Welcome to Juxtapositions 8! This issue contains three exciting new “firsts” for Juxta: a themed issue, a featured conference presentation, and a Best of Issue award.
The theme is “haiku and wellness” in the broadest sense. This issue contains three essays that address the theme in their own ways: “Haiku and Human Flourishing,” “Parkinson’s Toolbox: The Case for Haiku,” and “bird tweets turn into an orchestra: Haiku and Neurodiversity.”
The featured conference presentation, “Bashō’s Haiku Pedagogy as Mindfulness Training,” also engages the issue’s theme. Furthermore, it launches a new section in the journal that will contain a conference presentation or keynote address in an effort to more widely circulate information from important presentations on haiku.
Additionally, this issue contains the first Best of Issue award. We are grateful to an anonymous donor for making a monetary prize available and to our three esteemed judges: Janine Beichman, Cheryl Crowley, and Toru Kiuchi. Congratulations to Adam L. Kern of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (“A Certain Tightness in the Chest: Sarasen (Salaryman Senryū on 3-11, Covid-19, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, And Other Such Catastrophes”) and Amanda Monteleone of the University of Texas – Arlington (“Living in Community: The More-than-Human World in Gerald Vizenor’s Haiku”), whose work tied for the JUXTA Award for Juxtapositions 7.
We have several other notable contributions to this issue. There are two interviews, one with Roberta Beary and one with Robert Epstein; the resources section contains an informative overview of Haikupedia, a valuable resource for scholars; and there are four excellent book reviews. While there is much to celebrate in Juxtapositions 8, it is with great sadness that I must share the passing of one of our editors. Stephen Addiss was a renowned haiga artist, educator, and scholar; a
wonderful collaborator on this journal; and a very fine person. He will be greatly missed by all of us. Please see Josh Hockensmith’s beautiful memorial tribute to Steve at the end of this issue.
Thank you to everyone who made Juxtapositions 8 possible, in-cluding Managing Editor Jim Kacian and The Haiku Foundation. We hope you enjoy this issue.
Ce Rosenow
Senior Editor