Charles Trumbull was born in Michigan, grew up in New Mexico, and was educated at Yale and Notre Dame universities. Trained as a specialist in the foreign policy of the Soviet Union, he worked in jobs that had to do with American-Russian communication at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc. When the U.S.S.R. disappeared, he jumped over to a job as Director of Yearbooks at Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., in Chicago, from which he was retired in 2007. He lives in Evanston, Ill.
Charlie got reacquainted with haiku in 1991, literally on a bet. Immediately bitten by the haiku bug, he has since served as newsletter editor (1996–2002) and president (2004–05) of the Haiku Society of America, a founder of Chi-ku, the Chicago-area haiku club, an organizer of Haiku North America—Chicago (1999), and proprietor of Deep North Press, a publisher of haiku books with 14 titles in print. Since March 2006 he has been editor of Modern Haiku, the oldest haiku journal outside Japan. His work has appeared in publications in ten countries, has won several haiku contests, and has been frequently anthologized.
Charlie shares his response to Haiku - Three Questions with us this week.
1. Why do you write haiku?
I suppose because I can do so. I am not a very creative person, and that fact frustrates me enormously. I have had a modicum of success with haiku, so I keep plugging away at it, imagining that I am being creative.
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I disagree with the phrasing of the question, which seems to suggest that haiku is a form. I think haiku, or haikai, is a genre. Moreover, I question whether a haiku should be considered a poem in a Western sense at all. Standard definitions of (Western) poetry fit haiku badly, and everything about a haiku makes it different from a Western-style poem: length, format, content, structure, poetics, aesthetics, etc.
If you are asking what kinds of poetry do I enjoy, not much, actually. Of contemporary poets I like the more accessible ones and those who write more imagistic works, such as Billy Collins, Ted Kooser, Theodore Roethke, Donald Justice, ... I generally dislike confessional and language poetry, and in the kind of poems that are published in magazines, I find myself counting the similes. I guess my appreciation for such work has been ruined by haiku!
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide original publication credits.)
Some months ago I sent out a selection of my haiku to six friends and asked them to rate each: two points for a great haiku, one for a pretty good haiku, and none for ones best forgotten. These three took top honors, and would be among my own favorites as well:
late to the office
my desk already piled high
with zucchini
South by Southeast 6:1 (1999); Thin Curve (RMA 99)
the swell of her breast
against the watered silk
summer moon
Modern Haiku 33:1 (winter-spring 2002)
in his garden
my neighbor has hung mirrors
this August heat
Heron Quarterly 2:3 (July 1998)
Next week, Richard Straw.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
an'ya - Three Questions
an'ya, whose haigo loosely translates to 'a peaceful light in the moonless night', visits Blogging Along Tobacco Road this week with her response to Haiku – Three Questions:
1. Why do you write haiku?
I am obligated to write them down because they are a gift and I am the vehicle. And because every single moment of life, is a "haiku moment" . . .
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I used to enjoy mainstream poetry ie; sonnets, epics, pattern poems, free verse etc., as well as other forms such as sijo, cinquain, and so forth, but once I found haiku, that's all I enjoy now except for the occasional tanka.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide original publication credits.)
my signature haiku is:
silk strand—
suddenly i've become
a puppeteer
(First published in Yellow Moon)
my other favs are:
bitter cold
a juniper berry parts
the jay's beak
(The Heron's Nest)
night of stars
all along the precipice
goat bells ring
(The Heron's Nest)
neap tide
a striped shell tumbles
the sea ashore
(Penumbra Finalist)
an'ya is the editor of moonset Literary Newspaper.
an'ya's new book seasons of a hermitess is currently available at rosenberrybooks.com, or please call Rosenberry Books at 800.723.0336.
If you are enjoying this weekly feature, please consider sending your response to the same three questions.
Next week, Charles Trumbull.
1. Why do you write haiku?
I am obligated to write them down because they are a gift and I am the vehicle. And because every single moment of life, is a "haiku moment" . . .
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I used to enjoy mainstream poetry ie; sonnets, epics, pattern poems, free verse etc., as well as other forms such as sijo, cinquain, and so forth, but once I found haiku, that's all I enjoy now except for the occasional tanka.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide original publication credits.)
my signature haiku is:
silk strand—
suddenly i've become
a puppeteer
(First published in Yellow Moon)
my other favs are:
bitter cold
a juniper berry parts
the jay's beak
(The Heron's Nest)
night of stars
all along the precipice
goat bells ring
(The Heron's Nest)
neap tide
a striped shell tumbles
the sea ashore
(Penumbra Finalist)
an'ya is the editor of moonset Literary Newspaper.
an'ya's new book seasons of a hermitess is currently available at rosenberrybooks.com, or please call Rosenberry Books at 800.723.0336.
