full understanding of each character as nothing ever has. Moreover, they feature photos of kanji that bring the characters to life. The site also features "JOKIA" photo albums of kanji in real-life contexts, as well as plenty of free material, including games, mnemonics, and short essays about each radical, all lending order to the often chaotic world of kanji.
At the online store Kanji Kaimono, which is just a click away on an auxiliary site, vendors around the world are selling a wide variety of products with kanji on their surfaces. Eve is one of the vendors, selling signed copies of Crazy for Kanji along with eight types of Joy o' Kanji T-shirts at the section called Crazy Joy!
Like Joy o' Kanji on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! Also like Kanji Kaimono on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
What's New
January 2015
Here's the latest at Joy o' Kanji:
January 24: I posted essay 2031 on 羞 (busy, occupied; restless), "Too Sheepish to Take Up Space." That's the 152nd essay! I also posted the JOK Notebook entry "The Cryptogram Spirit."
January 17: I posted essay 2045 on 羨 (envious, jealous; to covet), "Sheepish Envy." That's the 151st essay! I also posted the JOK Notebook entry "Two Faces, Two Tongues, and Backed-Up Bashfulness. Finally, Radical Note 123 on 羊, the "sheep" radical, is now available, just in time for the Year of the Sheep.
January 10: I posted essay 1806 on 忙 (busy, occupied; restless), "Heart So Busy That It Died." That's the 150th essay! I also posted the JOK Notebook entry "Happy Flocking New Year."
December 19: The December JOK newsletter is out, including great gift ideas from Kanji Kaimono, as well as a new contest, results of the last contest, lists of new and revised essays, mnemonics, and JOK Notebook posts. Also, I posted essay 1373 on 旬 (10-day period; season (for specific products)), "A Tripartite Take on Time." That's the 149th essay! I also posted the JOK Notebook entry "Numbers That Don't Count."
Eve's Books
Eve's 2009 book, Crazy for Kanji: A Student's Guide to the Wonderful World of Japanese Characters, is available for purchase on Amazon. You'll find lots of information about the book here, including press.
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Her first book, Experiencing Abortion: A Weaving of Women's Words, came out in 1997 from Harrington Park Press (which Taylor and Francis has since acquired) and is also available on Amazon. Ten years later, Experiencing Abortion received a mention in Newsweek!
Eve's Articles
Eve has written many types of articles, including profiles, features, book reviews, personal essays, and how-to articles. She has most enjoyed writing about the following interests:
- People with fascinating passions and visions
- Innovative and environmentally sensitive architecture
- Reproductive issues
- Movies
- Writing technique
- Personal experiences
- Food
Sample 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. 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"
This article originally appeared in Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture and was reprinted in the online magazine 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." In summer 2007, the article was quoted extensively in a piece by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. After a Newsweek editor saw the article, she interviewed Eve and quoted her in a December 2007 article about the movie Juno. Finally, the article played a prominent role in a January 2010 article on Gender Across Borders. - "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.