Poet Profile

Anita Krumins

For thirty-two years Anita Krumins was a faculty member at Ryerson University; during that time she was chair of her department, chair of the Faculty Appeals Committee, and president of the Ryerson Faculty Association. In 2007, she became a Professor Emerita, and until 2012 she was the assistant editor of Frogpond: The Journal of the Haiku Society of America. She also served as editor of Children's Book Reviews, Cross-Canada Writers' Quarterly (1985-1987), and is a member of Haiku Canada, Haiku Society of America, The Writers' Union of Canada (for which she served as Nominating Chair for one year), and PEN. Her work has appeared in Brussels Sprout, Canada-Japan Society of Ottawa Newsletter, Haiku Canada Newsletter, Inkstone, Lynx, Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Poetry Renaissance Magazine (Japan), and Simply Haiku: A Quarterly of Japanese Short Form Poetry.

Awards and Other Honors: Five Ontario Arts Council Writers' Grants (1979, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1989); Honorable Mention, The Haiku Society of America's Gerald Brady Memorial Award for Senryu (1990); ninety-eight Canada Council Grants for school and library readings/presentations (1984-1992). Her work has been selected for inclusion in numerous anthologies, including A Haiku Alphabet In Celebration of Spring [L. Gorman, editor] (Aylmer, QC: Proof Press, 1994); Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac [W.J. Higginson, editor] (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1996); Haiku for Lovers [M. Bazzano, Editor] (London: MQ Publications, 2003); and Carpe Diem: Canadian Anthology of Haiku [F. Chicoine, T.A. Carter & M. Fraticelli, editors] (Ottawa/Nepean: Les Editions David/Borealis Press, 2008).

Books Published:       Haiku Collections: This Day's New Face (Napanee, ON: Haiku Canada Sheet, 1993, broadsheet); Susurrus (Toronto, ON: Iņšpress, 2013).      Essays/Reviews: "A Paean to Pain" - Waves 4:3 (1976) & reprinted in Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 54 [D.G. Marowski & R. Matuz, editors] (Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1989); "Battle Of The Renga" - Lynx: A Quarterly Journal of Renga (Autumn,1991) & reprinted in Haiku Canada Newsletter 6:4 (1991); "The Mexican Haiku, Part One: Origins" [with George Swede] - Modern Haiku 35:1 (2004); "The Mexican Haiku, Part Two: After The Pioneers" [with George Swede] - Modern Haiku 36:1 (2005); Shaped By The Wind by Ferris Gilli - Modern Haiku 39.1 (2008); a number of other reviews for Waves as well as for Cross-Canada Writers' Quarterly and Parenting on CBC Television (1985-1987).      Children's Story Books: Quillby, The Porcupine Who Lost His Quills [with George Swede] (Toronto: Three Trees Press, 1980, perfect softbound, 24 pp.); Who's Going To Clean Up The Mess? (Toronto: Three Trees Press, 1980 & 1985, hardcover & softbound, stapled, 24 pp.); Mr. Wurtzel and the Halloween Bunny (Toronto: Three Trees Press, 1982, hardcover & softbound, stapled, 24 pp.).      Anthologized Children's Stories: "Who's Going To Clean Up The Mess?" - Tall Tales [B. Rennick, editor] (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1984); "Those Big Stinky Cows" - Canadian Children's Annual [B. Cross, editor] (Toronto: Grolier, 1988).

Methodical husband:
On his list of chores, she finds
Her name

moonrise--
cellulite pocked
thighs

in a civilized mood
she plays Bach
on the bones of dead elephants

martini glass
green olives, red pimento
shades of the day

hidden in
my make-up bag
this day's new face

sensing the heat 
of her passion    he opens
a window

Credits: "Methodical husband" - Honorable Mention, Haiku Society of America's Gerald Brady Memorial Award (1990); Frogpond XIII:4 (1990); Canada-Japan Society of Ottawa Newsletter (1993); This Day's New Face (Haiku Canada Broadsheet, 1993); Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac [W.J. Higginson, editor] (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1996); Haiku for Lovers [M. Bazzano, editor] (2003); Simply Haiku: A Quarterly of Japanese Short Form Poetry 4:2 (2006); "in a civilized mood" - Modern Haiku 19:3 (1988); This Day's New Face (Haiku Canada Broadsheet, 1993); Canada-Japan Society of Ottawa Newsletter (1993); "hidden in" - [title poem: This Day's New Face (Haiku Canada Broadsheet, 1993); Canada-Japan Society of Ottawa Newsletter (1993); Spring: A Haiku Alphabet [L Gorman, editor] (Aylmer, QC: Proof Press, 1995); Brussels Sprout 12:2 (1995; review of This Day's New Face); "moonrise" - Modern Haiku 20:3 (1989; part of the renga "Uneven Floorboards" with Cor van den Heuvel and Patricia Neubauer); This Day's New Face (Haiku Canada Broadsheet, 1993; Canada-Japan Society of Ottawa Newsletter (1993); "martini glass" - Lynx (Oct. 1997; part of the renga "Sunday in the City of Roses" with George Swede); "sensing the heat" - Inkstone (1990).