Library Booknotes
This is an exceptional selection of English-language haiku at its finest.


Providence Sunday Journal
Generous, irreplaceable. . . . It's an eye-opener and a who's-who of haiku today.


Wind Chimes
This magnificent anthology . . . destined to become a milestone in contemporary haiku . . . belongs in the library of every haiku enthusiast.


Book Description
Originally a Japanese form that flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, haiku has recently experienced tremendous growth in popularity in the English language. The Haiku Anthology, first published in 1974, is a landmark work in modern haiku, honoring a genre of poetry that celebrates simplicity, emotion, and imagery--in which only a few words convey worlds of mystery and meaning. This third edition, now completely revised and updated, comprises 850 haiku and senryu (a related genre, usually humorous and concerned with human nature) written in English by 89 poets, including the top haiku writers of the American past and present. A new foreword details developments since the publication of the last edition.


About the Author
Cor van den Heuvel, a haiku poet himself, is past president of the Haiku Society of America. He lives in New York City.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Originally a Japanese form that flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, haiku has seen a tremendous growth in popularity in the English language over the last two decades. It is a type of poetry that celebrates simplicity, emotion, and imagery, one in which only a few words convey worlds of mystery and meaning. This third edition, now completely revised and updated, comprises 850 haiku and senryu (a related genre, usually humorous and concerned with human nature) written in English by 89 poets, including the top haiku writers of the American past and present. A new foreword details developments since the publication of the last edition.

FROM THE CRITICS

KLIATT

In the foreword to this third edition, we are told, "haiku is basically about living with intense awareness, about having an openness to the existence around us." Often, these poems are about our relation to the natural world. These haiku, all originally written in English, clearly demonstrate that suggestive images leave the task to the reader, giving only a taste or visual sensation. The haiku distills the essence of an experience and brings us to the present moment. The popularity of haiku in America is evident in the number of conferences devoted solely to this art form. And so, collections like these are sure to attract many readers. van den Heuvel goes on to tell us that the traditional haiku of 17 syllables is not necessarily how it is written here. Following is a one-line haiku by Matsuo Allard: "an icicle the moon drifting through it." Also present in this collection are senryu, haiku's "sister genre," characterized by a focus on human relationships rather than nature. They are often humorous. Karen Shone's piece is a good example: "the men on both sides/ have taken/ my armrests." van den Heuvel appends a list of books, magazines and haiku presses as well as biographical entries for each poet. He also includes a few pages of definitions as written by The Haiku Society of America. This collection is a welcome addition to haiku anthologies, especially with its focus on North American writers. It provides an interesting contrast to traditional Japanese haiku and could be used to that effect in literature classes. It's also a great book to pick up in the midst of an imagined crisis to find: "A long wedge of geese;/straw-gold needles of the larch/ on the flowing stream."KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 1999, Norton, 363p, notes, 18cm, 98-50927, $15.95. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Sue E. Budin; YA Libn., Ann Arbor P.L., Ann Arbor, MI, March 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 2)

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