Eli K.P. William

Shocked. Coin Locker Babies was his masterpiece, but he also wrote some memorable sci-fi novels, still not translated, and his early literary fiction, like Almost Transparent Blue sticks with you. Vile, vivid, and visceral prose, always full of compassion for the misfit and the downtrodden. RIP

The game has come a long way since the last time I tried it. Overall lots of fun to play.

Thanks! My translation is the first book of Hoshino’s essays to appear in English. And I agree that his energy is much needed in the world right now.

An excerpt of my latest translation, The Traveling Tree by famed photographer Michio Hoshino, has been included in the latest edition of Kyoto Journal. Read it there, or pick up a copy of this beautiful memoir, available wherever books are sold. kyotojournal.org/product/kj-1... #memoir #alaska

For over two years I’ve been working on a video game as a writer and story consultant. Today I’m off to the development studio to try a beta version of the game. It’s been over a year since I last tested it, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s evolved. #videogame #writing

An excerpt of my latest translation, The Traveling Tree by famed photographer Michio Hoshino, has been included in the latest edition of Kyoto Journal. Read it there, or pick up a copy of this beautiful memoir, available wherever books are sold. kyotojournal.org/product/kj-1... #memoir #alaska

The main reason I've been posting here less in 2026 is that I've been focused on X since I switched my account to the Japanese language. Checking the feed and posting regularly in a second language takes extra energy and time, leaving me with too little mojo for socials in my first. #socialmedia

Sometimes my profession confuses people. They're like he writes sci-fi novels, translates literary fiction, and is a video game story consultant, so like who is he? What makes him tick? And I wish I had answers for them other than, I am me and I do what I do to get by in this crazy world. #writesky

I still exist I'm pretty sure. In case anyone was concerned.

my beloved bicycle, put into the shop for repairs over the summer, has returned! I purchased this used Surly, Long Haul Trucker from a good friend 8 years ago now and have ridden it every day since. After replacing both wheels and the entire drivetrain, she rides like a dream again. #bicycle #love

Literary translation requires such an intense level of deep reading that once I'm done, I'm always tired of the original, however masterful, so I never re-read after publication. But recently I've found myself missing A Man (ある男) so I'm listening to the Japanese audiobook. #literarytranslation

a river started to overflow right outside my front door today . I've lived here for six months but this is the first time I've seen this happen. Thankfully, the peak of typhoon #25 has now passed, and there has been no flooding in the house. #typhoon

looking forward to having a panel discussion with @elikpwilliam.com tonight at @flightsoffoundry.bsky.social about alien languages! Alien language has been depicted in numerous speculative fiction stories. In recent years, it has also become the subject of serious academic study [1/2]

just finished speaking on the universal translation panel as part of Flights of Foundry. I had lots of fun talking with fellow panelists Caye Marsh and Farid Nad. Looking forward to giving a reading and joining the xenolinguistics panel tomorrow! flights-of-foundry.org #xenolinguistics

I woke up at 3 am with an idea for a new novel in my head. Bless you jet lag. #jetlag #writesky

I went to Niagara this week and, for the first time in 20 years, boarded the boat that carries visitors to the base of the falls. The pouring mountain of water roared, the waves swelled, the boat yawed, the spray struck us like a downpour of rain, and rainbows appeared in the mist. #niagarafalls

Last week I drove out into the Ontario countryside to watch the Perseid meteor shower, which peaked this year during the new moon. There were so many stars in the clear dark sky even an iPhone was up to capturing them. Between midnight and 1:30, I spotted some two dozen shooting stars. #perseids

They're no shinkansens, but it's still nice to see these Go trains pass by. #Toronto

My translation of the Traveling Tree has received nothing but rave reviews so you all really ought to go pick up a copy—and tell your friends! www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026... literaryreview.co.uk/into-the-wil... asianreviewofbooks.com/the-travelli... #japanlit #travelwriting #literature

While everything falls apart this summer, here's a little jingle to cheer you all up. Listen for the kazoo; it's the best part. www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7IC... #endoftheworld #summer #anthem

I take this photo every time I return to Toronto. No piece of scenery could represent the city better. #Toronto

Can one of you Wikipedians out there make a Wikipedia page about me? I should match the notability criteria. I've kept a digital scrapbook of sources about me and my work for years and can share that if you need. #wikipedia

the anthology of pre-WWII Japanese sci-fi that I'm editing for MIT Press is entering a new phase. With the help of three other translators, translation of the works is complete, and I'm now compiling them into a manuscript for submission next week. #Japanese #classic #scifi #anthology

In the spring, the handle came off a coffee cup with some sentimental value when I accidentally bumped it with another cup, so I decided to take it in for kintsugi repair. After leaving it with the workshop for about a month, I finally went to pick it up today. #kintsugi

the paper edition has arrived at my house courtesy of the Mainichi! #thetravelingtree #michiohoshino

an article about me in yesterday's Mainichi Shimbun (毎日新聞), my first time being profiled in a national newspaper! #newspaper #profile mainichi.jp/articles/202...

