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Volume 36.3
Autumn 2005

haiku book notes

 

 


Flow, by Del Doughty (Winchester, Va.: Red Moon Press, 2004). 25 pages, 5½ x 7½, saddle-stapled. ISBN 1-893959-45-7. $14,00 postpaid from Red Moon Press, PO Box 2461, Winchester, VA 22604.

Haiku and a couple of haibun on the complexities of a very American life. cars idle in their own exhaust / at the drive-thru— / black snow, piled high.


Snow Still Falls from the Branch, by Andrew Detheridge (Lincolnshire, England: Hub Editions, 2005). 85 pages, 6½ x 4½, perfectbound. ISBN 1-903746-47-7. Inquire from the author at 8 High Haden Road, Haden Hill, Cradley Heath, West Midlands B64 7PG, England.

The latest collection from a prolific writer. Many nice poems, but an equal number too intellectually derived. at the funeral: / still in my jacket pocket— / last term’s piece of chalk


Museum Pieces, by Patricia Neubauer (Greenfield, Mass.: Tribe Press, 2004). 2 pages, 15½ x 4½, letterpress printed, hand bound, accordion folded. No ISBN. $5.30 postpaid from the author at 600 E. Cathedral Road #G404, Philadelphia, PA 19128.

The third book in the Pinch Book series. Each of the eight haiku illustrates Neubauer’s response to a given piece of artwork, which is in most cases identified after the poem. a child lifted up / to see above the crowd / that famous smile for the Mona Lisa.


Silk Flower, by Ruth Holzer (Greenfield, Mass.: Tribe Press, 2005). 2 pages, 15½ x 4½, letterpress printed, hand bound, accordion folded. No ISBN. $4.00 postpaid from the author at 601 Madison St, Herndon, VA 20170.

The seventh book in editor Tripi’s Pinch Book series. Ten quiet poems on the fragility of life. leftover birdseed / swept away— / the silent house


Scattered Petals, by Evelyn Hermann (Concord, California: Small Poetry Press, 2004). 34 pages, 4½ x 6½, saddle-stapled. No ISBN. $10.00 from the author at 2 Park Terrace, Mill Valley, CA 94941.

A poet better known for her punny senryu shows off her more serious side—yet not too serious. Her poems have a delightfully light touch. rising sun / across the lake / glint of a fishing line


A Motley Sangha, edited by Stanford Forrester (Wethersfield, Conn.: Bottle Rockets Press, 2005). 36 pages, 4½ x 5½, hand sewn. No ISBN. $6.00 postpaid in the U.S. (US$7.00 Canada & Mexico, $8.00 elsewhere) from Stanford Forrester, PO Box 290691, Wethersfield, CT 06129.

From the introduction, “A sangha is a community that supports each other’s practice. In this case our practice is haiku.…” Six poems each from Raffael de Gruttola, George Dorsty, Stanford Forrester, Jerry Kilbride, Larry Kimmel, vincent tripi, and karma tenzing wangchuk. A nice variety of voices with many on Buddhist-related themes. What can someone / mouth full of potatoes say / about the winter moon? – tripi.


Straight Up Haiku, by Christine Freeland (Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, 2005). 50 pages, 5½ x 6½, perfectbound. ISBN 1-41204658-0. $10.50 from Trafford Publishing, 6E – 2333 Government Street, Victoria, BC, V8T 4P4, Canada or <straightuphaiku@snapsnap.org>.

The latest “hilarious departure from traditional nature-driven poetry into the madness of public buses, tedious chores.…” (from the back cover) by another writer who believes that any random thought crammed into seventeen syllables makes a haiku. the heart on his sleeve / is fraying at the edges / but he cannot sew


A to Zazen: A Haiku Anthology, by the Zazen Group (Tauranga, New Zealand: Kiwiana Publishing, 2004). 93 pages, 6½ x 8½, perfectbound. ISBN 0-9582438-5-9. U.S.$14.00 postpaid from Ernest Berry, PO Box 272, Picton, New Zealand.

New Zealand poets Bertus de Jonge, Ernest Berry, Tim Bravenboer, Catherine Mair, Vanessa Proctor, and Jeanette Stace demonstrate a similarity of experience no matter our geographic differences. autumn walk / the stranger’s good morning / too late—Berry.


Ogledala/Mirrors/Mirroirs: Bulgarian Haiku, selected and edited by Ludmila Balabanova (Sofia, Bulgaria LCR Publishers, 2005). 150 pages, 4.5½x7.75½; perfectbound. ISBN 954-91270-8-7; $15.00 plus $4.00 shipping and hangling from Red Moon Press, PO Box 2461, Winchester VA 22604.

The haiku of forty-five Bulgarian poets are here arranged by topics—some traditional for haiku (seasons, flowers) and some not so (love, death)—with fine translations by the author together with David G. Lanoue (English) and Daniel Py (French). This beautifully produced book will be the baseline anthology for work in this important corner of the haiku world. Snow again … / How much my son’s footprints / have grown.—Balabanova


Haiku One Breaths, written, edited, and with calligraphy by Walter E. Harris III (Hauppauge, N.Y.: Allbook Books, 2004). 160 pages; 4½x 6½; perfectbound. ISBN 0-9743603-1-7. $13.00 from Allbook Books, PO Box 14331, Hauppauge, NY 11788-0416.

From the editor, “How to understand and write haiku, with applications to personal journaling and modern poetry. For beginner to advanced. Includes original haiku by author, plus 22 contributors, many from Long Island. Also brush-calligraphy with explanations.” Sincere but naive.


Past Imperfect, by Stanley Pelter (Hampshire, England: Mann Publications, 2004). 88 pages, 6½ x 9½, perfectbound. ISBN 0954629922. Free from the author while supplies last, 5 School Lane, Claypole, Newark, NG23 5BQ, Lincolnshire, UK.

A very personal book of haibun on growing up in London during and after World War II, whose numerous experimental styles at times, because of the over-use of staccato prose, unintentionally keep the reader from the feeling in the moments. no sunlight / seeps into harder blood / the cold dead


Tiefe des Augenblicks: Essays zur Poetik des deutschsprachigen Haiku, edited by Andreas Wittbrodt (Hamburg, Germany: Hamburger Haiku Verlag, 2004). 150 pages, 5.75½x 8.25½; perfectbound. ISBN: 3-937257-10-1. $12.80—contact the publisher at <www.haiku.de> or Curschmannstraße 37, 20251 Hamburh, Germany, for availability.

Twenty top German-language haiku poets write about their paths in the genre, with many valuable and interesting observations en route. Participants include movers and shakers such as Margret Buerschaper, Erika Schwalm, and Martin Berner; poets whose work is also published widely in English, such as Klaus-Dieter Wirth, Horst Ludwig, and Dietmar Tauchner; and many lesser-known (at least on these shores) personalities. This publication project from Erika Wübbena’s dynamic new haiku publishing house is impressive.


Reeds: Contemporary Haiga 2005, edited by Jeanne Emrich (Edina, Minn.: Lone Egret Press, 2005). 99 pages, 5½ x 8½, perfectbound. No ISBN. $18.00 postpaid from Lone Egret Press, PO Box 390545, Edina, MN 55439.

Many of the same author/artists from the 2004 installment, yet a beautifully produced volume that showcases a wide range of styles. 67 plates, most in color. Some excellent stuff.

 

 

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