Poet Profile

Gary Hotham

Gary Hotham spent his youth on a potato farm in northern Maine before attending the University of Maine where he obtained a BA in History in 1972. It was while attending college which wasn’t that far south he discovered that winter didn’t have to last as long as it did in northern Maine. He has since lived for various lengths of time in Pennsylvania, Texas, Japan, Germany, and England with his wife and daughter, and now makes his home in Maryland. His interest in haiku began in the mid-60s when he first learned about the genre in Mrs. Maloney's English class during his sophomore year of high school. And he hasn’t recovered from the challenge.

Awards and Other Honors:

Hotham's work has appeared in most of the leading haiku journals and respected anthologies, including but not limited to all three of the anthologies edited by Cor van den Heuvel: The Haiku Anthology 1 (Doubleday/Anchor Press, 1974); The Haiku Anthology 2 (Simon and Schuster, 1986); The Haiku Anthology 3 (W.W. Norton Company, 1999); Haiku Moment: An Anthology of Contemporary North American Haiku (Bruce Ross, ed., Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1993); Global Haiku (Ed. Randy Brooks and George Swede. Niagara Falls: Mosaic Press, 2000); Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years (edited by Jim Kacian, Philip Rowland, and Allan Burns, W.W. Norton and Company, 2013). Several of his haiku were chosen as examples in The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku, with Penny Harter (Higginson, William J., New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985/Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1989); Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac (Higginson, William J., Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1996); Favorite Haiku Volume 2 by H.F. Noyes (Red Moon Press, 1999); Lee Gurga's Haiku: A Poet’s Guide (Modern Haiku Press, 2003); and in The Haiku Seasons: Poetry of the Natural World, second edition (Higginson, William J., Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2008). Global Haiku listed Hotham as one of the top ten English-language haiku poets of the twentieth century. 23, received an honorable mention Marianne Bluger Chapbook Awards 2020; Rightsizing the Universe: Haiku Theory received an honorable mention in The Touchstone Distinguished Books Award 2019 Excellence Award, Third Setouchi Matsuyama Photo Haiku Contest (April 2014); Second Prize and Third Prize, 18th International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (2013); Sakura Award, Third Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (2008); Honorable Mention, Seventh Mainichi Haiku Contest, International Section (2003); Second Prize, Haiku Society of America Members-Only Contest (1976); Honorable Mention, Harold G. Henderson Memorial Haiku Award (1980). One of his poems was selected from the more than 40,000 entries in the Japan Air Lines contest of 1987-1988 to appear in the anthology of winners and other selected haiku. His book Spilled Milk was awarded Honorable Mention, Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards (2011); his book Missed Appointment - an Honorable Mention, Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards (2008); his book Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark - First Place, Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards (2000); and his book Against the Linoleum - an Honorable Mention, Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards For Books Published in 1978-1980.

Books Published:

Without the Mountains (Yiqralo Press, 1976); The Fern's Underside (Juniper Press, 1977); Off And On Rain (High/Coo, 1978); Against the Linoleum (Yiqralo Press, 1979); This Space Blank (Juniper Press, 1984); Pulling Out the Bent Nail (Wind Chimes Press, 1988); As Far as the Light Goes (Juniper Press, 1990); The Wind’s View (Juniper Press, 1993); Before All The Leaves Are Gone (Juniper Press, 1996); Hair’s & Hawk Circles (Tel-Let, 1996); Footprints and Fingerprints (Modest Proposal Chapbooks, 1999); Bare Feet (Longhouse, 1998); Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark (Canon Press, 1999); The Sky Stays Behind (Juniper Press, 2000); Missed Appointment: The Haiku Art (Modest Proposal Chapbooks, 2007); Sand Over Sand (Longhouse, 2009); Spilled Milk: Haiku Destinies (Pinyon Publishing, 2010); Nothing More Happens in the 20th Century: Haiku Dangers (Pecan Grove Press, 2011); Our Waves Meet the Ocean Waves (Longhouse, 2013); Stone's Throw: Promises of Mere Words (Pinyon Publishing, 2016); 23, Longhouse Poetry, 2019; Rightsizing the Universe: Haiku Theory, Yiqralo Press, 2019.

as far as the light goes
my daughter goes—
after the firefly

fog.
sitting here
without the mountains

music two centuries old—
the color flows
out of the tea bag

hand to hand—
the unframed photos
of her life

distant thunder
the dog's toenails click
against the linoleum

I lean
into the soup’s steam…
snow flurries

coffee
in a paper cup—
a long way from home

time to go—
the stones we threw
at the bottom of the ocean

Credits:

