intersections

In a time when people seem increasingly entrenched in their own views and language, it’s refreshing to see someone paying attention to the places where “languages” intersect. The October 4, 2018, edition of the peer-reviewed journal BioScience includes a research paper entitled “Poetry as a Creative Practice to Enhance Engagement and Learning in Conservation Science.”

Through observation and research of the literature, the authors conclude that “in the office, lab, or field, writing and sharing poetry can foster creativity and enhance conservation scientists’ engagement and learning of unfamiliar topics.” The use of poetry can also help the scientists explain their findings to a variety of audiences. The paper includes uses of poetry in the classroom and suggested exercises, and also cites other poetry-science crossover activities, such as Project Conservation Haiku.

. . . . .
(from the BioScience article) illustration and haiku by Gregory Johnson, an oceanographer at the National Institute for Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

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September 24

Just a quick reminder that today, September 24, is National Punctuation Day. May your apostrophes be warranted and your semicolons bloom.

(Poets, see Poets & Punctuation and Punctuation in Haiku.)

Hologram*

2018 Walk Award
By Mason Cash, grade 3

Projected image
A cool hallucination
Seen but not solid

. . . . .
My name is Mason and I am 8 years old. I go to Beach Elementary on Lummi Island and this is my first published poem.

I came up with the poem, Hologram, by flipping through a dictionary and randomly picking a page. I decided the word I chose would be the title of my poem. I then thought of the characteristics of a hologram and used those to write my haiku.

. . . . .
*Copyright 2018 by Mason Cash. Broadside illustrated by Megan Carroll.

poetry gaming

We don’t often have an opportunity to post from the intersection of Poetry and Gaming, but if Small Island Games has anything to do with it, Haiku Adventure will be coming your way soon.

Haiku Adventure is a magical realist adventure game which allows players to inhabit intricately composed landscapes that celebrate Japanese woodblock traditions, and explore the transformative tricks of perception contained within the formal constraints of haiku poetry. Exploring an immersive world and discovering lines of poetry will allow players to compose three line haiku which re-imagine and transform the world around them.

To learn more, visit the website and read a review on PC Gamer.

haiku and more

You are invited to learn about, honor, and celebrate Japanese culture at the Ferndale Cherry Blossom Festival 2018 on Saturday, April 14. Festivities begin at 9:00am with traditional poetry, music, and song on Hanadori Trail in Pioneer Park. Members of the Bellingham Haiku Writing Group will be wandering poets. Festivities continue until 3:00pm with taiko drummers, dancers, demonstrations, and activities for all ages, plus food, door prizes, raffle items, and vendors.

it’s back!

Yes, it’s February, and that means it’s National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo). Here’s the scoop from Michael Dylan Welch:

The idea is to write at least one haiku a day for the entire month of February — the shortest month for the shortest genre of poetry. Most of the action takes place on Facebook and on Twitter (#nahaiwrimo). The NaHaiWriMo Facebook page provides daily writing prompts (find them in the Notes tab), which you are free to follow or not. You are encouraged to post your haiku to the main NaHaiWriMo page on Facebook — and share them on your own timeline, on Twitter, and on your blog or website. And please feel free to encourage others to try National Haiku Writing Month too (hey, NaHaiWriMo is more fun with friends). And no, haiku don’t have to be 5-7-5. Write on!

next time you’re in Santa Fe

…be sure to visit the brand new Haiku Pathway at Santa Fe Community College. The stoneware haiku were created and installed by Christy Hengst with haiku curated by Miriam Sagan. Funding was provided by the Witter-Bynner Foundation, the SFCC Foundation, New Mexico Literary Arts, Art on Campus, and the SFCC English Department.

Thanks to Michael Dylan Welch for the heads up.