NaPoWriMo happily ends. And ends happily.

April is over, at last. From beginning to end, I was moving house, packing, cleaning, arranging, sorting, recycling, taking to the charity shop, tossing, lifting, carrying, giving away on Freecycle, selling on eBay, and so on. Though I rented a van on the 8th for the bulk of the move, I was going to and from, cleaning and moving, up through the 29th. But now it's done, and I've a week's holiday in Pembrokeshire, courtesy of a wonderful trade I made with a poetry student, doing everything I could toward helping her with her pamphlet in exchange for a week at her cottage. I'm hoping it was a good deal on both sides.

So doing NaPoWriMo this month was tough. For the first time I included haiku and senryu. It wasn't a conscious decision; after reading a friend's haiku book manuscript, I found haiku emerged almost daily. It was a real pleasure to be walking in my new city of Bath, see some detail in the landscape--purple wisteria two stories up the face of a Georgian terrace, a robin chattering away on a telephone wire, and have the image transform little by little into words, then a short poem. In May I mean to revisit my haiku and senryu manuscript, The Broken Kite, and see where it is and what it needs to be complete.

The other great pleasure of this attempt at NaPoWriMo was the number of responses I received here on the blog from others who'd joined me. It was great to hear from Charles, Jimmy, Alan, Karen, Linda, Jennifer, John, Aisling, Jim, Helen, Graham, Frank, Tony, Rob, Jenny, Hazel, Catherine, Joanne, Zara, Valerie, Aidan, Mike, Cat, and Kenny--thank you all so much for your posts! It was interesting and encouraging to hear about others' experiences with the challenge, and it heartened me every time somebody posted a new comment.

I think it's largely because of the active presence of the company this time that I finally did it: I got 30 poems in 30 days--there are even a few good ones. Thanks so much to all who joined me! Hurrah!

Another Country: Haiku Poetry from Wales

I've just begun reading from this well produced anthology edited by Nigel Jenkins, Ken Jones and Lynne Rees and published by Gomer, and I'm enjoying the range of haiku, senyru, and haibun. Here's a haiku by a friend of mine:

early dark

the cathedral visible

only as windows

Karen Hoy

The anthology is available for £9.99/$14.99 direct from the publisher.

May events

A light month, most fortunately...

10 May 2010, 6-8 p.m. I will read from and speak about my own work and Infinite Difference to the Poetry and Poetics Research Group at Edge Hill University, Ormskirk campus. Free and open to the public. For further details, please contact Robert Sheppard at sheppar at edgehill.ac.uk.

12 May 2010. Bath Japanese Festival launch with numerous poets working in Japanese forms, including a haiga artist. I'll read from my haiku and senryu manuscript, The Broken Kite. Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath. £4, £2 students and BRLSI members.

25 May 2010. I read at York University. Details TBA.

Haiku Chronicles

I've come across a splendid online resource for those interested in haiku, Haiku Chronicles, a series of well-considered podcasts hosted by Donna Beaver and Alan Pizzarelli. It offers fresh, lively presentations on such topics as the 16th-century Japanese haiku master Matsuo Basho, the appearance of senryu, and the place of haiku with the Beat poets. I can't imagine these Haiku Chronicles disappointing anyone with an affection for the form.