Shape Shifter: A Minidoka Concentration Camp Legacy

by Lawrence Matsuda

Lawrence Matsuda's collection of poems in Shape A Minidoka Concentration Camp Legacy express the reverberating trauma of his family's imprisonment in the Minidoka Concentration Camp during WWII. The Matsuda family was among 120,000 Japanese Americans who, without due process-not committing a single crime, were forced by our government into United States concentration camps at the hands of U.S. soldiers armed with bayonets. Their crime was their race. Although the poems reflect anger and a deep sense of sadness, there are also poems that display Matsuda's range in a lighter shift to his whimsical and playful side, reflecting both resilience, the healing balm of humor and the transcendence of the human spirit. 
"Larry Matsuda beautifully and sorrowfully captures the deep and painful emotions suffered by Japanese Americans who endured an unconstitutional mass incarceration during WWII. Delving into the raw scars of survivors and descendants, Matsuda brings the reader closer to understanding the impact injustices have on individuals, families, communities, and our greater society."
Robyn Achilles, Executive Director Friends of Minidoka

110 pages, Paperback

Published August 16, 2022

Reviews

[Addy · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really liked that this book not only focused on the impacts of the internment in the moment, but the lingering impacts after the fact. the fact that this book only has like 4 ratings is criminal

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

These poems come from the experiences of a Japanese American who was born in a USA concentration camp in Idaho, a camp for people of Japanese descent, US citizens, who lost their homes and freedoms after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Their stories, like the stories of African Americans and Native Americans, have been on the fringes of our awareness, if there at all. These impressive poems compel us to look at this part of US history and ask ourselves what happened and why. Very important and sobering poems.

[Katra · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can feel the resentment broiling underneath these poems. Powerful.