WHC Beginners Volume 1 Issue 3

WHCbeginners

New Appointments: an'ya, Sue Mill & Alison Williams

The World Haiku Club is pleased to announce three new appointments in the important beginners' area.

an'ya has kindly agreed to take up the position of Director in Charge of Beginners with immediate effect. She will also work as Editor of WHCbeginners for World Haiku Review. Though an'ya will be responsible mainly for WHCbeginners, she will also be in charge of the development and promotion of welfare of beginners in the whole of WHC. I wish to thank her for her contributions so far and would like to ask you to join me in wishing her all the best and success in her new capacity.

Simultaneously, Sue Mill and Alison Williams have been so kind as to accept their new positions as Co-Facilitators of WHCbeginners and Co-Editors of the World Haiku Review's WHCbeginners section. With these appointments, WHCbeginners list is expected to be more successful and useful than it has already become. There will be an improvement of WHCbeginners in the near future to make it more of a specialist list for a much smaller number of dedicated mentees with more focused, "intensive" and sophisticated methods. an'ya will oversee the changeover process. Details will be announced in due course. As a timely coincidence, the current cycle of C & C mentorship at WHCbeginners is going to come to completion at the end of this month when the changeover will take place. . .

Kengin,

Susumu

In the Beginning . . . Our mentors share their thoughts:

an'ya (US)

WHCbeginners was activated this past July7. 2001 with a simple "Welcome" introduction, followed up by mentors and members alike introducing ourselves accompanied by a short bio. Personally, these biographies are what truly hit me the hardest, impressed me the most.

Each member in his/her turn, poured out private feelings - reasons why they initially began, or wanted to begin, writing haiku. As the openness of their warm words blossomed, the same respectful attitude literally carried throughout each and every post since the inception of WHCbeginners. Under Debi's kind eye and skillful guidance, we then went on to discuss netiquette via Mark Brook's "The Unofficial Newcomer's Guide to Haiku Mailing Lists," which was quite enlightening, even for the team mentors. From there, we touched lightly on subjects including haiku books, contest requirements, computer viruses/email delivery lags, punctuation/capitalization, kigo/saijiki, the basic framework of haiku, haiku rules, haiku schools, riddle haiku, new forms of linked verse, Colorengas (a linked form created by Alexis K. Rotella) in particular, haibun and haiga, English haiku translations and the interpretation of one of Chiyo's-ni's snow haiku, via the wise words, and sensitive insight of Susumu.

In between these brief discussions, each member submitted haiku for C&C. First, the team mentors - Sue, Alison, and myself made comment. Some of the members then added their C&C. A special thanks to those members who took the time to do so - from this, we all learned!

WHCbeginners was well represented, not only by mentors, but by various members in numerous contests including the bi-weekly Shiki-temp kukai; the Japan Society on Water Environment's contest, "English Tanka and Haiku on Water, River, Lake, and Sea"; WHC's Parade of Life kukai; the North American Tanka Contest; the second WHCtakashi Kukai, WHC's Ocean Day Kukai; the annual Penumbra Poetry and Haiku Competition, etc. Moreover, members and mentors appeared in The Heron's Nest and its "Editor's Choice Award," Asahi Haikuist Network, Mainichi Daily News, haijinx and so forth.

In summation, the direction of WHCbeginners has, thus far, been exactly what we were hoping for: a casual, yet team-guided atmosphere where everyone would feel comfortable asking questions, submitting haiku, and interfacing with others. Its purpose has been fulfilled insofar as creating this kind of friendly learning center. We hope that, in the future, it will become more streamlined and more informative while continuing its quest for gracious international relations between genteel haijin . . .

Thank you,

an'ya
Director/Editor for WHCbeginners

Alison Williams (UK):

When I first started trying to write haiku there were many people who helped in a constructively critical way. I'd like to think that I could also be of some help to other people even newer to haiku than I am, myself. One way I could do this was becoming a mentor on the new WHCbeginners list. I don't think any of the mentors claim to be able to "teach" anyone to write haiku, only to provide an environment and structure within which people might learn. The following quote from psychologist and educationalist, Carl Rogers (1), seems very appropriate:

"...I have no desire to instruct my readers or impress you with my knowledge in this field. I have no desire to tell you what you should think or feel or do."

As a mentor for WHCbeginners, I have offered what help I could, based on my experience, although we are all more or less beginners at this thing called haiku, and we can all teach and learn from each other if we are willing to try. The best feature of the list has been the way in which people have learnt not just to write better haiku, but to help and encourage each other in constructive ways, without being afraid to point out weaknesses or suggest improvements. What we are learning to do is to communicate more clearly and more truly. Carl Rogers again:

"Interpersonal communication is almost never achieved, except in part. You probably never feel fully understood by another, and neither do I. Yet, I find it extremely rewarding when I have been able, in a particular instance, truly to communicate myself to another. I find it very precious when, for some moment in time, I have felt really close to, fully in touch with, another person."

All the beginners on the list have succeeded in communicating something of themselves to the group through their haiku which have been submitted and discussed. I hope that it has been a useful experience for everyone, and that everyone found something in the comments, either on their own work or others people's, that they could use to make future attempts even more successful. Commenting on other people's work and getting comments on your own is not always easy. I think it is worth doing though, because there is no better way to know when you have communicated successfully, or when you may need to clarify or reconsider your approach.

Where next for beginners? The best thing is to find a small group of people who you can get to know and trust to help each other. A group that can meet face to face is good, but if you can't do that, it is possible to do this via e-mail. The important thing is to never stop learning; take every opportunity to learn.

(1) Carl Rogers, Freedom to Learn, (1969) Columbus, OH: Merrill.

Alison Williams
Co-facilitator & Editor, WHCbeginners

Sue Mill (AU):

Well, the first run through of WHCbeginners is complete, though it has taken some time.

Just over 30 people participated by submitting haiku. A few members have been
reluctant to offer a piece of work for discussion. The different styles of the three mentors have made it easier for the mentees to adapt any advice given. None of us is right or wrong, we just see things from different perspectives.

It is always up to the haijin himself/herself in the end to decide on a final version. But even then, come back to it in a few weeks and you will still find something you can tweak. The response from the mentees adding their own voices means that some haiku have had a thorough work out. I am sure that seeing how different people respond, and seeing how a particular haiku can sometimes be interpreted in a totally unexpected manner is a useful lesson.

Susumu is working on the format of the group to make it run more smoothly and efficiently, and hopefully with a slightly quicker turnaround, which the tail enders will appreciate, I am sure. I hope that the group continues to thrive and lessons learned here will be useful as you write other haiku.

Sue Mill
Co-facilitator & Editor, WHCbeginners

Read 10 haiku selections from WHCbeginners

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