Worth a Look l Haiku Happenings l Competitions l Publications l Groups l Monthly Article l Showcase
Read Haiku/ Haiku Help:
American Haiku Archives : The largest collection of books, papers, etc., in English, held in the California State Library in Sacremento. The collection may be searched online.
A Poet in the Garden : A blog by Angela Leuck, combining her haiku and tanka (and those of other poets) with descriptions of visits to Montreal's Botanic Gardens.
Around the World as Briefly as Possible : Jim Kacian's diary of his journeys and haiku 2000-2002, including New Zealand.
Ask Jane : American haijin Jane Reichhold answers your questions on haiku. On the same website is a collection of Jane's thoughts on how to write haiku.
Blue Willow Haiku World : US haijin Fay Aoyagi translates a contemporary Japanese haiku into English each day.
Daily Haiku Online : A spotlight on selected authors (submissions sought).
Electronic Poetry Network : A week's worth of daily poems posted at a time (submissions sought).
Four Seasons of Haiku : Haiku written by a group of contributing poets, many of them English, from 2006 onwards (plus the Japanese masters), recording the changing of the seasons.
Gendai Haiku : A collection of some modern Japanese haiku in a variety of media (gendai = modern).
Haiku Dreaming : A collection of Australia-theme haiku (not all written by Australians, submissions sought).
The Haiku Path : Looks at the spirituality of haiku with examples from the old masters.
Haiku Primer by Jim Kacian : Thoughts on his craft by one of the world's leading contemporary writers.
Haiku in Western Languages : A site from Asia (TAO) which collects together work by such disparate writers as Leonard Cohen, Billy Collins and Matsuo Basho.
James Hackett : A site featuring the poetry and thoughts of an acknowledged leader in bring haiku to the West.
Janice Bostok : A leader in bringing haiku to mainstream attention in Australasia.
Japanese Haiku : A page of poems in both Japanese and English, featuring the work of Kaneko Tohta (1913-1969) and some of Mr Tohta's favourite Japanese haiku, including by contemporary writers.
Mann Library's Daily Haiku : Featuring a new author each month, as chosen by Tom Clausen. Archives available.
Marlene Mountain : The site of a woman who has pioneered all sorts of thing, haiku and otherwise, but primarily one-line haiku.
Montage : On The Haiku Foundation site is a regular posting, the editor selecting work by 3 haiku poets on a theme.
Nick Viriglio Poetry Project : Is maintained by Rutgers University in the US in memory of the late poet.
Online Haiku Collections : US-based Brooks Books has several collections, including photos, by writers such as Lee Gurga and Ann LB Davidson.
Tobacco Road : US writer's Curtis Dunlap lively website/blog includes the 3 favourite poems of well-known authors and their answers to "three haiku questions". Published poets invited to contribute.
Virals : The Haiku Foundation plays "tag" with haiku writers selecting a favourite poem and writing a commentary on it. The poet chosen selects the next one and so on. Editor Scott Metz has started several strands reaching out into the haiku world. Click on "Virals" in the right-hand menu.
Wing Beats : The website of the book by John Barlow and Matthew Paul, but much more here too.
Read Tanka/ Tanka Help:
A Film of Words : An on-line book of linked verse by Jane and Werner Reichhold.
Kozue Uzawa's Page : The co-editor of Gusts has her own page in both English and Japanese. Also poems by contemporary writers.
Tanka News & Tanka Central : A website run by Modern English Tanka with news about publications, anthologies, exhibitions, etc. Also visit Tanka Central's research room for information about tanka.
Tanka Online : A help desk for tanka writers, featuring articles, recommended reading and a tanka gallery.
Renku:
A Practical Guide : By the late William Higginson, includes sample renku.
Issa's Snail : Is an online writing site. Go to the Drafts & Discussions page to submit or leave a comment. Anyone may submit to the Kasen (36 verse), while the Junicho (12 verse) and Triparshva (21 verse) recruit writers before they start.
The Renku Group : Is an online site where participants are encouraged to learn how to be a sabiki (renku leader), as well as to sign up to join the many renku (and many forms on renku) on offer. There are also workshops and exercises, as well as wider reading on renku.
The Renku Reckoner : Is the site of Englishman John Carley and contains information on many different forms of renku, from the "quickie" 12-verse to the traditional 36-verse. A how-to with heaps of information.
Triparshva Renku : This site lays claim to the first Triparshva renku written in English (published in Kokako and featuring Patricia Prime, NZ).
Haiga & Audio/visual:
A Leaf Rustles : The site of Candian writer and photographer Laryalee Faser.
Alexis Rotella Reads : A You Tube video with some of her haiku and "short mystical poems" set to music. Part 2 here.
Butterfly Dreams : A sample of the book by William J Higginson and photographer Michael Lustbader which contains translated classical Japanese haiku.
HaigArt : The website of Natalia Rudychev (US) and includes haiku.
HaikuBuds : The website of Carol Raisfield (US). Enjoy her photos and haiga, as well as haiku and multi-media exercises.
Haiku Podcasts : On the website of Haiku Chronicles - for those unfamiliar with the term podcast it essentially means a digital file (audio or visual) that is available via the web only (i.e., it's not a radio broadcast). More poets will be added as time passes.
Haiku Movies on You-Tube : A list provided on the World Haiku Association website. Most of the readers are Japanese, but Jack Kerouac and Jim Kacian both feature. Heaps faster if you have Broadband! The content list is updated now and again.
Issa : An Australian radio feature (November 21, 2009).
Jane Reichhold Interviewed : Jane is interviewed on American radio about her new book, a translation of Basho's haiku, and haiku in general. The interviewer talks a lot!
