Poet Profile

Annie Bachini

I was born and have always lived and worked in London. My most recent activities have been at an oral history and reminiscence project. I have been writing haiku for about 20 years and my work has been published in national and international anthologies and books since 1996. I served as editor of The Brief, the newsletter of the British Haiku Society, from 1995 to1997 and was president of the Society from 2007 to 2009. I also edited a surreal issue of Blithe Spirit, the journal of the British Haiku Society, in 2003. I represented Britain at the Haiku International Symposium, held in Tokyo, in 2009.

Awards and Other Honors: Some of my work is included in William J Higginson's The Haiku Seasons: Poetry of the Natural World and The Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac (both published by Kodansha International). I am one of 20 poets whose work was selected for the first A New Resonance: Emerging Voice in English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 1999). More recently, my work appeared in echoes 1 [compiled by Jim Kacian and Alice Frampton] (Red Moon Press, 2007); Stepping Stones: a way into haiku [edited by Martin Lucas] (British Haiku Society, 2007); and EURO-HAIKU: A Bi-Lingual Anthology [edited by David Cobb] (Iron Press, UK., 2007).

Books Published: the river’s edge (The Bare Bones Press, UK, 2003).

lurching to a halt—
the weight of the bus
inside my body

behind the gold buckle
a woman flickers
on grainy film

after the spring clean
wishing I’d played the music box
one last time

sliding on and off
the river’s edge
autumn leaves

day after day
bits of the chained bicycle
disappear

violins . . .
clouds as they move
leave traces behind

Credits: "lurching to a halt" - Blithe Spirit 16:1 (2006; "after the spring clean" - Blithe Spirit 8:3 (1998); "day after day" - Presence 9 (1999); "behind the gold buckle" - Blithe Spirit 19:2 (2009); "sliding on and off" - Blithe Spirit 7:1 (2007); "violins" - Blithe Spirit 12:3 (2002).