Wollumbin Haiku Workshop was formed in 2004 by John Bird, who invited Nathalie Buckland and Quendryth Young, all members of the Australian Haiku Society, to join him in discussing the haiku genre, the sharing of literature and rigorous criticism of each others’ work. Full-day monthly gatherings were held at the home of Quendryth in Alstonville NSW, with Nathalie and John travelling 50 and 45 kilometers respectively.
Cloudcatchers Ginko No. 42 (winter)
9.30 am at Bangalow Weir, NSW
Thursday 4 August 2016
Wild-wild winds and rain hurtled up the coastline of the Far North Coast all the night before, with outside furniture flung across courtyards, trees down, and litter all over the roads. The ginko was in doubt, but twelve Cloudcatchers gathered anyway. The venue was the Bangalow Weir on Byron Creek, an inland waterway coursing via the Wilson and Richmond Rivers to the sea. This was the winter weather of where we live, and we were in it. Continue reading “Cloudcatchers Ginko No. 42 (winter)”
Bob Jones’s “Haiku Nature” on THF
Bob Jones’s instructive and accessible PhD dissertation “Haiku Nature”, most chapters of which were published over six years in Modern Haiku, is now available as a download from The Haiku Foundation’s Digital Library. It can be accessed at http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/items/show/2361
You can also view some of Bob’s thoughts on karumi in haiku, reposted from the HaikuOz archives, in Haiku Musings.
Karumi – Bob Jones on lightness in haiku
The following thoughts first appeared on the HaikuOz website in 2001, originally posted by John Bird.
It comes as no surprise that when Janice Bostok visited Bob Jones, they spent a morning talking about haiku. Bob raised the subject of “karumi” and explained that karumi is the mood of lightness which informs much of Basho’s late-life poetry and that few western poets seem to have engaged it in their haiku. Bob gave this example of Basho’s karumi:
so cool the wall against my feet a noonday nap~
When editing submissions to FAHA (First Australian Haiku Anthology), Janice Bostok and I noted a leaning towards profundity, and we thought Bob’s comments might provide counterpoise. With the permission of all concerned, I quote from a letter Bob subsequently sent to Janice, and in which Bob returns to his theme. ……….. John Bird.
“A couple of important issues were raised that we didn’t have enough time to explore. One of them concerned the mood of karumi, which has been a chief interest of mine over the years, particularly in relation to my own haiku. You asked for my understanding of it and I couldn’t easily come up with an explanation. I think most serious students of haiku have a hard time coming to terms with Basho’s later works. In many respects the poems seem bland and a little bit thin. Basho himself likens karumi to shallow water over a sandy bed, which certainly seems to go against any sense of mystery or depth. However I think the main thing to get from this likeness is the idea of transparency. Nothing’s hidden, or even hideable, in the mood of karumi. Everything’s out there, plainly shown. Everything’s part of the open secret. Continue reading “Karumi – Bob Jones on lightness in haiku”
Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)
Many Australian haiku and tanka poets will be deeply saddened to read of the death of Jane Reichhold, an inspirational and generous scholar, translator, writer and publisher of all Japanese short forms. Jane’s death was reported on AHA, the haiku and other forms forum she founded in 2006. The announcement was made there on August 5th, though it appears she may have died a week ago. Her contribution in this field has been enormous and she will be very greatly missed. There are many Australian haiku and tanka writers whose work she has prompted, encouraged and informed.
Continue reading “Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)”
Bindii Japanese Genre Poetry Group Meeting 6 August 2016
Our meeting started at 12.30 pm, in our usual venue of the Box Factory. Lee Bentley led the group for a session on renku, starting with an outline of the history of renku and then talking about some of the principles of renku writing, chiefly link and shift.
Continue reading “Bindii Japanese Genre Poetry Group Meeting 6 August 2016”
Australian Haiku Society 