If you are enjoying this weekly feature, please consider sending your response to the same three questions.
Next week, Charles Trumbull.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Paul O. Williams - Three Questions
I had the pleasure of composing a rengay with Paul O. Williams during a workshop at Haiku North America 2007.Mr. Williams shares his response to Haiku - Three Questions with us this week.
Hi Curtis,
In answer to your questions,
1. Why do you write haiku?
I write haiku because it is a form that allows me to address things I can't easily in any other form, because other forms invite elaboration, exploration, complication. There is a class of observations and musings that just cry out to be said and let go on their own. Those are my haiku sources.
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I write a whole lot of other kinds of poems, including tanka, now quite a few haibun, sonnets, and a lot of free verse.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide original publication credits.)
I wish I could tell you what my favorite haiku are. I have quite a few, though, and don't think I could settle on three. My best known one is a memorial poem for Nicholas Virgilio, originally published in Frogpond many years ago:
gone from the woods
the bird I knew
by song alone
[Frogpond 12:2 (May 1989), 27, MHL Award per Charles Trumbull's Haiku Datbase.]
Another favorite of mine, though I don't recall where it was first published, is
for a moment
the dead apple tree bears. . .
goldfinches
[Frogpond 13:3 (August 1990), 35 per Charles Trumbull's Haiku Datbase.]
I won a best of issue designation in Frogpond for this one many years ago:
the old garden fence
keeps the goldenrod
from the goldenrod
[Frogpond 5:3 (1982), 13, MHL Award per Charles Trumbull's Haiku Database.]
But I wouldn't swear that was one of my very favorites either. It's a great puzzle.
Best regards,
Paul
If you would like to participate in my little Haiku - Three Questions project, submit your answers by clicking on the Contact link located on this page.
Next week, an'ya.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Aurora Antonovic - Three Questions
Aurora Antonovic, author, artist, poet, and Editor-in-Chief of the new literary journal, Magnapoets, visits Blogging Along Tobacco Road this week with her answers to Haiku – Three Questions:
1. Why do you write haiku?
I write haiku because I love poetry, and think that haiku's brevity is perfect for capturing and emphasizing the potency of topics such as love and death, the subjects I write about the most.
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I love tanka and sonnets the most at present.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide original publication credits.)
birthday —
the backwards struggle
of the butterfly
first published in Simply Haiku
fading light
the old man and
his cracked tea cup
published in Full Moon, the Makata, and tiny words
spring rain
the crumpled obituary
by my bed
published in The Heron's Nest and tiny words
Please consider sending your answers to the same three questions. My goal is to make Haiku - Three Questions a weekly feature. You can submit your answers by clicking on the Contact link on this page.
Next week, Roberta Beary.
1. Why do you write haiku?
I write haiku because I love poetry, and think that haiku's brevity is perfect for capturing and emphasizing the potency of topics such as love and death, the subjects I write about the most.
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I love tanka and sonnets the most at present.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide original publication credits.)
birthday —
the backwards struggle
of the butterfly
first published in Simply Haiku
fading light
the old man and
his cracked tea cup
published in Full Moon, the Makata, and tiny words
spring rain
the crumpled obituary
by my bed
published in The Heron's Nest and tiny words
Please consider sending your answers to the same three questions. My goal is to make Haiku - Three Questions a weekly feature. You can submit your answers by clicking on the Contact link on this page.
Next week, Roberta Beary.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
tobaccoroadpoet.com updated
I've updated the haiku and rengay areas of my website.
By the way, the child beside the mule in the picture on my haiku entry page is or was my father, Helon Dunlap. Daddy was born on March 17, 1920; therefore, I estimate that the picture was taken in either 1922 or 1923. Daddy enjoyed showing the picture to folks followed by the comment that he was the one on the left. :)
By the way, the child beside the mule in the picture on my haiku entry page is or was my father, Helon Dunlap. Daddy was born on March 17, 1920; therefore, I estimate that the picture was taken in either 1922 or 1923. Daddy enjoyed showing the picture to folks followed by the comment that he was the one on the left. :)