The distinguished poet Rose Anna Higashi has gifted us with a thoughtful, passionate collection of insightful and lyrical poems covering a wide range of literary aesthetics, from haiku to free-flowing verse, in her most recent collection, Searching in Circles. Each poem is created with the delicacy of a word painter. In a variety of poetic styles and historic perspectives, Rose Anna has chosen a selection of personages from the past, including Hildegard von Bingen, Claude Monet, and Emily Dickenson, among others, projecting them into a contemporary poetic vision. There is a delight in reading and rereading individual poems, stirring the imagination with delicate beauty and surprise.
— Walter Sollner, Professor of Art History and author, Forget Me Not, A Tale of Two
Brief Biography of Rose Anna Higashi
(the majority of this biography can be found on the website of Kelsay Books under Searching in Circles, Higashi’s most recent publication)
Rose Anna Higashi was born in Joplin Missouri and, during childhood, lived in various locations in Kansas and the Pacific Northwest with her parents, brother, and sister. Her family settled in California when Rose was twelve.
Rose Anna spent the majority of her adult life in Northern California where she completed her BA and MA degrees in English Literature, suma cum laude, from San Jose State University.
Rose Anna taught English at San Jose State University and San Jose City College and volunteered to be a founding faculty member when a new California Community College, Evergreen Valley College, was constructed in San Jose in 1975 to accommodate the growth of Silicon Valley and the arrival in San Jose of thousands of refugees from Vietnam.
At Evergreen Valley College, Rose Anna founded the Spring Poetry Festival and the literary magazine Leaf by Leaf. UPDATE – Leaf by Leaf continues on today (see https://www.evcleafbyleaf.com/). In addition to English Composition, she taught Poetry, Creative Writing, Survey of English Literature, Shakespeare, Women in Literature, Asian and Asian American Literature, and Japanese Literature.
She developed the Japanese Literature course herself and introduced it into the curriculum, the first Japanese Literature class to be offered at a California community college. Rose Anna studied Japanese Language and Japanese Literature in greater depth during a sabbatical year at Stanford University.
Rose Anna’s Publications include the poetry collections Rose Anna’s Gift and Blue Wings (Paulist Press). She is also the author of a novel, The Learning Wars. Her new book of poetry is available through her publisher Kelsay Books.
Rose Anna and her husband Wayne are retired and now live in Honolulu where they continue to travel, and Rose Anna continues to write and publish poetry. She is an active member of the Union of Poets Virtual Open Mic, an international group of poets who share their poems virtually each month.
Her website, myteaplanner.com, co-authored with her niece Kathleen Pedulla, hosts her monthly blog, “Tea and Travels,” along with many of her haiku and lyric poems.
Information was provided by Walter Soellner; Leslie Rice worked on this as well.
Note from Leslie – While learning more about Rose Higashi, I went online to read a couple of her poems. I especially enjoyed reading “The Myth of a Thousand Pies.” Why? The poem takes me to a place where my dear grandparents are still alive; where stories are being told; and the aroma of many pies, past and present, is in the air. Love this poem. My family loves pies. Hundreds of wonderful memories. Thank you to Walt and Rose.