Zen
Poems, edited by Manu Bazzano, illustrations by André
Sollier (London: MQ Publications, 2002). 256 pages, 6"
x 6", clothbound, dust jacket. ISBN 1-84072-237-0.
$14.95 from Amazon.com.
This
is a specially made gift book, profusely illustrated with
original sumi-e drawings by André Sollier. It contains
translations of haiku by Japanese masters as well as verses
by poets writing in English today. In an attempt to connect
haiku with the traditional canon of English and American
poetry, à la Zen in English Literature and Oriental
Classics, it contains contemporary haiku from a wide range
of international authors. It also presents poems or fragments
by such unlikely "Zen" authors as Emily Dickinson,
Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Carl Sandburg.
Haiku:
Poetry Ancient & Modern, edited by Jackie Hardy
(London: MQ Publications, 2002). 256 pages, 6" x 6",
clothbound. ISBN 1-840723-07-6. $20.00 from Amazon.com.
Not
to be confused with the classic Haiku Poems Ancient and
Modern by Miyamori Asatarô, this is a nicely produced
gift book in the same format as Zen Poems (above).
The poems are not organized by the five seasons of Japanese
haiku as one might expect, but rather by the five elements
of Taoist cosmologywood, fire, earth, metal, and waterwhich
works well enough and provides an interesting variation
from other collections. An attractive anthology of contemporary
world haiku, with some classics thrown in.
Haiku
Tanka Senryu: Internationalization of Japanese Poems,
edited by Ikuyo Yoshimura & Shigeki Nishiyama. (Kyoto:
Chugainippohsha, 2002). 290 pages, 4" x 7", perfectbound,
colored covers. ISBN 4-925003-07-0-C0082. $15.00 ppd. from
Ikuyo Yoshimura, 1-3, Oonawaba 4-chome, Gifu 500-8889, Japan.
Designed
for Japanese college students as an introduction to poems
written in Japanese genres by people outside Japan, the
book contains 124 haiku, 76 senryu, and 75 tanka. Also included
are essays on haiku, senryu, and tanka and many black-and-white
photographs. The text is in Japanese, but the volume includes
translations of Japanese poems into English and English-language
poems into Japanese. This is an attractive volume and a
worthwhile addition to the international haiku literature.
A
Long Year, by Anita Virgil (Forest, Va.: Peaks Press,
2002). 48 unnumbered pages, 7.5" x 5", stapled.
ISBN 0-962856-73-8. $12.00 postpaid, from the author at
202 Merrywood Dr., Forest, VA 24551.
A
collection of thirty-five three and four-line haiku and
senryu on a year of illness by one of the early masters
of American haiku. Cor van den Heuvel writes in the introduction,
"A Long Year is, of course, about a very bad year in
the authors life. Beset by illness and sorrow, she
perseveres and looks hopefully to another spring. . . . This
little book should take a special place of honor among the
authors other justly acclaimed works."
AFTER
SANTÔKA
approaching
the end
cutting
the toenails, too,
becomes
hard
|
bitter
cold twilight
a cardinal stares out
of the holly bush |
Moonrock,
by Martin Lucas (Ilseworth, Middlesex, England: Ram Publications,
2002). 36 pages, 4" x 6", perfectbound, dust jacket.
ISBN 0-9511386-4-2. $7.00 in U.S. bills, from the author
at 90 D Fishergate Hill, Preston PR1 8JD, U.K.
Moonrock
is new collection of haiku, senryu and tanka from one of
Britains leading haiku poets and editors. The epigraph
to the haiku section is worth the price of the whole collecton:
"In the early days [of the BBC]
when nothing
newsworthy was deemed to have occurred, [the newsreaders]
said soand played classical music instead."
reading
in bed
a book of Chinese verse;
the curtained moon |
If
Someone Asks: Masaoka Shikis Life and Haiku, translated
by the Shiki-Kinen Museum English Volunteers (Matsuyama:
Shiki-Kinen Museum, 2001). 74 pages, perfectbound. No ISBN.
$7.00 by International Postal Money Order from Matsuyama
Municipal Shiki-Kinen Museum, 1-30, Dôgo Kôen,
Matsuyama City, Ehime 790-0857, Japan.
