Home About Robert CV The Good Lord Willing and the Creek Don't Rise: Pentimento Memories of Mom and Me Media Kit Novels Reviews ESL Papers (can be viewed online by clicking on titles) The Many Roads to Japan (free online version for ESL/EFL teachers and students) Contact      |
 Robert W. Norris, Author of Expatriate and Antiwar
FictionHello and welcome to my home page. Thanks for dropping by. I'm the author of three expatriate and antiwar novels, a novella used as a textbook in Japanese universities, two memoirs, and several articles on teaching English as a foreign language. I'm retired now but spent twenty-four years teaching at the college and university level in Japan. Recent news: I am pleased to announce that at the end of September 2025 I signed a contract with Foreshore Publishing for my memoir All That We Are: A Vietnam War Conscientious Objector’s Reflections on His Years (1992-2016) of Peace Education Activities and Relationships in Japan. It’s scheduled to be published in autumn 2026. All That We Are looks at some unknown movers and shakers in Japanese society from a viewpoint that is often neglected — that of citizens who are pushing back against corporate and political power in a society known for its conformity. The story covers my twenty-four years of teaching at a Japanese junior college and university, engaging in peace education lessons and activities, and working with several Japanese journalists, activists, authors, documentary producers, and scholars in the fields of peace and literature. It also provides ideas for ESL/EFL teachers to help improve their students’ critical thinking, English reading, and discussion skills. Click here to see Foreshore’s announcement. My first memoir titled The Good Lord Willing and the Creek Don't Rise: Pentimento Memories of Mom and Me was published in January 2023. It's about my life story and relationship with my mother, who died just four days short of her 95th birthday in 2021. The book explores the separate life paths we experienced, our searches for identity, and our unbreakable bond. A synopsis; blurbs; order details; and links to excerpts, interviews, and reviews can be found by clicking on the title in the menu bar on the left side of this page. You can also click here to buy an eBook or paperback copy at the vendor of your choice (Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, or Bookshop.org) My other books were published by indie presses between
1995 and 2006. Those publishers eventually closed their
doors, returning all rights to me. I opted to keep the
books alive by republishing them myself. They're still
available at any Amazon site. Just
click on the links provided for each title in the
"Novels" section in the menu. The links for eBook
versions are also in the "Novels" section. My first novel, Looking for the Summer, is a
novel about a former Vietnam War conscientious
objector’s adventures and search for identity in Europe,
Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and India in 1977. My second
novel, Toraware, is a
psychological drama about the obsessive relationship of
three misfits from different cultural backgrounds in
1980s Kobe, Japan. My third novel, Autumn Shadows in
August, is modeled roughly on Malcolm Lowry's Dark
as the Grave Wherein My Friend is Laid. It's an
hallucinogenic mid-life crisis/adventure story, as well
as homage to Lowry and Hermann Hesse. Robert W. Norris Copyright (c) 2024 Robert W. Norris. All Rights Reserved  |