CHRIS DIXON
BOOKS
The Circular Book of All That Is
Even More Than Ashes (translator)
BIO
Chris Dixon was born in the UK in the mid-sixties, went to boarding school at the age of nine, and graduated King’s College, University of London in 1988 with a degree in French Language & Literature and a diploma in Theology. In the same year, he left the UK to travel round the world, and settled – trip incomplete – in Japan. “I decided to spend some time in Japan just as an exercise, as a challenge initially. Having spent my formative years at boarding school, I had become somewhat institutionalized, and needed to get out of my extremely small comfort zone. When I arrived in Japan – a country I knew nothing about, and whose language I spoke not a word of – I soon discovered that there was plenty of work for native English speakers, as Japan was at the height of its post-war boom – the so-called “bubble economy” – which presented the perfect opportunity for me to settle here. At the time, I had no idea I’d still be here over thirty years later, though!
“Late eighties Japan was a surreal kind of place. As Japan was poised to take over the world economically, everyone was taking English conversation classes. Eighty percent of the ads in the subway trains were for English conversation schools. It was very easy to find work, and initially I was extremely busy, with very little time to write. I conceived of the idea of writing something that would not require long periods of concentration, but something I could write in bits and pieces, when I had a couple of minutes to rub together. Coincidentally with this, I made the decision to become a vegan, and I began to read not just books on nutrition, but “around the subject” – books on Buddhism, Taoism…. a more spiritual field of investigation.
“At the same time, the waste that could be observed in wealthy boomtown Japan pushed me towards a keen desire to be careful in my own consumption, and this new-found environmentalism provided the third strand of the elements that came together to provide a theme for my part-time writing project. And thus was The Circular Book of All That Is born.
“I started studying tai chi and qigong in 1996, but by this time the vast majority of the book had been finished. I tried to find a literary agent, and came close a couple of times, but: ‘Although you have an interesting book which I am quite sure you can find a publisher for, I don’t feel that this is the right project for me’ was a common verdict. So, while going about my normal everyday life, and trying to practice what I preach in the book by leading a life of balance, a life hopefully kind to the environment, other life forms on the planet, and my own health, the book sat on the proverbial shelf for close to three decades.
“It was only when my good friend Bill – publisher of many, many books himself – encouraged me to have another crack at it, that I realized that circumstances had changed and that the time was right. I would like to thank him for his support and encouragement, and generous hands-on help getting the book published. I’d also like to thank the other members of my team who contributed their skills to its publication, and, of course, I am most grateful to Turning Worm Books for their confidence in this project..
“So here it is, after thirty years. I sincerely hope people will find something inspiring and useful in its pages.”
In the intervening years, Chris has tried his hand at a number of professions: English conversation teacher at a language school; talent appearing in various movies, TV shows and commercials; narrator (voice overs for corporate videos, educational materials, etc.); translator (French and Japanese to English); musician (performing with his band Edward’s Operation); subtitling (creating subtitles for TV shows and movies aired on Japanese TV); wedding celebrant (conducting Christian-style weddings in hotels and wedding venues in Tokyo and surrounding area); and, currently, teaching English essay-writing and grammar skills to second and third-graders at a metropolitan high school in Tokyo. Comments Chris: “I like to think I’m a bit of a jack of all trades…. master of none, however!”
“As for writing, in addition to the Circular Book, I have started many, many other things: plays and novels mostly. I have a lot of half-finished manuscripts in the proverbial drawer. Time to dig some of them out, perhaps.” Chris is currently working on his second original book, which, we understand, will be of interest to his essay-writing students. Subscribe to the Newsletter (see bottom of page) to get news on upcoming releases.