Takatsu・タカツ

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Takatsu, known as a passionate trailblazer of online literature and transmedia storytelling, is an award-winning writer of literary fiction, featured Wattpad author of 20,000 followers, poet, philosopher, musician, designer, guest speaker and Literature student from Toronto.

In 2008, through coming-of-age story, 2009 Textnovel Reader’s Choice and Editor’s Choice Award-winning “Secondhand Memories”, (Sakura Publishing 2015), he pioneered the Japanese “cell phone novel” phenomenon in the English-speaking world, marking a new online literary movement globally with a remarkably unique serialized fusion of haiku-like poetic technique, visual text flow, and micro-prose storytelling. In 2014, his critically acclaimed dystopian magical realism philosophical literary novel, “Espresso Love” (2014) satirizes and examines human nature, subjective perception, socio-political systems, digital landscape, capitalist mechanism and consumer culture. It won the Watty’s Award 2014, reached #1 in Science-Fiction, surpassed a readership of 1 million in several months, and has been acclaimed by professors, authors and young readers alike. “Of Forests and Clocks and Dreams“, a visionary post-modern collection of short stories, poetry, essay, aphorism, artwork, design and photography will be published in 2016 by Inspiritus Press. On Wattpad, he currently serializes a new literary sci-fi novel, “Harbinger’s Child“, depicting the last of post-apocalyptic humanity on an interstellar voyage searching for hope.

He continues to work with Inspiritus Press to envision a cross-disciplinary arts collective and community of avant-garde, thought-provoking, transcendental, experimental, counter culture work, championed by upbeat unconventional grassroots digital strategies, events and multimedia technology. He won York University’s Stanley Fefferman Award in 2014 and the Babs Burggraf Award of $2500 for his short story “The Elephant Girl” in 2016. He is influenced by writers such as Murakami, Borges, Orwell, DeLillo, Kafka, Carver and the ideas of Mumford, Graham Hancock, Baudrillard, Jung, Wyndham Lewis, McLuhan, Hegel, and Marx.

“Takatsu is a fascinating writer, musician and illustrator and is at the forefront of transmedia storytelling.” – Rowena Wiseman, Author of “Searching for Von Honningsbergs”, “The Replacement Wife”, “Bequest”, “Silver”.

“[His pieces] have a timeless quality… that enlighten or explain a philosophy of life, a zen moment… [and] touch on an innate mystery of things that allow one to see.” – Patricia Keeney, Professor of Creative Writing, York University, Award-winning Poet, Critic, Author of “One Man Dancing” and more.

“I am awestruck at the philosophical stance of your writing. Your writing is akin to that of Murakami in its surrealist execution.” – Shane Oltingir, Wattpad Reader

“Amazing how well you implement the first-person point of view… Hackneyed and cliche, some have said, but there’s just something about good writers and first person novels. You are definitely in one of them. Your voice really comes through. Some people will disagree and say, ‘Well of course. He’s writing in first person. It’s suppose to engage you in such a way.’ But I would have to say that not all first-person novels come through as clean as yours does. Simply amazing.” comments Diogenes Marx, a literary critic on Textnovel.

On “Of Forests and Clocks and Dreams”

“A thought provoking work that will leave the reader questioning the very existence around them… [Takatsu] always seems to be breaking the rules and combining various mediums of art… The pioneer of English Cell Phone Novels has continued to approach writing—and art as a whole—in different ways, breaking and manipulating constructs to produce work that, while still holding ties to the written word, manifests into something that defies its very foundation…A great glimpse into what the future of the written word—and art as a whole—can be.”
– C.J. Garrett, Author of “Memoirs of a Zygote (Trapped in a Human’s Body)”

On “Espresso Love“:
“Offers acute, almost painful observations of the minutiae of life, if life took place in a Murakami snow-globe.”
– Review on IndieReader Insiders