"as far as the light goes" - Wind Chimes 26; As Far as the Light Goes (Juniper Press, 1990); Modern Haiku 21:3 (1990) [review]; Haïku sans frontières: une anthologie mondiale (1998) [André Duhaime, ed.] and Haïku sans frontières website;Lanterns (bottle rockets press, 2007) [Stanford Forrester, ed.]; " music two centuries old" - Modern Haiku XIII:1 (Winter-Spring 1982) [Eminent Mention Award]; Brussels Sprout XII: 2 (1995) [article]; Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark (Canon Press, 1999); The Haiku Foundation Per Diem feature, edited by M. A. Walker, "Sounds of Music" (October 2014); "distant thunder" – [some versions vary slightly in format] Modern Haiku 6:2 (1975); Modern Haiku 7:2 (May 1976) [article]; Against the Linoleum (Yiqralo Press, 1979); Modern Haiku 11:1 (1980) [review]; The Haiku Anthology (ed. Cor van den Heuvel, Simon & Schuster, 1986); Wind in the Long Grass: A collection of haiku edited by William Higginson (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1991); Woodnotes 10 (1991) [review]; Modern Haiku 24:3 (1993) [review]; Haïku sans frontières:une anthologie mondiale (1998) [André Duhaime, ed.]; The Haiku Anthology (ed. Cor van den Heuvel, W.W. Norton Company, 1999); Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark(Canon Press, 1999); The Haiku Foundation's Montage (Week of July 26, 2009, "Birthdays"); Montage: The Book (The Haiku Foundation, 2010); Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years [edited by Jim Kacian, Philip Rowland, and Allan Burns] (W.W. Norton and Company, 2013); My Favourite Haiku chosen by David Cobb (New Zealand Poetry Society website); "coffee" - Against the Linoleum (Yiqralo Press, 1979); Cicada 3:4 (1980); Modern Haiku 11:1 (1980) [review]; The Haiku Anthology (ed. Cor van den Heuvel, Simon & Schuster, 1986); Blithe Spirit 8:4 (1998) [article]; Haïku sans frontières: une anthologie mondiale (1998) [André Duhaime, ed.] and Haïku sans frontières website; Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark (Canon Press, 1999); The Haiku Anthology (ed. Cor van den Heuvel, W.W. Norton Company, 1999); Modern Haiku 31:2 (2000) [review]; The Haiku Foundation's Montage feature (Week of July 26, 2009, "Birthdays"); Montage: The Book (The Haiku Foundation, 2010); Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years [edited by Jim Kacian, Philip Rowland, and Allan Burns] (W.W. Norton and Company, 2013); "fog" - New World Haiku 1:4 (1974); Without the Mountains (1976); Seer Ox 5 (1976) [critical essay by Joseph Earner, “Haiku Skin & Bones”]; Cicada 1:4 (1977); Modern Haiku 8:1 (1977) [review]; The Haiku Anthology (ed. Cor van den Heuvel, Simon & Schuster, 1986); Favorite Haiku Volume 2 [edited by H.F. Noyes] (Red Moon Press, 1999); Modern Haiku 18:3 (1987); Brussels Sprout 9:2 (1992); Haïku sans frontières: une anthologie mondiale (1998) [André Duhaime, ed.] and Haïku sans frontières website; Snow on the Water [Red Moon Anthology 1] (Red Moon Press, 1998); Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark (Canon Press, 1999); Modern Haiku 35:2 (2004) [cited in article]; The Haiku Foundation's Montage feature (Week of July 26, 2009, "Birthdays"); Montage: The Book (The Haiku Foundation, 2010); Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years [edited by Jim Kacian, Philip Rowland, and Allan Burns] (W.W. Norton and Company, 2013); "hand to hand" - Woodnotes 22 (1994) Editor’s Choice; Before All The Leaves Are Gone (Juniper Press, 1996); The Haiku Foundation Per Diem feature (October 2012) [Ruth Yarrow, ed., theme: “Hands”]; Tom Clausen Home Page [Web], Favorite Haiku (January 2015); "I lean" - Cicada 1:4 (1977); Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark (Canon Press, 1999); "time to go" - Before All The Leaves Are Gone (Juniper Press, 1996); Woodnotes 29 (summer 1996) [review]; The Haiku Anthology (ed. Cor van den Heuvel, W.W. Norton Company, 1999).

Additional Reading:

Gary's Hotham's Haiku Registry page was created on October 3, 2015 and updated on October 13, 2020.