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. :)
Sunday, February 24, 2008
William J. Higginson - Three Questions
The Haiku Handbook by William J. Higginson with Penny Harter was among the first books I purchased when I began my haiku journey in 2002.
This week, Bill Higginson shares his response to my three questions:
Hi Curtis, here goes . . .
1. Why do you write haiku?
It's just a part of my life, now. I suppose that, 40+ years ago, I was intrigued by these little epiphanies that I discovered first in Japanese haiku, and later in some (very few) of the haiku North Americans were writing.
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
All. From limericks to epics. My favorite writing mode outside of haikai-related poems is somewhere in the range from organic form (Levertov) to projective verse (Olson), though most of my poems, looked at objectively, have also a tendency toward more regularity than either of them. I've also written monosyllabic chants and Ginsbergian very long lines (think paragraph, not verse paragraph), not to mention a number of poems in various received forms. Whatever mode the mind-event seems to go with.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide original publication credits.)
I don't do "top three" or "the best". The following are among those with staying power for me.
Holding the water,
held by it —
the dark mud.
Haiku West, 3:2, edited by Leroy Kanterman, copyright © 1970.
wet snow —
another color or two
on the sycamore boughs
Modern Haiku, 22:2, edited by Robert Spiess, copyright © 1991.
a gun in the wildflowers
one young man
more or less
The Unswept Path: Contemporary American Haiku, ed. John Brandi and Dennis Maloney, White Pine Press, copyright © 2005.
You've got it!
Bless,
Bill
If you are enjoying this weekly feature, please consider sending your answers to the questions that Mr. Higginson answered. I believe this little exercise is of some haiku historical significance. :-) Responses are posted in the order that they are received. You can submit your answers by clicking on the Contact link on this page.
Next week, Aurora Antonovic.
This week, Bill Higginson shares his response to my three questions:
Hi Curtis, here goes . . .
1. Why do you write haiku?
It's just a part of my life, now. I suppose that, 40+ years ago, I was intrigued by these little epiphanies that I discovered first in Japanese haiku, and later in some (very few) of the haiku North Americans were writing.
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
All. From limericks to epics. My favorite writing mode outside of haikai-related poems is somewhere in the range from organic form (Levertov) to projective verse (Olson), though most of my poems, looked at objectively, have also a tendency toward more regularity than either of them. I've also written monosyllabic chants and Ginsbergian very long lines (think paragraph, not verse paragraph), not to mention a number of poems in various received forms. Whatever mode the mind-event seems to go with.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide original publication credits.)
I don't do "top three" or "the best". The following are among those with staying power for me.
Holding the water,
held by it —
the dark mud.
Haiku West, 3:2, edited by Leroy Kanterman, copyright © 1970.
wet snow —
another color or two
on the sycamore boughs
Modern Haiku, 22:2, edited by Robert Spiess, copyright © 1991.
a gun in the wildflowers
one young man
more or less
The Unswept Path: Contemporary American Haiku, ed. John Brandi and Dennis Maloney, White Pine Press, copyright © 2005.
You've got it!
Bless,
Bill
If you are enjoying this weekly feature, please consider sending your answers to the questions that Mr. Higginson answered. I believe this little exercise is of some haiku historical significance. :-) Responses are posted in the order that they are received. You can submit your answers by clicking on the Contact link on this page.
Next week, Aurora Antonovic.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Raffael de Gruttola - Three Questions
Last week, I posed three questions to my fellow haijin. The response has been wonderful, the answers diverse and interesting. Raffael de Gruttola, the first poet to reply, begins with what I hope will become a weekly feature at Blogging Along Tobacco Road.
For your reading pleasure and because we all enjoy getting to know our fellow haijin better, I've embedded a few relevant hyperlinks within Mr. de Gruttola's text.
1. Why do you write haiku?
I started reading haiku in translation back in the fifties with the Blyth Books. I was writing short free verse at the time and decided to try my hand at writing haiku. The writing of haiku became a way for me to record my inner most thoughts and also the wonderful experiences I had and wanted to share with others. I carried a small notebook everywhere I went and began to understand the technique and began to see the development of a style. In the early sixties, I met a friend who had been in the service in Japan and learned about haiku while stationed there. Together we started a friendship and met a couple of times each month to read and share our haiku. He left the area, but I continued my interest in the short free verse poem and haiku and when my first book of poems was published, I included three pages of haiku. This was in the late sixties. In the late seventies, I published my first book of haiku called Recycle/Reciclo, a bilingual English/Spanish edition of a haiku cycle. It was translated by a painter friend, Wilfredo Chiesa who also provided the design and drawings for the book. In 1987, I was one of the founding members of the Boston Haiku Society which has been meeting on a monthly basis since then at the Kaji Aso Studio in Boston. I'm still learning more about life each day and haiku becomes part of that perennial search.
