Lucille Nixon
American poet and school supervisor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lucille M. Nixon (December 24, 1908 – December 22, 1963)[1] was a poet and school supervisor from Palo Alto, California. In 1957 she became the first foreigner selected to participate in Utakai Hajime, the Imperial New Year's Poetry Reading of Japan.[2] Nixon performed a 31 syllable waka about the Hōryū-ji, a Buddhist temple she had visited on a trip two years earlier. After her reading, she won the praises of Emperor Hirohito, who encouraged her to continue writing Japanese poetry so she could become a "bridge" between Japan and the United States.[3]
Bibliography
She authored a number of books. Among them are:
- The Choice is Always Ours: The Classic Anthology on the Spiritual Way, Dorothy B. Phillips (Editor), Lucille M. Nixon (Editor), Elizabeth B. Howes (Editor)
- Sounds from the unknown; a collection of Japanese-American tanka, Lucille M. Nixon (Editor), Tomoe Tana
- Young ranchers at Oak Valley
- Living in Japan
Death and legacy
Nixon died in 1963. An elementary school in Palo Alto currently bears her name.[4]
