The Haiku Foundation Forums

Hi Lorraine!

No worries! :-)

There are some intricate haikai verses in the book, alongside some of my earlier works, and it was quite an intriguing mix that Brendan Slater put together.

That was quite a year, a completely new style, and as soon as some appeared, they got snatched up before they could reach a magazine first!  It was a very quick turnaround and the book stays fresh and relevant today because it caught a moment in my writing before that too evolved into something new again.

Good to hear from you!

warm regards,
Alan
www.callofthepage.org

Quote from: Lorraine Pester on October 01, 2018, 08:30:48 AM
Alan,

I have owned this book for a couple of years. Maybe you recall my misunderstanding about one of the haiku I misquoted to you from the book; how embarrassing 😟

Thank you!

I hadn't long known Johannes S H Bjerg when I approached him to say something for the book, and his enthusiasm was infectious! It is a great quote isn't it? <grin>

warm regards,
Alan

Quote from: flowerfox on September 30, 2018, 11:22:11 AM
Although I am a mere novice at the genre of haiku, having just over two year of practice under my belt, I feel the need to learn more.

'out of the old pond and into the city'
Definitely.

The first verse sets the tonal quality of the book.

Does Fish-God Know,
this ground-breaking book, the first in the U.K. as a collection to contain gendai or gendai influenced haiku is now on special offer.

Check out the various Amazon links at:

Does Fish-God Know haiku collection by Alan Summers
http://area17.blogspot.com/2012/10/does-fish-god-know-haiku-collection-by.html


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The definite and indefinite article in haiku:
http://area17.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-definite-and-indefinite-article-how.html


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Hi Marion,

If we say haiku are 1890s onwards, I think it varies, as we have Jane Reichhold (2 hs) who is/was very much a haiku poet, and then Makoto Ueda who, as far as I'm aware, doesn't write haiku himself.

Far Beyond the Field:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Far-Beyond-Field-Japanese-Translations-ebook/dp/B0092XDW4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536006888&sr=8-1&keywords=beyond+the+field+haiku

Modern Japanese Haiku: An Anthology:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Japanese-Haiku-Makoto-Ueda/dp/0802062458

I would imagine there are poet/translators, but not necessarily haiku writers themselves, and translators who are good with Japanese. I have an acquaintance who is a corporate translator who's also been approached to help translate Japanese modern tanka and senryu.

Then there are haiku poets who sadly forget to put the author of the translation, and just have the 'English haikai verse' and the Japanese poet's name as if he is/was the original author.

Alan

Quote from: Seaview on September 03, 2018, 09:34:02 AM
Out of interest, Alan, are the translators of haiku from Japanese to English always haiku poets themselves? I imagine it would be quite a disadvantage if they weren't.

marion

Just seen this post again, and it reminded me that a lot has changed!

One change is that I've become the new President of this society:
http://unitedhaikuandtankasociety.com/officers-biographies

The founders retired, and approached new people, and the journal is now called Cattails:
http://www.cattailsjournal.com/welcome.html

And our haibun competition has just opened too for this year!

The "Samurai" Haibun Competition
Our UHTS Yearly Haibun Competition celebrates a Festival held in Nikko Toshogo, Japan each year, which is the procession devoted to all things Samurai, including warriors wielding traditional Japanese weaponry parading through the streets. This competition is about "the strength or power of nature (including human nature)", and whatever it means to each author. Entries could be about anything from flowers to a hurricane to any life subject, or anything at all that the poet personally perceives as a powerful force.

You are encouraged to submit in your native language in addition to your English submission.

Submission Period and Deadline: September 1-December 15 of each year.
http://unitedhaikuandtankasociety.com/contests

Please see the General Submission Guidelines for further information.

Specific Guidelines for : The "Samurai" Haibun Competition

GENERAL: Please email your submissions in English in the body of an email (only) directly to Marianna.Monaco@gmail.com, with the words "UHTS "Samurai" contest" in the subject header, and include your name, country, and email address.

Do "not" use the cattails Submissions guidelines for contests.

Submission Period and Deadline: September 1-December 15 of each year.

SUBMISSIONS: Submit up to three entries, entries must be the original work of the author, be previously unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere for the entire time period it takes to complete the judging. This contest is not themed and is open to all age groups worldwide.

FORMATTING: If a poem is submitted in more than one language, we will be delighted. Please put the poem in English first, and then below that, put the poem in the other language. (Do not put the poems side by side). This will greatly facilitate the recording of your poems by the contest coordinator. If you have any problems sending your submissions by email, please let our contest coordinator know.

NOTIFICATION: The winners (only) will be notified. If you do not hear anything back from us by February 1, your entries are automatically free for you to submit elsewhere.
http://unitedhaikuandtankasociety.com/contest-submission-guidelines

Good luck!

Alan Summers
President, United Haiku and Tanka Society

Hi Greg,

Quote from: greg schwartz on August 31, 2018, 04:21:59 PM
Thanks for sharing that article, Alan.  A lot of information in there, and a great timeline of haiku.

I haven't noticed many tweets that leave out the translator, though I'm sure as one yourself you're much more aware when it happens.  I enjoy finding different translations of the same haiku; I think each one reveals a different aspect of the original.

