‘We Drank Our Tears’ invited to Osaka symposium

The group behind one of the most successful compilation of short stories on the Battle of Saipan and Tinian has been invited to a storytelling event in Osaka this October.

Pacific STAR Center for Young Writers released the book We Drank Our Tears last year and it has since made waves across the Pacific, earning the center an invitation to the storytelling festival at Osaka Gakuin University in Osaka, Japan.

Pacific STAR Center for Young Writers director Katharyn Tuten-Puckett disclosed the invitation yesterday during the regular weekly meeting of Saipan Rotary Club at Hyatt Regency Saipan.

Tuten-Puckett said the center was invited to attend and participate in the 4th Annual Digital Storytelling Festival set for Oct. 22.

Osaka Gakuin University, in cooperation with the Osaka Prefecture Board of Education and the Japan Association for Language Teaching, are organizing the event.

She said CNMI delegates would also participate during the storytelling symposium.

“We’re very honored,” Tuten-Puckett said, adding that this is the first time that an outsider has been invited to the festival.

In a letter to Tuten-Puckett last month, Faculty of Foreign Languages associate professor Rex A. Tanimoto said the two events are the first of its kind to happen in Japan.

“The Digital Storytelling Festival is designed to encourage junior high, high school, and university students to create and share their own English stories through the use of computer technology,” Tanimoto said.

The storytelling symposium is open to English language educators and it will feature presentations on the application of traditional and digital storytelling for teaching. Tanimoto said CNMI delegates are encouraged to present the stories and share their experiences as guest speakers at the festival.

Tuten-Puckett said there would be six delegates from the CNMI. Two are students while the rest are parents and government representatives. Kathryn Barry will accompany her son, Christopher, who interviewed Rotarian David Sablan regarding his war recollections on Saipan. Marianas High School student Hermes Diaz, who interviewed his father, will also be chaperoned by his father, Juan C. Diaz.

David Sablan was supposed to join the group but due to his hectic schedule, he is dropping out of the list. A representative from the Saipan Mayor’s Office will join the trip.

Tuten-Puckett said the mayor’s office will shoulder the airfare for the entire group and she is now seeking the financial help of the community to fund their hotel accommodations and food during the three-day trip to Osaka.

For assistance, donors can contact her at 236-READ or 235-4849 or email her at pacificstarcenter4yw@yahoo.com.

We Drank Our Tears got its title from one of the stories of 81 young writers interviewing 74 elders in the Commonwealth on their recollections during World War II.

“Because there were no rain and no water, we drank our tears,” said Tuten-Puckett referring to a line from the book.