Hi Cricket,
I see haiku and haibun as literary forms, with spirituality as an added layer which may or may not be present. I don't feel qualified to speak on spirituality, as I don't see myself as being spiritual. More like a materialistic transcendentalist. But Manuel says that I'm spiritual. Who knows.
I'm not sure that the WHR people regularly read Haiku Canada newsflashes. Perhaps they only send their notices to it?
Another dose of cheers!
snowflea
PS -- Feel free to post my correspondence if you like.
----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Faiers
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 4:02 PM
Subject: Re: HC Newsflash
Hi Snowflea,
Thanks for replying to the 'newsflash'. I wasn't sure how good an idea it was to send this out as a newsflash, & Marco, the editor, and I exchanged emails regarding this. So I re-thought sending it. as did Marco. And then after a week's deliberations he sent it out ... so it'll be interesting to see what response it garners, if any. At least it's stimulating a lot of visits to the blog - 27 by noon today, on the first day of the mailing, so this alone has some value : )
I really felt I couldn't let a Brit make the claim that another Brit is the seminal haibun creator in the English language. The more I reflect on it, the stronger the Canuck claim becomes. It was really Jack Kerouac who popularized haiku/haibun with his beatnik 'crazy wisdom' travelogues like ON THE ROAD and DHARMA BUMS etc. .
I had a chat with Dr. John (the other Dr. J) at noon today about art and spirituality. If I truly felt most haiku poets were spiritually motivated, and that haiku is more in the realm of a spiritual practice than as a literary notch in many poets' belts, then I might not have engaged in this contention. But I'd be thrilled if I learned 50% of haiku poets engage in any sort of Buddhist practice such as meditation. I'd probably be surprised if 10% of modern 'haijin' engage in meditation or any other traditional Buddhist practices such as yoga, etc. .
So if haiku/haibun is currently more of a literary form than a spiritual one in English, then I feel many of the usual literary standards apply.
I really like the World Haiku Association and their WORLD HAIKU REVIEW, esp. as they published Terry Ann Carter's glowing review of my haibun ZENRIVER POEMS & HAIBUN a couple of years ago. My expectation is the Haiku Canada newsflash will stimulate readership of WORLD HAIKU REVIEW as well as that of my blog. Everyone benefits, and the literary history of haiku/haibun, for what it's worth and 'who really cares anyway?, will stand corrected.
As the notice for the new issue of WHR was sent out as a Haiku Canada newsflash, I'm sure they'll read my piece and understand what I'm up to : )
peace & poetry power!
Chris/cricket and Chase ... wrffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff (just back from beaut. early fall walk to Sorrow Falls on the trans-Canada Trail)
p.s. hope you don't mind if I post our correspondence on my blog? it may help explain my motives ...
On 2011-09-14, at 3:32 PM, John Hamley wrote:
Hi Chris,
Good. But since you are a world-class haijin and your international reputation is at stake, I recommend that you also send a correction to the World Haiku Review.
Hoping that bad publicity will lead into good publicity ... Cheers!
John
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