I did put a feeler out to a couple of people who now know who the chosen translators were, for example, Jane Reichhold who has done many translations, who brought out this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Basho-Complete-Haiku-Matsuo/dp/1568365373/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535760291&sr=8-1&keywords=Complete+Basho

I find what is useful, whether hokku or haiku (1890s onwards) is not just translations into English, but transliterations, which are breakdowns in Japanese word order, but in English, accompanied by Japanese kana/hiragana etc...

It would all help if we saw that hokku is its own wonderful form, and that haiku is a fascinating experiment initiated by Shiki, who thought it wouldn't last. :-)

warm regards,
Alan

p.s.

summer grasses (hokku) from his famous and iconic The Narrow Road to the Deep North:
http://area17.blogspot.com/2006/04/bashos-summer-grasses.html

Thank you Greg!

I'm finding it's confusing to lump hokku and haiku together. Too many tweets, for instance, make out as if Basho, Buson, Issa etc... wrote haiku, and in English. There's no mention of the actual translation's author, which is weird and confusing.

Also whereas hokku was and is a form, haiku was never going to stay confined in subject matter or structure, as it came about in the great change between the still medieval era up to the 19th Century and the new industrial and urban technology driven era of the 20th century, and now the 21st Century.

It inspired me to write this:
https://the13alphabet.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/why-haiku-is-different/

warm regards,
Alan

Quote from: greg schwartz on August 30, 2018, 09:45:39 PM

Quote from: AlanSummers on May 18, 2018, 06:24:05 AM
Whereas haiku became a genre, but still retaining some aspects of form, hokku is distinctly a form, and was part of the most highly regulated form of poetry perhaps in the world.

I've never seen the distinction between the two put so eloquently and concisely at the same time.

Hi Carol!

I've updated the details of how to buy a ticket from the festival organisers:
http://area17.blogspot.com/2018/08/workshop-alan-summers-foraging-for.html

Let me know how the system works.

Gosh, wimberries! They'll have to go into a haiku on the day as well! It'll be great to have a little of the Brecon Beacons in Wiltshire.

Yes, lovely venue, and friendly festival people. I'll introduce you, as many of the organisers live or visit my town of Chippenham.

warm regards,
Alan

Quote from: flowerfox on August 26, 2018, 12:41:51 AM
I like the sound of that, Alan. So much to forage when just out for a walk, I'm looking forward to the wimberries.
The venue is gorgeous.

Workshop: Alan Summers 'Foraging for Haiku!'
7th October  2018
1 - 3 pm
(meet at the RICHARD JEFFERIES MUSEUM)

In this indoor/outdoor event, haiku expert Alan Summers will guide you on a "haiku writing walk" or ginko. The notes collected will form the basis of your own haiku poems for workshopping back at the Museum. We will start with Alan reading a number of his haiku, and deconstructing these shortest of poems to show how each originated with his observations of life and the environment. We'll then all go on a haiku walk, known as a ginko in Japan, and make our own observations and field notes as raw ingredients for our own haiku. A relaxed workshop follows, where Alan will lead you through editing and splicing your notes to create an original, resonant haiku of your own.

web links:
http://www.poetryswindon.org/poetry-festival-2018
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-swindon-festival-2018-workshops-passes-tickets-39387665568
http://www.poetryswindon.org/our-audience

RICHARD JEFFERIES MUSEUM
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g187049-d4688339-Reviews-Richard_Jefferies_Museum-Swindon_Wiltshire_England.html

Swindon is in the South West of England, nestled into Wiltshire:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swindon

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Newsletter Sign up:
https://www.callofthepage.org/contact/newsletter-sign-up/

As co-founder of Call of the Page I've been noticing that enquiries have been about certain courses, and events, and we didn't have a useful method of getting back to every single person.

Karen has added a mailing list so no one misses out on something new announced on our site, and we can be quicker to respond to the questions and interest in specific genres, be it something about haiku, or how haibun can be sent to publications that normally publish flash fiction, or creative non-fiction etc...

And also we do ekphrastic tanka and ekphrastic haibun courses which might not be known to everyone.

warm regards,
Alan

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The Spectrum of Haiku & Senryu

There are some difficult questions in the universe. One of them is sometimes "Is this poem a haiku or a senryu?"

Despite clear intended differences in the form it can sometimes seem impossible to nail down.

The answer perhaps is that there is a spectrum of haiku and senryu. In this course we'll write intentionally at both ends of the spectrum, and at points along it, with an awareness of where we are between the genres.

More information:
https://www.callofthepage.org/learning/haiku-courses/the-spectrum-of-haiku-senryu/


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Regarding haibun we are lining up another course:
https://www.callofthepage.org/learning/haibun-courses/

And have a number of courses announced across the genres:
https://www.callofthepage.org/learning/

Also one to one Skype calls are getting more popular. A lot of ground can be covered quickly, and the combination of in-depth analysis plus humour is incredibly effective.

warm regards,
Alan

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A Sense of Place:  THE SHORE – touch:
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2018/08/08/a-sense-of-place-the-shore-touch/

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Why haiku is different

An article for:

The 13 Alphabet – MAGAZINE
| an online magazine of photography & literature |
https://the13alphabet.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/why-haiku-is-different/