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I've been writing free verse for many years and have been published by small magazine presses in the area. I also like to experiment with different forms including renku, tanka, senryu and various free verse open forms. I did my undergraduate studies in English and American Literature so I've been reading all kinds of poetry in English, but also in Italian and French. For example I can read Dante's Commedia in the original Italian. I also enjoy Arthur Rimbaud and other French writers and can read many in the original.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?
Not sure I can answer this question because any new haiku that I have enjoyed writing becomes a new adventure. Anyway, three haiku that people and poets seem to like are:
frozen pond
an oak leaf
half in
half out
violin player
the shape of the sound
in her arms
paw prints
disappear in the snow
wind under the hemlocks
All three of the above haiku appeared first in the Boston Haiku Society News which I edit on a monthly basis and have been doing since 1987. I think Bruce Ross first published "frozen pond" in his book on haiku, but it has been published in Albatross Magazine in Romania and in some other magazines in Canada and the States.
The second was recently part of Carlos Colón's Electronic Library and I believe it will be included in Jim Kacian's forthcoming book.
The third is part of a haiga portfolio I did about ten years ago called Echoes in Sand with a painter friend, Wilfred Croteau. It can be googled on line and is part of Jeanne Emrich's Reeds Gallery as well.
Sincerely,
Raffael de Gruttola
Next week, William J. Higginson shares his response to the same three questions.
For your reading pleasure and because we all enjoy getting to know our fellow haijin better, I've embedded a few relevant hyperlinks within Mr. de Gruttola's text.
1. Why do you write haiku?
I started reading haiku in translation back in the fifties with the Blyth Books. I was writing short free verse at the time and decided to try my hand at writing haiku. The writing of haiku became a way for me to record my inner most thoughts and also the wonderful experiences I had and wanted to share with others. I carried a small notebook everywhere I went and began to understand the technique and began to see the development of a style. In the early sixties, I met a friend who had been in the service in Japan and learned about haiku while stationed there. Together we started a friendship and met a couple of times each month to read and share our haiku. He left the area, but I continued my interest in the short free verse poem and haiku and when my first book of poems was published, I included three pages of haiku. This was in the late sixties. In the late seventies, I published my first book of haiku called Recycle/Reciclo, a bilingual English/Spanish edition of a haiku cycle. It was translated by a painter friend, Wilfredo Chiesa who also provided the design and drawings for the book. In 1987, I was one of the founding members of the Boston Haiku Society which has been meeting on a monthly basis since then at the Kaji Aso Studio in Boston. I'm still learning more about life each day and haiku becomes part of that perennial search.
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I've been writing free verse for many years and have been published by small magazine presses in the area. I also like to experiment with different forms including renku, tanka, senryu and various free verse open forms. I did my undergraduate studies in English and American Literature so I've been reading all kinds of poetry in English, but also in Italian and French. For example I can read Dante's Commedia in the original Italian. I also enjoy Arthur Rimbaud and other French writers and can read many in the original.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?
Not sure I can answer this question because any new haiku that I have enjoyed writing becomes a new adventure. Anyway, three haiku that people and poets seem to like are:
frozen pond
an oak leaf
half in
half out
violin player
the shape of the sound
in her arms
paw prints
disappear in the snow
wind under the hemlocks
All three of the above haiku appeared first in the Boston Haiku Society News which I edit on a monthly basis and have been doing since 1987. I think Bruce Ross first published "frozen pond" in his book on haiku, but it has been published in Albatross Magazine in Romania and in some other magazines in Canada and the States.
The second was recently part of Carlos Colón's Electronic Library and I believe it will be included in Jim Kacian's forthcoming book.
The third is part of a haiga portfolio I did about ten years ago called Echoes in Sand with a painter friend, Wilfred Croteau. It can be googled on line and is part of Jeanne Emrich's Reeds Gallery as well.
Sincerely,
Raffael de Gruttola
Next week, William J. Higginson shares his response to the same three questions.
Magnapoets Arrives!
I received my contributors copy of the highly anticipated Magnapoets journal in the mail yesterday. I've updated the free verse, haiku, and tanka areas of my website to include the poems that I'm blessed and pleased to have in this premiere issue.
My sincere thanks, congratulations, and praise to Aurora Antonovic and Nick Zegarac who nurtured an idea that has produce an excellent print publication.
