Yōko Tawada Collections books in order

Q: "How many books are in the Yōko Tawada Collections series?"

"There are four books in the Yōko Tawada Collections series, published between 1991 and 2021."

Q: "What is the first book in the Yōko Tawada Collections series?"

"The first book in the Yōko Tawada Collections series is Where Europe Begins, published in 1991."

Q: "What is Memoirs of a Polar Bear about?"

"Memoirs of a Polar Bear follows three generations of polar bears who can write and speak. Each section is narrated by a different bear, and the novel-in-stories is really about performance, autobiography, and the way identity shifts across generations and cultures."

Reading order

#	Title	Published	Author	Buy on Amazon
1	Where Europe Begins	1991	Yōko Tawada	Buy
2	Facing the Bridge	2007	Yōko Tawada	Buy
3	Memoirs of a Polar Bear	2014	Yōko Tawada	Buy
4	3 Streets	2021	Yōko Tawada	Buy

Yoko Tawada’s collections bring together short fiction and essays that circle around her core interests: language, displacement, and the strangeness of everyday life when you live far from home. Where Europe Begins, her first major English-language collection, mixes stories and prose poems set in Russia, Siberia, and Germany. Facing the Bridge collects three novellas set in different cities, each built around a character navigating a foreign place.

Memoirs of a Polar Bear is harder to classify. It reads like a novel told in three linked sections, each narrated by a polar bear in a different era. 3 Streets is a short book about three streets in three cities, blending memoir and fiction. These collections reward readers who enjoy writing that is smart without being showy, and strange without trying too hard.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Yōko Tawada Collections series?

There are four books in the Yōko Tawada Collections series, published between 1991 and 2021.

What is the first book in the Yōko Tawada Collections series?

The first book in the Yōko Tawada Collections series is Where Europe Begins, published in 1991.

What is Memoirs of a Polar Bear about?

Memoirs of a Polar Bear follows three generations of polar bears who can write and speak. Each section is narrated by a different bear, and the novel-in-stories is really about performance, autobiography, and the way identity shifts across generations and cultures.

Reading order#

Frequently Asked Questions

Reading order