4.0 

Haiku in English

By Jim Kacian & Philip Rowland &
Haiku in English by Jim Kacian & Philip Rowland &  digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

The first anthology to map the full range of haiku in the English tradition.

Haiku in English is an anthology of more than 800 brilliantly chosen poems that were originally written in English by over 200 poets from around the world. Although haiku originated as a Japanese art form, it has found a welcome home in the English-speaking world. This collection tells the story for the first time of Anglophone haiku, charting its evolution over the last one hundred years and placing it within its historical and literary context. It features an engaging introduction by former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins and an insightful historical overview by leading haiku poet, editor, and publisher Jim Kacian.

The selections range from the first fully realized haiku in English, Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro,” to plentiful examples by haiku virtuosos such as John Wills, Marlene Mountain, Nick Virgilio, and Raymond Roseliep, and to investigations into the genre by eminent poets like John Ashbery, Allen Ginsberg, and Seamus Heaney. The editors explore the genre’s changing forms and themes, highlighting its vitality and its breadth of poetic styles and content. Among the many poems on offer are organic form experiments by E. E. Cummings and Michael McClure, evocations of black culture by Richard Wright and Sonia Sanchez, and the seminal efforts of Jack Kerouac.

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Haiku in English Reviews

4.0
“I truly enjoyed most of the poems. However, the commentary and the "Overview of Haiku in English" portion were tedious and dull. If you grab this book, just read the haikus. Here are some favorites: "Suicide's Note The calm, Cool face of the river Asked me for a kiss." - Langston Hughes "A child looking at ants; an elephant looking at universes." -John Tagliabue "Small Song The reeds give way to the wind and give the wind away."- A.R. Ammons "As we got Closer, the Rainbow disappeared." - Julius Lester "the white of her neck as she lifts her hair for me to undo her dress" -Bernard Lionel Einbond "a deep gorge... some of the silence is me one last look through the old apartment a dry sponge jampackedelevatoreverybuttonpushed" - John Stevenson "New Year's parade- beneath the dancing dragon the feet of men" - Patricia Neubauer "look at the red throat of the hummingbird- then tell your story again" - Ronald Baatz "stuck to the slab the i of the frozen f sh." - David Steele "losing its name a river enters the sea" - John Sandbach "Haiku for miles and indigo if your ancestors could build pyramids then your dreams are but mild stones" -Kwame Alexander”

About Jim Kacian

Jim Kacian is the founder of the Haiku Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to archiving and promoting haiku in English, and of Red Moon Press, the largest non-Japanese publisher of haiku-related books. He lives in Winchester, Virginia.

Philip Rowland

Philip Rowland teaches literature at Tamagawa University in Tokyo, where he lives, and is founder and editor of NOON: Journal of the Short Poem.

Allan Burns

Allan Burns is a professional editor who compiled the haiku anthology Montage: The Book. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

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