JL Kato is a native of Japan and a former newspaper copy editor. He is a poet whose debut volume, Shadows Set in Concrete, was selected the 2011 Best Indiana Book of Poetry by the Indiana Center for the Book. He has served as president of Etheridge Knight Inc. and Brick Street Poetry. Both organizations sponsor literary events, readings, contests and publications. He was a co-founder and curator of Poetry in Free Motion, a project that combined the creative sparks of quilters and poets. As a member of the Indiana Writers Center, he was a participant, then moderator, of the Poetry Salon, which encouraged poets to improve their writings and critique skills. He also served for six years as poetry editor of Flying Island. Kato currently volunteers as a judge in the annual prison writing contest sponsored by the Woman’s Press Club of Indiana.
