An evening of haiku poetry reading and open
discussion, organised by PRO ART in association with WHC, took place at
"Salon des Arts", 191 Queen's Gate, London, England. Ms Vesna Petkovic
of PRO ART invited WHC Chairman and Managing Editor of World Haiku Review, Mr.
Susumu Takiguchi, to preside over this event by introducing haiku reading and
chairing the discussion by the panel of ten distinguished poets from different
countries.
A large exhibition room of the Salon was
devoted to the haiku evening, which was so quickly filled with an audience of
over fifty poets, musicians and artists that extra chairs were needed. Ms
Petkovic first asked the audience to observe one minute's silence for the
victims and relatives of the 11 September. She then introduced Mr. Takiguchi,
who chaired the rest of the evening. He first gave an introductory lecture on
haiku, sketching briefly its development since Basho's time, reading some
representative poems by haiku reformers, Buson, Issa, Shiki and Kyoshi, both in
Japanese and in English translation. Each participant then was invited to read
selections of his/her own poetry and to give an account of how he/she began
writing haiku and what the experience has personally come to mean.
David Walker, a sculptor, writer and General
Secretary of the British Haiku Society, related his understanding of haiku
through his work as a artist, particularly in the medium of stone. Paul
Conneally, WHC Regional and Education Director, introduced the haiku-related
genre, tanka inspired by Wordsworth's poetry.
The panellists also included Riccardo Duranti,
Professor of English Literature at Rome University; David Platt, an academic and
scientist of the UK; Alison Williams, an English haiku writer and mentor of
WHCbeginners; Alan Summers, former General Secretary of the British Haiku
Society and an editor for "haijinx" internet journal; John Barlow of
England, the publisher and editor of Snapshot Press; Anamaria Crowe-Serrano, a
teacher and translator (Italian, Spanish) from Dublin; Carrie Etter, an American
writer, teacher and a PhD student of Victorian literature, living in London; and
Debra Woolard Bender, Development Advisor of the World Haiku Club and
Editor-in-Chief of the World Haiku Review.
A wide variety in style and content of the
poems was noted by both the audience and the panellists. Different "schools
of thought" were represented, including 5-7-5 format, traditional with
season references, more progressive or minimalist haiku.
