Poet Profile

Doreen King

Doreen, a former General Secretary of the British Haiku Society and editor of Time Haiku, was born in London's East End. She was educated at City University/Royal Holloway.

Awards and Other Honors: Doreen is the recipient of several Arts Council Awards. In 2006, she was given the Kyoto Museum Award for World Peace for her writing and, in 2007, she won the United Kingdom section of the International Biken Poetry Contest. Twelve of her poems were selected to appear in the anthology Bedford Square (John Murray, 2006). She had a long association with Bob Cobbing and produced works with Writers Forum.

Books Published: The Katsura Tree (Iron Press, 2004); The Poetology of Bob Cobbing (Feather Books, 2003); Fox in Your Garden (TFH/Kingdom Books, 1999); Squirrels in Your Garden (TFH/Kingdom Books, 1997); Hedgehog in Your Garden (TFH/Kingdom Books, 1996); First Aid and Nursing for Wild Birds (Whittet Books 1994).

hill i can’t climb
from beyond it
scent of linden

white chrysanthemums—
remembering the little fibs
you told me

indigo sky
she dips her paintbrush
into its colour

the naturalist’s wake
by the bank a leaf’s slow sink
into pond water

stillborn mound—
     the few violets
don’t flower

match over
           the usual
     scrum of gulls

Credits: "hill i can’t climb" - Chinese Whispers (Tribe Press, 2004); "indigo sky" – Keeps (Opran Publications, 2008); "stillborn mound" - Sweep of Light (Hub Editions, 2008); "white chrysanthemums" - The Katsura Tree (Iron Press, 2004); "the naturalist’s wake" – Earth (British Haiku Society Anthology, 2009); "match over" - Blithe Spirit: Journal of the British Haiku Society, 2009).