Millikin University Course

Global Haiku Tradition
Summer 2001 • Dr. Randy Brooks


 

Top Selections by Student Vote

 

I stop to see
the length of truth . . .
shadows on the black top

 
by Chelsery A. Peters

  a lapse in conversation
color crayons
on the paper tablecloth
 
by Amy Cassity

Advanced Studies in Poetry:
Global Haiku Tradition

Course Description

IN350 / English 340, Studies in Poetry: Global Haiku Tradition examines the origins and spread of Japanese poetics from Japan around the world, with a special focus on the adaptation of haiku into other cultures and languages.

A special feature of the summer school session was that we attended the first reading of the Highway 51 Poetry Project, which featured the translation team of Lee Gurga and Emiko Miyashita. The translators also conducted a workshop with our class, on using kigo (season words) in haiku. Since the workshop was right after the July 2nd reading, we focused on fourth of July and fireflies for our kigo.

We studied the history of haiku and related poetics in Japan, and examind the contemporary internalization of haiku in various cultures.


We also had weekly editing workshops on original haiku. Here is a sample of one of the workshops, including the original haiku (which are viewed anonymously) and the revised versions (claimed by their writers).

We also studied renga traditions and wrote some rengay.

 

talking to
the dirt . . .
I visit my cousin

 
by Mike Lawary

Student Haiku Colletions:


Amy Cassity

Visar Dida

Marvin Hill

Michael Lawary

Chelsey Peters

Shannon Tissier

Required Books

Matsuo Basho by Makoto Ueda. Paperback Reprint edition (May 1983) Kodansha International.

The Haiku Anthology edited by Cor Van Den Heuvel. Paperback edition (2000) W.W. Norton & Company.

Higginson, The Haiku Handbook, Oxford University Press (1992).

The Classic Tradition of Haiku : An Anthology (Dover Thrift Editions) by Faubion Bowers (Editor) Paperback (October 1996) Dover Pubns.

Autumn Wind Haiku: Selected Poems by Kobayashi Issa by Lewis MacKenzie. Paperback (Sept. 1999) Kodansha International.

Fresh Scent: Selected Haiku of Lee Gurga by Lee Gurga, 1998 Brooks Books.

School’s Out: Selected Haiku of Randy Brooks by Randy Brooks, 1999 Press Here.

Einstein's Century: Akito Arima's Haiku 2001 Brooks Books.

Love Haiku: A Lifetime of Love by Masajo Suzuki, 2000 Brooks Books.



haiku conferences haiku courses at Millikin Modern Haiku magazine
speakers & readings haiku competitions at MU American Haiku Archive
student haiku projects published haiku by students links to haiku web sites
student research on haiku haiku by Millikin students directory of haiku magazines

 

© 2001, Dr. Randy Brooks• Millikin University
last updated 8/28/01 • about this web site