Kudos also to the other Magnapoets journal team members, Ursula T. Gibson, Marie Lecrivain, David Herrle, Matt Morden, and for the cover photograph by Milorad Pavic. Seriously folks, I awoke this morning to find my issue still in my hand. :-)
I thoroughly enjoyed the interview with former US Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky. I will definitely purchase Gulf Music.
Congratulations also to the poets and story-tellers in this issue. I know you share my enthusiasm in being part of this literary event.
Here's a sampling of the many fine poems:
Free Verse:
Heavenly Scars
by Collin Barber
As a child,
his parents awakened him
by turning on the lights
in his room.
They did not understand
that this terrified him.
Light became the scalpel
that would carve heavenly scars
into his unripe mind.
He cowered in the light
for the rest of his life.
He chewed on darkness,
and his breath became shadow.
When the mornings came
he opened his eyes
only to see if he could slow
the heartbeat of his dying world.
In the darkness of night
he closed his eyes,
because once again, he failed.
Haiku:
snow in the city
nobody home
in the cardboard box
Bill Kenney
Tanka:
walking on the beach
my granddaughter
picks up a shell
remarks on its intricacy
then tosses it into the sea
Patricia Prime
Single issues are available for $5.00 in the United States and Canada, and $7.00 per issue for international orders.
Submission guidelines and subscription information are located at http://www.magnapoets.com.
My sincere thanks, congratulations, and praise to Aurora Antonovic and Nick Zegarac who nurtured an idea that has produce an excellent print publication.
Kudos also to the other Magnapoets journal team members, Ursula T. Gibson, Marie Lecrivain, David Herrle, Matt Morden, and for the cover photograph by Milorad Pavic. Seriously folks, I awoke this morning to find my issue still in my hand. :-)
I thoroughly enjoyed the interview with former US Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky. I will definitely purchase Gulf Music.
Congratulations also to the poets and story-tellers in this issue. I know you share my enthusiasm in being part of this literary event.
Here's a sampling of the many fine poems:
Free Verse:
Heavenly Scars
by Collin Barber
As a child,
his parents awakened him
by turning on the lights
in his room.
They did not understand
that this terrified him.
Light became the scalpel
that would carve heavenly scars
into his unripe mind.
He cowered in the light
for the rest of his life.
He chewed on darkness,
and his breath became shadow.
When the mornings came
he opened his eyes
only to see if he could slow
the heartbeat of his dying world.
In the darkness of night
he closed his eyes,
because once again, he failed.
Haiku:
snow in the city
nobody home
in the cardboard box
Bill Kenney
Tanka:
walking on the beach
my granddaughter
picks up a shell
remarks on its intricacy
then tosses it into the sea
Patricia Prime
Single issues are available for $5.00 in the United States and Canada, and $7.00 per issue for international orders.
Submission guidelines and subscription information are located at http://www.magnapoets.com.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Premiere Issue of Magnapoets Released
The premiere issue of Magnapoets will be mailed on Monday, February 11th. I'm sure you will recognize many of the poets featured on the cover. Also, please note that this issue contains an interview with former US Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky.
Editor-in-Chief, Aurora Antonovic, informed me:
"We have subscriptions in India, Israel, the United States, Canada, France, Morroco, Russia, Serbia, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, and so many more places I know I'm forgetting, BUT the most exciting part is that lots of schools have picked it up for their campus bookstores or for classroom instruction."
The Editorial Staff includes:
Editor-in-Chief: Aurora Antonovic
Free Verse and Form Poetry Editor: Ursula T. Gibson
Short Stories Editor: Marie Lecrivain
Special Features Editor: David Herrle
Columnist: Nick Zegarac
Haiku and Senryu Editor: Matt Morden
Tanka Editor: Aurora Antonovic
Single issues are available for $5.00 in the United States and Canada, and $7.00 per issue for international orders.
Submission guidelines for the second issue are located here.
Editor-in-Chief, Aurora Antonovic, informed me:
"We have subscriptions in India, Israel, the United States, Canada, France, Morroco, Russia, Serbia, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, and so many more places I know I'm forgetting, BUT the most exciting part is that lots of schools have picked it up for their campus bookstores or for classroom instruction."
The Editorial Staff includes:
Editor-in-Chief: Aurora Antonovic
Free Verse and Form Poetry Editor: Ursula T. Gibson
Short Stories Editor: Marie Lecrivain
Special Features Editor: David Herrle
Columnist: Nick Zegarac
Haiku and Senryu Editor: Matt Morden
Tanka Editor: Aurora Antonovic
Single issues are available for $5.00 in the United States and Canada, and $7.00 per issue for international orders.
Submission guidelines for the second issue are located here.
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