... haiku in the news ...

[nobodhi]

Jane Hirshfield recently became one of the first authors for Amazon to feature in their new series of original content, Singles. The series features works too long for short story and too short for novel length.  She sent them a lecture on Basho, which they retitled as Heart of Haiku.  Guess what ?  It sold 7,000 copies in its first month... ( Jane has stated she has reason to believe much of the popularity is for haiku, rather than her own name ... ) ...

And for those who say haiku unfamiliar to the masses, now Target has dunked into the pond
http://blog.seattlepi.com/bookpatrol/2011/05/09/target-brings-haiku-to-the-masses/ ... I'm not saying they're 100% savvy ... just that you can't say the word haiku ain't Greek to them ...

[Don Baird]

Excellent!!!

[AlanSummers]

It could be a bit of both, but certainly both Basho and haiku sell.  I hope some of those purchasers are inspired to read more widely after that.

It's a good sign, especially when you get to see what Target calls haiku, or this strange term HAIKUS. ;-)

Alan

Jane Hirshfield recently became one of the first authors for Amazon to feature in their new series of original content, Singles. The series features works too long for short story and too short for novel length.  She sent them a lecture on Basho, which they retitled as Heart of Haiku.  Guess what ?  It sold 7,000 copies in its first month... ( Jane has stated she has reason to believe much of the popularity is for haiku, rather than her own name ... ) ...

And for those who say haiku unfamiliar to the masses, now Target has dunked into the pond
http://blog.seattlepi.com/bookpatrol/2011/05/09/target-brings-haiku-to-the-masses/ ... I'm not saying they're 100% savvy ... just that you can't say the word haiku ain't Greek to them ...

[nobodhi]

for the 1st time in many years, the nobel committee conferred its prize for literature upon a poet : thomas transtromer

here's a suite of his haiku ( rather gendai ¿ no ? )
http://www.samizdateditions.com/issue3/transtromer1.html

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( ¿ is there any way to embed a link within text ? )

[AlanSummers]

I quoted this weblink on Haiku Society of America's Facebook page.

I really liked the series.

Is it gendai?  Not sure about that, but it is fresh and original, but rooted in classic Japanese haiku traditions, just like gendai. ;-)

Alan

for the 1st time in many years, the nobel committee conferred its prize for literature upon a poet : thomas transtromer

here's a suite of his haiku ( rather gendai ¿ no ? )
http://www.samizdateditions.com/issue3/transtromer1.html

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( ¿ is there any way to embed a link within text ? )