Sequoia Nagamatsu Explained

Sequoia Nagamatsu
Nationality:American
Education:Pinewood School, Los Altos
Grinnell College (BA)
Southern Illinois University (MFA)
Spouse:Cole Nagamatsu

Sequoia Nagamatsu[1] is an American novelist, short story writer, and professor, and the author of the novel How High We Go in the Dark.

Personal life

Nagamatsu received a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology from Grinnell College and a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Southern Illinois University.

Nagamatsu was raised in Oahu and San Francisco[2] and attended Pinewood School, a private high school in Los Altos Hills, where he began his love of creative writing.[3] He currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife, Cole Nagamatsu, their cat, Kalahira, a dog Fenris, and a Sony Aibo robotic dog named Calvino.[4] He has Japanese roots and lived in Niigata City, Japan for about two years prior to attending graduate school.

Career

Nagamatsu previously taught at the College of Idaho, Southern Illinois University, and the Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing.

Aside from writing, Nagamatsu formerly co-edited Psychopomp Magazine alongside his wife and is an associate professor of English at St. Olaf College, where he teaches first-year writing and creative writing courses.[5] He additionally joined the faculty of the low-residency MFA Program, the Rainier Writers Workshop,[6] which is based at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.

Selected texts

How High We Go in the Dark (2022)

How High We Go in the Dark, published on January 18, 2022, by William Morrow, is a literary science fiction-fantasy novel. Bloomsbury acquired UK and Commonwealth foreign rights.[7] The novel is told in a series of interlinked stories which take place after a pandemic massively reshapes life on earth, often focusing on grief and its intersection with technology.

Prior to publication, the book was named on "most anticipated" lists from Good Housekeeping,[8] Goodreads,[9] Tatler Asia,[10] Bustle,[11] Minneapolis Star Tribune,[12] The Chicago Review of Books,[13] The Philadelphia Inquirer,[14] The Guardian,[15] She Reads,[16] and Tor.com.[17]

The book received starred reviews from Library Journal [18] and Booklist, who called it "[b]oth epic and deeply intimate,"[19] as well as a positive review from Lightspeed.[20] Amy Brady with the Scientific American stated that "this polyphonic novel reflects our human desire to find meaning within tragedy. To feel our innate interconnection with all things, to care for one another—strangers, even—during times of immense loss, to learn how to say goodbye, to make things of beauty, and, most essentially, to inhabit and tend a livable planet for all."[21] The book was also listed by Goodreads Readers[22] as a most anticipated read of 2022.

A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that "Nagamatsu can clearly write, but this exploration of global trauma makes for particularly bleak reading: the novel offers no resolutions, or even much hope, just snapshots of grief and loss.... Readers willing to speculate about a global crisis not too far off from reality will find plenty to think about in this deeply sad but well-rendered vision of an apocalyptic future."[23]

Kirkus provided a poor review, saying the book was "[a]mbitious, bleak, and not fully realized."[24]

Since publication, the novel has been cited as a New York Times Editors' Choice [25] and has consistently been listed in "best of 2022 thus far" lists in several media outlets including Esquire,[26] Business Insider,[27] Goodreads,[28] and Polygon,[29] among others. The author and cultural critic, Roxane Gay, selected the novel for her Audacious Literati Book Club in March 2022.[30] Gay said of the novel: “How High We Go in the Dark” is ambitious and intricately plotted. It is a beautiful meditation on the way everything in this world—no, in this universe—is intimately connected."[30]

In the summer of 2022, the novel was shortlisted for the inaugural Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, an award vetted by booksellers from Waterstones bookstores in the United Kingdom. The novel was also shortlisted for the inaugural Ursula K. Le Guin Prize, an award sponsored by the Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust with a cash prize of $25,000, and later named one of two finalists from the shortlist.[31] [32] Later in 2022 and 2023, the novel was included on the shortlist for the reimagined Barnes and Noble Discover Prize,[33] long listed for both the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the PEN/Hemingway Award, and listed as a finalist for the Locus Award.[34] [35] [36]

Plot

The book's plot focuses on the effects on environmental catastrophe and the sudden release of a novel virus on Planet Earth.[37] [38] The novel virus, which is called the Arctic Plague, reaches San Francisco on July 4, 2031.[39] The plague is so prevalent that funerary cryptocurrency has become the common currency.[40] The funeral industry becomes dominant and eclipses the banking industry.[41] [42] [43] In the 2024s, humanity recovers extraterrestrial technology from a crash, and later, at Area 51, a human-built starship is built and powered by a stable micro black hole.[44] Around 2039, a cure to the Arctic plague is found, and "a nationwide climate campaign to phase out gas vehicles" happens.[45] After 30 years of the Great Transition of 2070, the City of Toyko is an inhabited archipelago.[46] By 2110, funerary towers, which are repurposed skyscrapers to hold and honor the dead, dominate the skyline of major cities.[47] Around 8037, the starship crew starts to settle an exoplanet.[48] [49] The last message from Earth was in 7037 "when humanity constructed a Dyson sphere around the sun, fueling metropolis on Mars, Luna, and Titan".[50]

Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone (2016)

Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone, published May 2016 by Black Lawrence Press, is a short story collection.

