Noting, today, that What Light There Is by Sylvia Forges-Ryan received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Touchstone Distinguished Books Awards
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2017/04/28/touchstone-honorable-mentions-2016/
I can't help but wonder if the Panel, Randy Brooks, Tom Clausen, Rebecca Lilly, Michael McClintock and Julie Warther (all Americans) are aware that I have a book of the same title, what light there is, published in 2009 and cached on the A Hundred Gourds website, or even aware of my original haiku from which my book takes its title.
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http://www.ahundredgourds.com/ahg53/lorinfordwebpages/whatlightthereis.html
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Granted, mine is an e-chapbook, not a print book. Should that matter? The haiku my title is drawn from is:
rain beads on a bare twig what light there is
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first published in Shamrock Haiku Journal #3 (2007); a wattle seedpod (PostPressed,2008) 3Lights Gallery e-chapbook what light there is (2009),Red Moon anthology Carving Darkness (2011), Haiku in English (Norton 2013) and included in my sample haiku on the THF Registry from 2009 or 2010.
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If you look up the F surnames in the Registry, you'll find that the link to my page is located between those of Seanan Forbes and Sylvia Forges-Ryan, both of which were later entries. I find it unlikely that anyone checking out their Registry page wouldn't be curious enough to read at least the haiku by the people filed close to their own names.
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What if I'd planned to title a future print book what light there is? What if I'd planned to publish it through Red Moon Press?
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These two haiku are in Sylvia Forges-Ryan's book (there may be more):
---
Diagnosis
what light there is
dimming
--
What light there is --
mornings the sparkle of dew
evenings the glow of fireflies
--
I can't help but note that Sylvia has taken both senses of "what light there is" in my haiku:
rain beads on a bare twig what light there is
and spread them over two haiku, allocating one meaning to each. In doing so, she's lost the ambiguity ... the double sense of "what light there is"... that distinguishes my haiku, yet she's used both, and also brought them together in her book title. It's this that gives me the impression that she has read mine and 'worked' it rather than it being accidental or an example of what MDW terms 'cryptomnesia'.
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Though it might still be 'cryptomnesia'. Here's Michael Dylan Welch (from one of his many articles on the subject of plagiarism) from 'A Spade's a Spade: Plagiarism and Déjà-ku':
https://poetrysociety.org.nz/affiliates/haiku-nz/haiku-poems-articles/archived-articles/a-spades-a-spade-plagiarism-and-deja-ku/
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"We should indeed feel free to get our inspiration wherever and whenever we can. But at some point we should assess our work and ask ourselves some questions — where did that come from, and did I just restate someone else's ideas or images in different words?" - MDW
---
I'm pretty certain that if Sylvia Forges-Ryan had been a relative newcomer to haiku, someone would have picked up that her book title and the two related haiku I've given here are based on my haiku & book title, but when I look at her credits, I see she's been around a very long time:
"Sylvia Forges-Ryan, former editor of Frogpond, has not published a volume since her award-winning Take a Deep Breath a decade ago. Instead, she has been shaping the threads of her writing — haiku, senryu and tanka — into the cohesive whole that is What Light There Is, . . .
--
Where does one stand if the 'important ' people overlook or decline to recognise plagiarism when they see it, or remain unaware of a truly original and widely published haiku such as this of mine to the extent that someone very experienced ( no 'newbie' excuses are possible) can come along and not only use the guts of it (albeit in two haiku instead of one), but have a book published under the title of what light there is? What can one do?
---
My own bleak conclusion in this case is that one can do bugger-all apart from reminding people of the original and bringing up the topic, but I welcome suggestions, opinions...anything!
--
- Lorin
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2017/04/28/touchstone-honorable-mentions-2016/
I can't help but wonder if the Panel, Randy Brooks, Tom Clausen, Rebecca Lilly, Michael McClintock and Julie Warther (all Americans) are aware that I have a book of the same title, what light there is, published in 2009 and cached on the A Hundred Gourds website, or even aware of my original haiku from which my book takes its title.
--
http://www.ahundredgourds.com/ahg53/lorinfordwebpages/whatlightthereis.html
--
Granted, mine is an e-chapbook, not a print book. Should that matter? The haiku my title is drawn from is:
rain beads on a bare twig what light there is
--
first published in Shamrock Haiku Journal #3 (2007); a wattle seedpod (PostPressed,2008) 3Lights Gallery e-chapbook what light there is (2009),Red Moon anthology Carving Darkness (2011), Haiku in English (Norton 2013) and included in my sample haiku on the THF Registry from 2009 or 2010.
--
If you look up the F surnames in the Registry, you'll find that the link to my page is located between those of Seanan Forbes and Sylvia Forges-Ryan, both of which were later entries. I find it unlikely that anyone checking out their Registry page wouldn't be curious enough to read at least the haiku by the people filed close to their own names.
--
What if I'd planned to title a future print book what light there is? What if I'd planned to publish it through Red Moon Press?
---
These two haiku are in Sylvia Forges-Ryan's book (there may be more):
---
Diagnosis
what light there is
dimming
--
What light there is --
mornings the sparkle of dew
evenings the glow of fireflies
--
I can't help but note that Sylvia has taken both senses of "what light there is" in my haiku:
rain beads on a bare twig what light there is
and spread them over two haiku, allocating one meaning to each. In doing so, she's lost the ambiguity ... the double sense of "what light there is"... that distinguishes my haiku, yet she's used both, and also brought them together in her book title. It's this that gives me the impression that she has read mine and 'worked' it rather than it being accidental or an example of what MDW terms 'cryptomnesia'.
---
Though it might still be 'cryptomnesia'. Here's Michael Dylan Welch (from one of his many articles on the subject of plagiarism) from 'A Spade's a Spade: Plagiarism and Déjà-ku':
https://poetrysociety.org.nz/affiliates/haiku-nz/haiku-poems-articles/archived-articles/a-spades-a-spade-plagiarism-and-deja-ku/
--
"We should indeed feel free to get our inspiration wherever and whenever we can. But at some point we should assess our work and ask ourselves some questions — where did that come from, and did I just restate someone else's ideas or images in different words?" - MDW
---
I'm pretty certain that if Sylvia Forges-Ryan had been a relative newcomer to haiku, someone would have picked up that her book title and the two related haiku I've given here are based on my haiku & book title, but when I look at her credits, I see she's been around a very long time:
"Sylvia Forges-Ryan, former editor of Frogpond, has not published a volume since her award-winning Take a Deep Breath a decade ago. Instead, she has been shaping the threads of her writing — haiku, senryu and tanka — into the cohesive whole that is What Light There Is, . . .
--
Where does one stand if the 'important ' people overlook or decline to recognise plagiarism when they see it, or remain unaware of a truly original and widely published haiku such as this of mine to the extent that someone very experienced ( no 'newbie' excuses are possible) can come along and not only use the guts of it (albeit in two haiku instead of one), but have a book published under the title of what light there is? What can one do?
---
My own bleak conclusion in this case is that one can do bugger-all apart from reminding people of the original and bringing up the topic, but I welcome suggestions, opinions...anything!
--
- Lorin