Jerry Dreesen : An American poet and artist, including haiga.
Narrow Road Haiga : Well-known haiga artist Kuni-san is creating digital art to go with Basho's haiku in The Narrow Road to the North.
Ray's Web : Ray Rasmussen is a Canadian photographer and writer of haiku and haibun. See haiga using his own poems or those using his pictures and poems by others.
Resilience : Is a documentary film about poets who have survived great trauma in, for instance, Japan, and Rwanda. Read more about the film and see a trailer here. Haiku poet Yasuhiko Shigemoto, who survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, features atures in the stills gallery.
Ron Moss : Ron, who lives in Tasmania, is a poet and artist, creating haiga from both photographs and paintings.
Temps Libre/ Free Times : A bilingual (French-English) website of poems and projects, many of them emanating from North America.
The Green Leaf Files : A British site that offers haiga created from haiku by the Japanese masters, contemporary haiga by a variety of artists and poems illsutrated by the green leaf. Note that the poetry pages are free verse, but include works by Billy Collins (Japan, among them) and, of interest to New Zealanders, by Kapka Kassabova.
Write a Haiku Inspired by a Photo : An English-language site out of Japan offers the chance to add your haiku to a wide range of photos. You can contribute words and/or photos.
Xaiku : The site of Norman Darlington (Ireland), featuring renku, haiku, haiga, haibun and tanka.
Discussion:
Big Sky Haiku : Find out more about Japanese writer Hosai Ozaki and read a review of Right Under the Big Sky, I Don't Wear a Hat, a collection of one-line haiku that, according to a post by W F Owen, go back to the roots of seeking out the marvellous in our mundane lives. To read more of Bill's insightful thoughts go here and scroll down to "The Simple Life".
Poster Poems : Is a weekly column on The Guardian website (UK). The theme for January 30, 2009, was haiku/senryu, including reader comment.
Seamus Heaney on Haiku : The Irish poet in The Guardian newspaper (UK).
What is Haiku? : In 2009 Haiku Oz members were invited to send definitions to the website. Moderator John Bird has archived them all and drawn some conclusions.
What a Haiku Isn't : John Dunphy cogitates in the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper (US).
Useful Lists:
Haiku Blogs : A list of many of the internet's many, many haiku-related blogs.
Japanese Literary Terms : A glossary by Jane Reichhold.
William Higginson's Useful List : Links to haiku & related form journals, groups etc.
Writer Profiles : A series of biographies of North American writers has been put together by students at Millikin University.
Season Words:
A list by the late Bill Higginson; a list by Jane Reichhold; a list from the Yuki Teikei Haiku Group (California).
The list being developed by World Kigo Database. There is a section for the Southern Hemisphere, but no entries yet for New Zealand. There is also the possibility to ask questions about season words.
John Bird at Haiku Dreaming has some thoughts on seasonal words for Australia.
John has also written Coming Clean on Kigo, an essay applicable to any country outside Japan.
This list at the University of Virginia website includes pictures, audio, etc in its "full entry" list. The sajiki is more of a traditional Japanese one.
Japanese Masters:
Narrow Road to the Deep North : A website is full of fascinating bits and pieces to illuminate Basho's great work, plus links to other useful sites. This website is a translated and illustrated reproduction of the book. Find ordering details of the sheet music of The Narrow Road to the Deep North (music by Roger Smalley) here.
Retracing Basho's Foosteps : This National Geographic blog is full of interest and information.
Basho's Poems : A selection of haiku by three different translators. More poems here and links to similar pages for Buson and Issa.
Basho's Sexuality : An essay by Dimitar Anakiev offers an insight into this poet we all think we know so well.
Japanese Literature Author Index : Includes biographies of modern and "pre-modern" writers in all genres, as well as samples of their work.
31 old pond Translations : Ha! (Includes a limmerick by Alfred Marks.)
9000 Issa Haiku : Dedicated to the Japanese master, created and maintained by David Lanoue.
Focus on Buson : A Japanese site, many pages in English.
A Selection from the Masters : Terebess Asia Online (TAO) has collected work by Basho, Buson, Shiki, Santoka and Nakagawa with biographical information about each poet. The translations can be a bit wild, but they're okay generally.
Publishers:
Black Cat Press : Run by Cathy Drinkwater Better and Doug Walker (US).
Modern English Tanka Press : Run by Denis Garrison, primarily to promote tanka (US).
Pardalote Press : Run by Lynn Reeves, primarily publishes poetry with a Tasmanian connection including haiku (Aust).
Post Pressed : Run by John Knight, includes Japanese forms among other things (Aust).
Red Moon Press : Run by Jim Kacian, a tireless publisher of haiku and related forms (US), with a formidable reputation.
Single Island Press : Run by Madeleine Findlay (US).
Snapshot Press : Run by John Barlow, produces award-winning books and the annual haiku calendar (UK).
True Vine Press : Run by Tony Thompson, publishes chapbooks and anthologies of haiku, senryu & tanka (US).
Other:
Katikati Haiku Pathway : Profile of the riverside walk in Katikati (NZ) featuring boulders inscribed with haiku.
Cloud Appreciation Society : A "cloud of the month", information and great photos.
Japanese Gardens : Bowdoin College (US) maintains this informative site about classical Japanese gardens. Waitakare City (NZ) has been gifted a Japanese garden by its sister city, while the Paradise Gardens collection in Hamilton (NZ) includes a Japanese garden.
Living in Season : Is an on-line magazine featuring information about old calendars, feast days, star cycles, seasonal crafts, food and drink, etc. Aimed exclusively at those in the Northern Hemisphere.