This
charming book contains a short biography of Shiki and translations
of 111 of his haiku. Illustrated with three photos of Shiki
and four of his drawings.
a
brush and ink and a urinal
inside the mosquito net in autumn |
listening
to the rain: an anthology of Christchurch haiku and haibun,
edited by Cyril Childs & Joanna Preston (Christchurch,
N.Z.: The Small White Teapot Haiku Group, 2002?). 72 pages,
5" x 8", perfectbound. ISBN 0-473-08339-6. US$9.50
from The Small White Teapot Haiku Group, 6 Ballantyne Ave,
Christchurch 4, New Zealand.
An
attractive collection that shows the quality and diversity
of contemporary New Zealand haiku. Contains many senryu
and poems with nature images, but few seasonal haiku. Perhaps
the best anthology of New Zealand haiku and senryu to date.
washing
my mothers breasts
we both giggle
Joanna
Preston
|
The
Elements/De Elementen: 28 Haiku, by Hans Reddingius
(Marginale Uitgeverij, 4 Hoge Woord, Rijsterdijk 25 VW Bakhuizen,
Netherlands). Unpaginated, 2" x 2", stringbound.
ISBN 90-75951-37-0. No price given.
The
29th in the "Radish" series of haiku mini-chapbooks
published by Wim Lofvers. A collection of twenty-eight haiku
in Dutch and English.
vakantiehuisje
grijnzend in de regen
drie tuinkabouters |
holiday
cottage
three garden gnomes
grinning in the rain |
Ordinary
Time, by Marc Thompson (Minneapolis, Minn.: Laughing
Gull Press, 2002). 4.25" x 11". No ISBN. $5.00 postpaid
from the author at 4821 Drew Avenue South, Minneapolis,
MN 55410).
A
short haiku/haibun/tanka sequence on September 11.
cat,
by Cathy Drinkwater Better, and human, by Raven Spirit
Walker (Sykesville, Md.: Black Cat Press, 2002?). Each 8
pages, 4" x 4", stapled. No ISBN. $3.00 each,
from the author at 613 Okemo Dr, Eldersburg, MD 21784.
A
matched set of mini-chapbooks, the first by well-known haiku
poet Cathy Drinkwater Better and the second by her less-well-known
but deserving cat, translated by Better from the felinese.
Six poems in each mini. One by each poet:
mew
mmmmmmmmm!
purrrrrrrr |
the
fire
this soft afghan and thenah!
scratched beneath the chin
Raven
Spirit Walker
|
lighting
the fire
that spot of warmth
where the cat just was
Cathy
Drinkwater Better
|
Four
from Saki Press
Convicts
Shoot the Breeze, by Johnny Baranski; ISBN 1-893823-11-3.
(Normal, Ill.: Saki Press, 2002). Each 20 pages, 5.5"
x 4.25", stapled. $4.50 plus 60¢ postage from
Saki Press, 1021 Gregory, Normal, IL 61761-4236.
The
road home
beyond the prison wall:
deepening snow
|
How
Fast the Ground Moves, by D. Claire Gallagher; ISBN
1-893823-12-1. (Normal, Ill.: Saki Press, 2002). Each 20
pages, 5.5" x 4.25", stapled. $4.50 plus 60¢
postage from Saki Press, 1021 Gregory, Normal, IL 61761-4236.
winter
solstice
drawing our chairs closer
to the shifting logs
|
Back
Roads with a White Cane, by Elizabeth Hazen; ISBN 1-893823-13-X.
(Normal, Ill.: Saki Press, 2002). Each 20 pages, 5.5"
x 4.25", stapled. $4.50 plus 60¢ postage from
Saki Press, 1021 Gregory, Normal, IL 61761-4236.
breathless
heat
a cloud of cigar smoke
on the empty road
|
Coasting
Through Puddles, by Robert Major; ISBN 1-893823-14-8.
(Normal, Ill.: Saki Press, 2002). Each 20 pages, 5.5"
x 4.25", stapled. $4.50 plus 60¢ postage from
Saki Press, 1021 Gregory, Normal, IL 61761-4236.
Playing
hide-and-seek
on a long summers evening . . .
called home one by one
|
|