Calvin Center For Faith And Writing

In THE DEAD WRESTLER ELEGIES, up-and-coming poet W. Todd Kaneko mines the history of professional wrestling to examine complex relationships between fathers and sons and makes the wrestling ring an allegory of childhood, desire, and loss. All this as an Asian American and in spite of the racist melodramas that frequently play out in the personas of the wrestlers and between the athletes and audience. Kaneko will read from his book and discuss the racial dynamics of the sport, writing from and about Asian masculinity, and the literary properties of spandex. W. TODD KANEKO is not cool enough to be a rock star, not tall enough to be a professional wrestler and not virtuous enough to be a super hero. He is the author of THE DEAD WRESTLER ELEGIES (Curbside Splendor). His poems, essays and stories can be seen in BELLINGHAM REVIEW, LOS ANGELES REVIEW, BOXCAR POETRY REVIEW, BARRELHOUSE, THE COLLAGIST, [PANK], PAPER DARTS, MENACING HEDGE, BLACKBIRD, THE HUFFINGTON POST, SONG OF THE OWASHTANONG: GRAND RAPIDS POETRY I