5.1 Paul Franz & Ryan Hintzman on the Literary Imagination in Waka Bay & Traditional Japanese Verse

Hopkins Press Podcasts · Apr 1, 2026 · 43m

Today’s episode features a conversation between Literary Imagination editor Paul Franz, and Ryan Hintzman, Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature at Indiana University Bloomington. He recently received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Yale. Ryan HIntzman has an article in the new issue of Literary Imagination called “Distant Views of Waka Bay: Traditional Japanese Verse and the Question of Lyric” which centers on the real and imaginary Waka Bay in Japan. Hintzman says “Waka Bay (Waka no ura) is a pliable poetic place name (utamakura) whose name suggests the “Bay of Japanese…