Becoming a Haiku Poet

Publisher Marketing: Learn the key techniques and strategies for writing haiku in English from acclaimed haiku poet, teacher, and translator Michael Dylan Welch. This book emphasizes the most effective targets for haiku poetry, ones that are usually not taught in schools. There's more to haiku, and less, than you might think. This concise book provides just the information you need to learn the art of haiku and to start becoming a haiku poet. About the Author Michael Dylan Welch has published his essays, reviews, translations, haiku, and other poetry in hundreds of journals and anthologies, and has won numerous awards for his work. He has served for many years as vice president of the Haiku Society of America, and served two terms as poet laureate of Redmond, Washington, where he also curates two poetry reading series. Michael also cofounded the Haiku North America conference (1991) and the American Haiku Archives (1996), founded the Tanka Society of America (2000), and started National Haiku Writing Month in 2010 (www.nahaiwrimo.com and on Facebook). Visit his personal website, devoted mostly to haiku, at www.graceguts.com. Endorsements "The real secret to becoming a haiku poet is to start writing haiku." From the foreword by Aubrie Cox "For many years Michael Dylan Welch's essays on haiku have guided newcomers and seasoned poets alike. With characteristic authority and humor, "Becoming a Haiku Poet" is yet another of his important contributions to the study and understanding of haiku poetry." Charles Trumbull, editor emeritus of "Modern Haiku" "Michael Dylan Welch's knowledge and experience with haiku is recognized internationally. He always has time to assist new poets starting out on the haiku path, to engage in a conversation about poetics, or to recommend a current essay or book. He never tires of answering the question: What is a haiku, anyway? "Becoming a Haiku Poet" is Michael's concise and informative answer." Terry Ann Carter, president of Haiku Canada Contributor Bio:  Welch, Michael Dylan Michael Dylan Welch is a poet, editor, and publisher. In 1991 he cofounded Haiku North America, and has edited all twelve HNA conference anthologies. In 1996 he cofounded the American Haiku Archives, and in 2000 he founded the Tanka Society of America, serving as its president for five years. He is currently first vice president of the Haiku Society of America. His poems have won first place in numerous contests (including the Henderson, Brady, Tokutomi, and Drevniok contests), and have appeared in hundreds of journals and anthologies in more than a dozen languages-including a tanka translation on the back of 150,000,000 U. S. postage stamps in 2012. His website, which features his essays, reviews, and poems, is www.graceguts.com. He also founded National Haiku Writing Month, or NaHaiWriMo, which has an active Facebook page, and a website at www.nahaiwrimo.com. William Hart is a poet and fiction writer living in Los Angeles. During and after college he worked in several states at a wide variety of labor jobs, then he earned a doctorate in English from the University of Southern California and taught college writing courses in Los Angeles. He now authors books and helps produce the documentaries of his wife, Bengali filmmaker Jayasri Majumdar Hart. He has published nine poetry collections and two well-received novels. Four poetry collections were haiku, and one of those, "Paris", received a Merit Book Award from the Haiku Society of America in 1996. His poems and stories have appeared in several hundred journals, newspapers, and anthologies, including most English-language periodicals that publish haiku or tanka. Two feature documentaries from Hartfilms have played nationally on PBS and one of them, "Sisters of Selma", received regional Emmy nominations, and screened at the Smithsonian in September 2012.