“Like a seven course meal full of spice and illumination… One does not listen to a classical piece to get to its ending. No. It is the ride, the moment by moment…a genuine Masamune among stories.”
– Textnovel author

“An interesting ‘vapoury’ style that seems to hover off world at times. …Author’s intent to invoke/evoke mystery is very effective…haunting and strange (which is good)…sense of terror in the core here… You’re on to something different, striking.”
– B.W. Powe, Associate Professor, Dept of English, York University and author of “A Tremendous Canada of Light”, “A Climate Charged”, “Outage”, “The Unsaid Passing”, and “Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye: Apocalypse and Alchemy”

For more “Espresso Love” reviews

See his Current Writing Projects

WHAT ARE CELL PHONE NOVELS?

Some Accomplishments:

• 2014 Watty’s Award – Collector’s Dream Category
• 2014 York University President’s Creative Writing Awards – Stanley Fefferman Prize
• 2016 York University President’s Creative Writing Awards – Babs Burggraf Award of $2500
• 2009 Textnovel Reader’s Choice and Finalist Award, 2009 Textnovel Editor’s Choice Award
• #1 Science Fiction, #3 Spiritual genre ranking, 900,000 reads
• Wattpad Featured, 15,000 followers
• DIG on USA TV Promotion Campaign Featured
• Interviewed on The Verge’s Small Empires TV Series
• Guest on Wattpad’s Fan Expo Digital Storytelling Panel 2015
• Guest and Host for Pages Unbound Literary Festival Transcending Print and Online Literature Workshop 2015
• Hosted 2015 Secondhand Memories Multimedia Global Book Launch @ Wind Up Bird Cafe
• Hosted 5 Wattpad Meet Up reader-writer events

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多くの人々から親しまれている作家、タカツ（高津）。彼は日本で始まった「携帯小説」を欧米文化に紹介した張本人にして、カナダの都市、トロント、に住んでいる英文学の大学生です。六年前の２００８年、彼は世界初の英語「携帯小説」を書き、その新たなジャンルをネット上に紹介し、コミュニティーを築き、数々の若者達を読者・作者の道へ導いてきました。彼の最新の作品「エスプレッソラブ」は東京都で繰り広げられる、現代社会の社会政治的なシステムに対抗し、新たな世界観を作り出す挑戦の旅の物語を描く小説です。この作品は五ヶ月以内で、ネット上での読まれた回数が５０万回を超え、教授や名のある作家をも、読まれたそうです。

彼が大きく影響を受けている人物ら：村上春樹、ヘミングウェイ、よしもとばなな、オーウェル、ドン・デリーロ、フランツ・カフカ、レイモンド・カーヴァー、エマーソン、マンフォード、ボードリヤール、ユング、フロイト、バークリー、マルクス、など。

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Takatsu on Marketing and Design

He currently works as the Head of Marketing and Product Design at Tami Smart City Technologies on a series of new visionary apps that will revolutionize the concept of social media, cities, augmented reality and lifestyles. Since 2009, his work has included graphic, web, UI/UX design and marketing strategies such as social media, multimedia, event, and collaborative campaigns.

Click for resume. A portfolio website coming soon.

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Takatsu on Music

Takatsu has written and produced j-pop, pop rock / pop punk and acoustic music in Japanese and English, and fluent in guitar, piano, drums and recording equipment/software. He believes that music can change the world, something that transcends all languages, the language of the heart and soul. In 2011, after the tsunami in Japan as a way to send a message of encouragement and hope to his friends and family and all who were affected by the disaster he wrote his first Japanese language song 明日の夢 or Ashita no Yume which means Tomorrow’s Dream. The following year he decided to fully produce the song and it became an anthem for all. Shortly after, he released his first self-produced album, the Aozora EP, March 29th, 2012. Since then, the EP has reached online fans in cities all over the world and during his travels and collaborations with the music industry in Tokyo, found a place in the hands of fellow musicians and producers there.

Check out Youtube