The collection received positive reviews from Booklist,[51] Buzzfeed,[52] Strange Horizons,[53] The Rumpus,[54] and Green Mountains Review.[55]

It also received the following accolades:

Publications

Books

Selected Short stories

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: January 18, 2022 . Professor's Pandemic Themed Debut Novel Generates Media Buzz . August 10, 2022 . St. Olaf College.
  2. Web site: 2013-08-17. About Us. 2021-12-29. Psychopomp Magazine. en.
  3. Web site: Berry . Michael . How a fictional plague helped Sequoia Nagamatsu overcome grief . 2022-08-10 . www.paloaltoonline.com . en.
  4. Web site: Sequoia Nagamatsu. 2021-12-29. Goodreads.
  5. Web site: Sequoia Nagamatsu's profile. 2021-12-29. St. Olaf College.
  6. Web site: Faculty MFA - Creative Writing PLU. 2022-01-03. www.plu.edu.
  7. Web site: Baggaley acquires Nagamatsu debut for Bloomsbury The Bookseller. 2022-01-03. www.thebookseller.com.
  8. Web site: Schumer. Lizz. 2021-12-16. 15 Best and Most-Anticipated Books of 2022. 2021-12-29. Good Housekeeping. en-US.
  9. Web site: Goodreads Members' Most Anticipated Books of 2022. 2021-12-29. Goodreads.
  10. Web site: Soriano. Jianne. 15 Most Anticipated Books to Read in 2022. 2021-12-29. Tatler Asia. en.
  11. Web site: Colyard. K.W.. 2021-12-14. Pre-Order These Must-Read New Books Coming In 2022. 2021-12-29. Bustle. en.
  12. Web site: Tribune. Laurie Hertzel Star. Bookmark: Books to look forward to in 2022. 2022-01-03. Star Tribune.
  13. Web site: Editorial Staff. 2022-01-03. 12 Must-Read Books of January. 2022-01-03. Chicago Review of Books. en-US.
  14. Web site: Inquirer. Patrick Rapa, For the. Your 2022 Book Goals. 2022-01-03. inquirer.com. 30 December 2021 . en.
  15. Web site: 2022-01-01. 2022 in books: highlights for the year ahead. 2022-01-03. the Guardian. en.
  16. Web site: Minnis. Shavantay. 2021-11-29. Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books Coming in 2022. 2021-12-29. She Reads. en-US.
  17. Web site: Orlando. Christina. 2021-12-15. The 30 Most Anticipated SFF Books of 2022. 2021-12-29. Tor.com. en-US.
  18. Web site: Gorham . Luke . 2022-01-01 . Sequoia Nagamatsu's How High We Go in the Dark . 2021-12-29 . Library Journal.
  19. Web site: Huntley. Kristine. 2021-12-01. How High We Go in the Dark. 2021-12-29. Booklist.
  20. Web site: Kluwe. Chris. 2021-10-28. Book Review: How High We Go in The Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu. 2021-12-29. Lightspeed Magazine. en-US.
  21. Web site: Brady. Amy. January 2022. A Near-Future Plague, the Neuroscience of Navigation, and More. 2021-12-29. Scientific American.
  22. Web site: Goodreads Members' Most Anticipated Books of 2022. 2022-01-03. Goodreads.
  23. Web site: 2021-09-15. Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Book Review: How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu. Morrow, $27.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-307264-0. 2021-12-29. Publishers Weekly. en.
  24. Web site: 2021-09-29. How High We Go in the Dark. 2021-12-29. Kirkus Reviews.
  25. News: 2022-02-24 . 8 New Books We Recommend This Week . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-06-14 . 0362-4331.
  26. Web site: Pym . Olivia . Bilmes . Alex . Mir . Collinge . a . 2022-06-08 . The Best Books of 2022 Will Provoke, Persuade and Perturb You . 2022-06-14 . Esquire . en-GB.
  27. Web site: Fiorillo . Katherine . The 19 best science fiction books of 2022 so far, according to Goodreads . 2022-06-14 . Business Insider . en-US.
  28. Web site: Goodreads Members' Top 72 Hit Books of the Year (So Far) . 2022-06-14 . Goodreads.
  29. Web site: Clark . Nicole . Gennis . Sadie . 2022-05-05 . The best science fiction and fantasy books of 2022, so far . 2022-06-14 . Polygon . en-US.
  30. Web site: How High We Go In the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu - Roxane Gay's Book Pick on Literati . 2022-06-14 . app.literati.com.
  31. Web site: Ursula K. Le Guin — 2022 Prize for Fiction . 2022-10-22 . Ursula K. Le Guin . en-US.
  32. Web site: 2022-07-28 . Announcing the Shortlist for the Inaugural Ursula K. Le Guin Fiction Prize . 2022-07-28 . Electric Literature . en-US.
