World
Haiku Club and World Haiku Festival
Founded
in 1998, the World Haiku Club has planned, organized and now runs the World
Haiku Festival 2000 which is in its finale, the London Mark II Conference of May
2001. The Festival began with the "Prologue to WHF2000" in 1998 with
various haiku-related events and in 2000, it ushered various programs "for
real", first with the launch of our website and mailing lists on the
Internet on 1 January. It culminated in the six-day London - Oxford Conference
of August 2000, a resounding success. In May 2001, following the "Epilogue
to World Haiku Festival 2000 & Advent of JAPAN 2001",
events of the WHC will be held under the banner of the "World Haiku
Festival".
With
the two main themes, "Challenging Conventions" and "Charting Our
Future", the WHC/WHF started something new in the world haiku scene.
Participation in the WHC activities is on an individual basis, though the Club
is supported by numerous organizations and haiku movements.
World
Haiku Review
The
World Haiku Review is the organ of the World Haiku Club for its members and for
those who share our aims and aspirations in all corners of the earth. As such,
is comprehensive in coverage and large-scale in size, embodying WHC's
philosophy. This publication is based on a completely new concept in aims,
scale and scope and initially issued on the Internet.
Contemporary
haiku is enjoying unprecedented prosperity and popularity. However, it is also
in a state of flux and confusion. World Haiku Review will address all key issues
of haiku today in addition to providing an ideal outlet for members' oeuvre. In
so doing, the magazine will carry on the two main themes of the World Haiku
Festival. It will re-examine all these issues in depth and give them critical
reappraisal. It is therefore not the place for the faint-hearted or prejudiced.
It is, however, for all those open-hearted and genuine lovers of haiku. World
Haiku Review will treat readers and contributors fundamentally on an individual
basis, although they will enjoy benefits from WHC's friendly relationships with
numerous haiku and other organisations in the world.
The
new magazine is created to stimulate innovations in haiku and haiku-related
genres, while exploring lasting values and spirit of its long tradition. On all
levels of competence and experience of the member poets, "World Haiku
Review" aims at the highest standards and quality.
Mission
Statement of The World Haiku Club
The World Haiku Club is a non-profit-making organisation,
established for the purpose of creating a world-wide network of haiku poets
through which to help disseminate and develop haiku, and also to raise standards
and quality of the genre. The WHC seeks to establish a synthesis between
tradition and innovation ("fueki-ryuko") as well as a balance between
different schools of thought. Therefore, WHC is a broad church not siding with
any specific organisation nor supporting any single poet. WHC maintains friendly
and co-operative relationships with other like-minded organisations and
individuals, united with them in the common goal of celebrating and developing
the world haiku movement.
The
WHC aims at maintaining free, civil, friendly and creative culture in our search
for permanent poetic values ("fuga-no-makoto"), where the motto is
"the maximum freedom of poetic expression within the framework of minimum
restrictions".
However,
the WHC, as an organisation solely concerned with the creation and appreciation
of haiku and related genres, is non-political, non-religious and non-faction and
aims at avoiding all manners of prejudice. Any movements or propaganda
activities in these areas are not allowed. Also, abuse of any sort is forbidden,
including personal attacks and counter-attacks, blatant self-aggrandisement,
unacceptable bad manners and language, or any form of negative haiku politics.
WHC operates on levels which transcend national, regional or individual
organisation levels.
As
we study, re-examine and uphold the proven values of the past, our main focus is
on the future, stimulating creative experiments, innovations and search for new
horizons in haiku and related genres. In this light, WHC celebrates diversity,
promotes individualism and local initiatives and champions new talent, while at
the same time honouring universal commonality and achievements of the
established poets.
In
this spirit, our driving force is manifested in the two mottoes:
"Challenging Conventions" and "Charting Our Future."