When I post anywhere about writing process, I get comments from all these bots and grifters trying to sell me editing, book design and other scam publishing services. They should be banished to whatever rotten hole on the internet they crawled out of. Just watch them comment on this post #writesky

After a round of research, I'm now ready to start rewriting my latest Japanese story. The manuscript currently stands at 73,000 characters, roughly 35,000 words, which is novella length, but I expect it to grow to short novel length during the rewrite. #scifi #secondlanguage #writesky #exophony

I've started listening to Butter by Asako Yuzuki, a novel about a gourmet serial killer who seduces older men, cooks them fine meals, and scams them before murdering them. I'm only on chapter two, but the novel seems well-suited for audio adaptation, with its slow style of narration. #audiobook

reading The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet. I don't read a ton of fantasy these days, but this, the first novel by a male author to win a Hugo in a decade, got me curious. #booksky

A short profile piece about me should be appearing in the Mainichi Shimbun (毎日新聞) Wednesday July 8th morning edition. National newspapers and magazines have reviewed my books many times before but they have never covered me. #newspaper #profile

I've had some bad luck in my writing career and when I've had good luck, sometimes I didn't know what to do with it. But if the universe decides to throw some chances at me, I'm ready for it now. #writesky

love it or hate it, AI is not going away any time soon. So we should all make efforts to understand what it is, as a basic component of understanding our present and deciding how to help shape our future. #AI #knowledge #praxis

Stevie Wonder singing with a talkbox in 1972. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c3N...

bee pollinating a hydrangea in the rain #typhoon #shonan

I saw a few fireflies tonight but not enough to capture in a photo. I'll have to try again on a slightly warmer day. #shonan #fireflies

English author J.G. Ballard on poets who generate poetry with computers, in his 1961 short story Studio 5, The Stars: "When I say they have everything to learn, I mean about their own hearts" #prescient #scifi #generativeAI

after years of exploring all kinds of music to write to, I've found my way back to where I belong #booksky #writesky #music

hydrangea in the night #rainyseason #shonan

reading Vermillion Sands a 1971 short story collection by J.G. Ballard. #ballard #surrealism #scifi

It gives me great pleasure to share the release of my decade-in-the-writing critical biography of filmmaker/activist Adachi Masao. Pink Auteur, Red Outlaw: Adachi Masao and Japan’s Cinema of Revolution is out September 1 via Awai Books. awaimedia.com/WilliamAndre...

I was just interviewed by a journalist for the first time in my life. Here's hoping the article comes out okay.

I’ve finally started to watch The Boys. I’m totally hooked. Everything is so demented and vile but there is a deep truth to the show. It definitely represents our present with far more honesty than any Marvel film ever could. If superheroes were real now, I bet this is just what it would be like.

Those tremors certainly perked me up. Hello planet earth. Don't worry, we haven't forgotten you're there.

I will post every day starting today (a promise to myself)

my talk on translating The Traveling Tree is today! Come sign up if you haven't already.

come join my online talk for the Japan Association of Translators this Saturday (June 13th) 3:00-4:30 pm JST. I'll be discussing the process of translating The Traveling Tree, a memoir by photographer Michio Hoshino about his life in Alaska. jat.org/ja/events/ev... #japaneseliterature #translation

We are not "content consumers" but seekers of meaning, guided by the sparks and glimmers of art along the dark road of life. #art

denying the value of the human endeavour behind a work of art isn't just a matter of preference. It is an implicit denial of our capacity to endow existence with meaning through our actions. It is a species of nihilism whose end game is despair. So yes, they are wrong. #generativeAI #art

Even if slop and artistic creation are one day indistinguishable, the end product is only part of their value. Two identical works are not of equal value if one was hard-won through years of blood, sweat, and tears, and the other spat out by a quick flicker of transistors. #generativeAI #art