Poetry books tend to occupy a small space in most bookshops unless your local bookshop is one of those awesome little nooks that carries everything. Haiku books occupy an even smaller space, if at all. This is quite the problem for an avid reader, writer, and all out fan of haiku.
Where do you find these?!
When I first got into haiku as a daily practice a year ago, I was desperate for haiku reading material – especially contemporary haiku. Much to my dismay, my local bookshop carried only one anthology. I bought it and devoured it within a week. Now what? As a newbie, I didn’t know what to look for or what authors/editors to search.
I did the usual amazon search and found a couple things here and there, but they were ridiculously expensive as they were often self-published, single print or special editions of journals. So, I tried Half Price Books where I lucked out with two more anthologies. From there, I was able to put together some names of celebrated haiku poets and editors, which allowed me to do more advanced searches in online sources.
Needless to say, building my haiku library has been an arduous task! A trip to Powell’s in Portland, Oregon helped, but it has not been easy to find publications of an art form that has become one of my passions.
All that book stalking paid off with a nice little collection of haiku anthologies, histories, and philosophies.
Now that I’ve done all the grunt work, I thought I’d share what I consider to be the quintessential books that should be part of any haiku library. Knowing the titles and authors/editors make finding them infinitely easier. I’ve linked them to sources to make it even easier!
The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches by Matsuo Basho
The Haiku Anthology – Ed. By Cor van den Huevel
Haiku in English: The First One Hundred Years – Ed. by Jim Kacian, Philip Rowland, and Allan Burns
The Essential Haiku – Ed. by Robert Hass
Haiku Moment – Ed. by Bruce Ross
Haiku 21 – Ed. By Lee Gurga and Scott Metz
Haiku Vol. 1-4 by R.H. Blyth – I do not own these volumes, but they are considered required reading by most haiku enthusiasts. They are difficult to track down and can be a bit pricey.
My collection includes more than this list and there are, of course, many more volumes out there. These are, however, the ones that left the most meaningful impression on my muse. I learned the most from them about the tradition and evolution of haiku, while also experiencing the powerful nature of haiku through some incredibly talented poets.
I am always looking for new anthologies, so if you know any good titles, please share them in the comments!
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c.b.w. 2015
I see you already have this (reviewed): http://mairibheag.com/2013/06/21/marking-a-century-of-haiku/
Are you aware of ‘The British Museum: Haiku’, edited by David Cobb?
And then there is ‘Songs of Love, Poems of Sadness: The Erotic Verse of the Sixth Dalai Lama’ trans. Paul Williams. Though not haiku, but rather a short form from Tibet, these poems are interesting to read for their imagery and poignancy.
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I’m going to have to check out Cobb’s book. I have not heard of it, but anything connected to the British Museum is usually fantastic. 🙂
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Thank you for your recommendation for The British Museum: Haiku. I tracked down a copy and absolutely loved it. 🙂
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Ooooh!!! What a WONDERFUL collection of haiku books!! I could get lost in those for hours-days-years!! 🙂
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I do get lost in them for ridiculous amounts of time. They are so inspiring. 🙂
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Awesome finds! 🙂
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I am constantly looking for more! 🙂
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