Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-on Guide [Paperback]

Jane Reichhold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 13, 2002

Writing and Enjoying Haiku shows how haiku can bring a centered, calming atmosphere into one's life, by focusing on the outer realities of life instead of the naggings of the inner mind, by gaining a new appreciation for the world of nature, and by preserving moments, days, and events so that they are not lost forever in the passage of time. Haiku are clearly shown to be a means of discovering and recording the miracles of the world, from the humorous to the tragic. This is one of the major themes underlying Writing and Enjoying Haiku-that haiku can provide a way to a better life.

After looking at why the reading and writing of haiku is important from a spiritual point of view, the book shows, as has never been done before, the techniques of writing-the when and the where, punctuation and capitalization, choice of words, figures of speech, sharing haiku, and much, much more.

Having come this far, having learned to read and write haiku with a discerning mind, the reader will never again look upon the world in quite the same way.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... great depth within its apparent simplicity.... Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults." -- Jeffrey Cooper, KLIATT

About the Author

Author and translator, with a special interest in haiku, tanka, and renga, JANE REICHHOLD is a three-time winner of the Haiku Society of America Merit Book Award. She has been a member of the Haiku Society of America, Haiku Poets of Northern California, Haiku Canada, Haiku International (Tokyo, Japan), German Haiku Society, and Poetry Society of Japan. She runs the web site Aha! Poetry (www.ahapoetry.com).

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Product Details

• Paperback: 166 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha USA (December 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770028865
• ISBN-13: 978-4770028860
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #293,951 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I discovered my love of writing while editing the student newspaper and then the yearbook at Pandora-Gilboa High School in Ohio. Even though I won a prestigious state contest and scholarship in science, I enrolled in Bluffton College to study art and literature. Thinking I wanted to be a journalist, I transferred to Ohio State University in Athens, Ohio, but after one semester found out I lack the aggressiveness needed for that profession. I returned to Bluffton, and literature, and to marriage. In my junior year I had my first child and then two more children over the next three years. At Reedley Junior College in California I was able to return to night school and I even went on to Fresno State trying to piece together a degree, a family, and my job as Occupational Therapist at Kings View Hospital - a church-run psychiatric facility.
Over the next twenty years I wrote free-lance articles for everything from Mennonite Church papers for children to art and gay magazines in Germany. In the late 1970s I rediscovered haiku, Japanese culture, and a love of small books. After a divorce and remarriage in Germany I returned to the States and in 1987 started the magazine, Mirrors - An International Forum for Haiku. Through this I also discovered the Japanese poetry forms of renga and tanka. At the same time I switched my company from Humidity Productions and art films to AHA Books in order to concentrate on books of poetry. My daughter made the comment; "Give her enough candy wrappers and she will make a book out of them" was not far from the truth.
In 1990 I started the first tanka contest in English and continued publishing the winning poems in chapbooks as Tanka Splendor for the next twenty years. From 1991 - 92 I edited and published the monthly journal Geppo for the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society. Later in 1992 my husband Werner Reichhold and I took on the publication of Lynx, a magazine that started out as APA-Renga, which we still co-edit. We have expanded the range of poetry forms to include all Japanese-inspired genres with an emphasis on collaborations and sequences. In 1995 I began a website, AHApoetry.com, to teach and publish poetry in haiku, tanka, renga, haibun, ghazals, and sijo. In 2005 I was able to set up an online program of fora as AHAforum that continues the teaching functions.
During my trip to Japan in 1998, at the invitation of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to the New Year's Poetry Party - Utakai Hajime - at the Imperial Palace, I met Hatsue Kawamura who was then editor of The Tanka Journal in Tokyo. Over the next eight years we translated and published the tanka poems of Fumi Saito, Akiko Baba, Fumiko Nakajo, and Murasaki Shikibu. Stone Bridge Press of Berkeley published A String of Flowers, Untied: Love Poems from the Tale of Genji in which, for the first time, the tanka in this classic were set in the now accepted five-line form.
Kodansha International Publishing of Tokyo requested that I write a handbook for teaching Japanese poetry genres which became Writing and Enjoying Haiku in 2002. The book has also been translated into Russian. In 2008 Kodansha then published Basho The Complete Haiku containing my translations of all of the single poems by this Haiku Master.
My own books published in the last two years include Ten Years Haikujane - haiku published in the local weekly newspaper, Scarlet Scissors Fire - experiments with the tanka form, A Film of Words - inter-genre poetry with Werner Reichhold that blurs the lines between forms, and Circus Forever - haiku and tanka with the pen and ink drawings of Hans-Peter Goettche of Berlin, Germany.
Werner and I live high on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean somewhere between Point Arena and Gualala, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy the Form, Revel in This Book......, July 28, 2003

By 

Julie Jordan Scott "Writer, Life Coach - Owne... (Bakersfield, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-on Guide (Paperback)

This is one of those rare books I did not want to end. I wanted to savor each word as I highlighted, wrote in and slowly weaved my way through it.

The author, Jane Reichhold, manages to write from a place of expert while staying exceptionally accessible. This book could be embraced by those new to haiku as well as those who have been exploring haiku for a lifetime.

Reichhold balances the rules with license for freedom, "sternness" with light humor and is graceful the entire way through.

What a delight. I will have to buy several copies to give to anyone remotely interested in poetry..... actually, in living a fulfilling life for that matter!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good First Half but then Wanders Off, October 15, 2006

By 

J. A Carty "Jessie Carty" (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-on Guide (Paperback)

I am giving this a 4 star review mainly because of the first section of the book. The author gives some great insight in how to read and interpret japanese and more modern forms of haiku. I wish there had been more examples of haiku's outside of the author's own selections but she does show some definite poetic talent.

As the book progresses into renga, tanka and other forms of japanese poetry I found the descriptions lacking. The later chapters seemed rushed and an after thought to fill space.

This is a great resource and worth the buy just for the few exercises in the book. I wouldn't list this as my favorite source but a good resource none-the-less.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Break Writer's Block, April 5, 2003

By 

Gary L Warner Jr (Birmingham, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-on Guide (Paperback)

I'm not sure if I will ever finish this book! Divided into four sections --"Four Things to Do Before Writing Haiku", "The Guide to Haiku Writing","Enjoying Haiku with Others", and "Using Your Haiku Skills in Related Poetry Forms" -- the book can be read straight through, but proves itself far more valuable as a homework assignment. I'm currently experimenting in a chapter called "Twenty-Four Valuable Techniques". What a great way to break Writer's Block -- try to approach the subject with various techniques until you find the right one for the haiku at hand. I hope each of you is able to enjoy this book as much as I am!...