Nowadays I write literary fiction and experimental verse – a world away from dabbling in travel writing which I did when I was in Japan. I worked as an English teacher back in 2004 and I wrote a piece on my hometown, Belfast, for Nova City magazine, a publication aimed at Japanese people who wanted to learn and practice their English. I wrote the article in English, and it was translated into Japanese once it was accepted for publication in the magazine. I tried to keep it short and lively, focusing on the history of Belfast and some of the famous people who come from Northern Ireland, such as the writer C. S. Lewis. The article included a blurb about my background and upbringing in Belfast, along with a family photo, picture of my graduation and a snap of my Archaeology days. My name was misspelled though (Lenanie instead of Leilanie). English might be confusing for Japanese people, since Hiragana and Katakana are phonetic alphabets and English isn’t, but how do they think we feel trying to learn Kanji!
Leilanie Stewart 