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Hi!  I'm not sure how to email you separately.  My email is LauraSherman at earthlink dot net.  Feel free to write to me. I'll be on vacation for a few days, but will return Dec 22.

I have three young children, so I completely understand. I'll need help with compiling and admin, as well as promoting.  We're also inviting sponsorship this year, as well.  People can donate $100 and get a link on the HaikuNow site.  I could use some help getting the word out on that!

Let me know what appeals and I'll appreciate any help you can offer. :-)

Laura

Yes, thank you, Sandra!  And thank you, Jublke, for posting the question!

Congratulations on accomplishing your goals this year. Bravo!!

I am very interested in hearing answers to your question. I'm at the stage of thinking that I might be ready to try to get my first haiku published in a journal.

Alan had suggested that I consider writing a series of haiku about my family. I have been working on that and am having fun with that.

Then another friend suggested that I tackle a sequence, which was a new idea for me. I need to research that a bit more, but I like the concept!

One of my projects for this year is to organize HaikuNow (the huge annual haiku contest for the Haiku Foundation).  Would you like to help me with that?

Laura

I love fibonacci haiku!  I kind of like the math element in 575, but have stopped striving for that count. Now and again I hit it quite accidentally and feel it works.

I wrote a math inspired haiku about a chess tournament (I'm a chess coach):

forty eager faces
twelve hundred and eighty squares
one winner

(I doubt it will win any awards, but I wanted to share the experience of watching 40 of our students all intent on their games. It was a powerful moment!)

Hi!  Just to clarify, the Mentoring board is the only one closed to the public at this time.  The other boards are open. 

There is a way to test this.  Before you log in, look to see which boards you can see.  Those are the ones open to the public.  You'll notice that the Mentoring one isn't visible.  Only when you log in, can you see that one.

Hi, Mark!  I'm curious about the last example, as that seems to be an example of ambiguity.  I would think this would be an intimate scene between lovers, rather than a child's breath, but it really could be either.  It does seem that as you simplify, you do tend to leave your haiku open to interpretation.  Which of these do you prefer?

Thank you, Cat, for clarifying!  That helps a lot.  I've heard that one should avoid "my", but I don't completely understand.  Someone explained that it is harder for the reader to get involved, but then it doesn't seem as personal (or as true).

What is your viewpoint on that?  In this case I prefer the "my," but perhaps that is selfish of me (an odd though, isn't it?).

Lorin, what great examples!  Thank you for these.  I like your explanation of, "the writer's thumb on the scales," too.

I'm still struggling a bit with how to show my experience without intruding on the scene, but this discussion has helped a lot!

I've been reading the comments on the board and have been intrigued by the concept of "authorial intrusion."  This is a new concept for me.

I have also enjoyed the threads on ambiguity. 

However these two concepts seem to be, perhaps, in conflict.  If you aren't putting your stamp on the haiku, then there must be shades of ambiguity.  Or am I missing something?

One point, that I have been tossing around, is whether to take ownership in a poem.  For instance should I use "an infant" or "my infant" in a haiku such as:

the hushed breaths
of an infant
spring breeze

(I'm still working on this haiku)

Would it be considered "authorial intrusion" to use "my infant"?

Thanks!

Paul, you bring up a very interesting point. I don't like rap music, but have wondered if there is a bridge there. Some way to marry music and haiku.

It is a challenge to bring haiku to more people, but keep its integrity in.

I'm curious as to how someone could say that haiku isn't poetry.  Why would it be deemed otherwise?

I sometimes run into people who are convinced that haiku must follow the 575 pattern.  They can be quite certain about this and feel all other haiku forms are "wrong."  I know that most Japanese haiku have this format, but that when translated, it doesn't hold.  I'm just curious why there is so much passion about this subject.

This board is designed to be a safe place for you to ask questions you may have about haiku.  Feel free to discuss any beginning level topics here as well.  

Debates are welcome, as long as everyone is courteous.  We're all here to learn!

In addition we will post announcements now and then.

Thank you and enjoy!

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