  33. Web site: Noble . Barnes & . Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, Awards, Books . 2022-10-22 . Barnes & Noble . en.
  34. Web site: locusmag . 2023-06-25 . 2023 Locus Awards Winners . 2024-07-29 . Locus Online . en-US.
  35. Web site: 2023-01-20 . Announcing the 2023 PEN America Literary Awards Longlists - . 2023-04-16 . PEN America . en.
  36. Web site: JCARMICHAEL . 2022-10-03 . 2023 Winners . 2022-10-22 . Reference & User Services Association (RUSA) . en.
  37. News: Allan . Nina . 2022-01-20 . How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu review – a new plague . 2024-08-13 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  38. Web site: Zutter . Natalie . January 28, 2022 . Strap in for highs and lows with the pandemic novel 'How High We Go in the Dark' . live . August 15, 2024 . NPR.
  39. Book: Nagamatsu, Sequoia . How High We Go In The Dark . HarperCollins . 2022 . 9780063072640 . 1st . 38 . English.
  40. Book: Nagamatsu, Sequoia . How High We Go In The Dark . HarperCollins . 2022 . 9780063072640 . 1st . 105 . English.
  41. Book: Nagamatsu, Sequoia . How High We Go In The Dark . HarperCollins . 2022 . 9780063072640 . 1st . 117 . English.
  42. Web site: 2022-03-09 . How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu . 2024-08-13 . The Critiquing Chemist . en.
  43. Book: HOW HIGH WE GO IN THE DARK Kirkus Reviews . en.
  44. Book: Nagamatsu, Sequoia . How High We Go In The Dark . HarperCollins . 2022 . 9780063072640 . 1st . 175 . English.
  45. Book: Nagamatsu, Sequoia . How High We Go In The Dark . HarperCollins . 2022 . 9780063072640 . 1st . 213 . English.
  46. Book: Nagamatsu, Sequoia . How High We Go In The Dark . HarperCollins . 2022 . 9780063072640 . 1st . 253 . English.
  47. Book: Nagamatsu, Sequoia . How High We Go In The Dark . HarperCollins . 2022 . 9780063072640 . 1st . 270-271 . English.
  48. Book: Nagamatsu, Sequoia . How High We Go In The Dark . HarperCollins . 2022 . 9780063072640 . 1st . 285 . English.
  49. News: Allan . Nina . 2022-01-20 . How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu review – a new plague . 2024-08-15 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  50. Book: Nagamatsu, Sequoia . How High We Go In The Dark . HarperCollins . 2022 . 9780063072640 . 1st . 285 . English.
  51. Web site: Hong. Terry. June 6, 2016. Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone. 2021-12-29. Booklist.
  52. Web site: 19 Amazing Books That Prove Indie Presses Deserve Your Attention. 2021-12-29. BuzzFeed News. 8 May 2019 . en.
  53. Web site: Chan. Stephanie. 2017-04-10. Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone by Sequoia Nagamatsu. 2021-12-29. Strange Horizons. en.
  54. Web site: Burgess. Claire. 2016-05-06. This Week in Short Fiction. 2021-12-29. The Rumpus.net. en.
  55. Web site: Mesnard. Natalie. 2016-12-29. Review of WHERE WE GO WHEN ALL WE WERE IS GONE by Sequoia Nagamatsu. 2021-12-29. Green Mountains Review. en-US.
  56. Web site: "Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone" is a 2016 Foreword INDIES Winner. 2021-12-29. Foreword Reviews. en.
  57. Web site: 2016-12-02. Best of 2016: Best Fiction Books. 2021-12-29. Entropy. en-US.
  58. Nagamatsu. Sequoia. Fall 2020. Grave Friends. The Iowa Review. 50. 2.
  59. Nagamatsu. Sequoia. Spring 2020. Elegy Hotel. Southern Review. Louisiana State University Press. 56. 2. 243–255. Project MUSE.
  60. Web site: Nagamatsu. Sequoia. 2015-05-15. Where We Go When All We Were is Gone. 2021-12-29. Green Mountains Review. en-US.
  61. Nagamatsu. Sequoia. 2015. The Return to Monsterland. Conjunctions. 64. 182–194. 24517333 . 0278-2324.
  62. Web site: Nagamatsu. Sequoia. September 3, 2015. The Return to Monsterland. 2021-12-29. JOYLAND. en-US.
  63. Book: Museum of all things awesome and that go boom.. 2016. Upper Rubber Boot Books. 978-1-937794-47-7. English. 978562235.
  64. Web site: Nagamatsu. Sequoia. 2014-11-21. Placentophagy. 2021-12-29. Tin House. en-US.
  65. Book: One world : a global anthology of short stories. 2009. Chris Brazier, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jhumpa Lahiri. 978-1-906523-13-8. Oxford. 298600484.

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