Ryoan-Ji: a haikai sequence by Alan Summers published in Presence haiku magazine December 2012

Ryōan-ji


these rocks
I too float among clouds
looking for something

white gravel
each day the monks
rake ripples in time

pure pebble sound
I only know what is
and that is enough

silhouettes of bamboo
at the edge of the garden
we swap stories*

our sharp mysteries
the percussion of sand
over rocks**

falling snow moon
the slowness of shadows
caught in branches


* after the classic scenes of Ryōan-ji in Yasujirō Ozu’s film Late Spring, 1949
** after John Cage

Publications credits: Presence #47 (December 2012)

Ryoan-Ji:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kyoto-Ryoan-Ji_MG_4512.jpg

Description	Ryoan Ji, Kyoto zen garden
Date	May 2007
Source	Own work
Author	Cquest

A selection of haiku by Alan Summers over the latter part of 2012

rain on the river the jesus star shifting

Janice M Bostok Haiku Prize 2012 Anthology Evening Breeze




train whistle
a blackbird hops
along its notes

Publications credits:
Presence #47 (December 2012)




the childing autumn
I forget heartbreak
stains to violets

Publication Credits: Notes from the Gean Haiku Monthly (December 2012)



black rainbows?
mark her clock out
in cherries

Publication Credits: Notes from the Gean Haiku Monthly (December 2012)




cloud mountain
she screams her daughter's name
into the month of march

Publication Credits: Air, British Haiku Society Members’ Anthology (2012)




Maple moon
Grandmother’s recipe
settles in the pan

Publication Credits: Asahi Shimbun (Japan, November 2012); From the Icebox (December 2012, Hailstone Haiku Group, Japan)




green clouds
the scarecrow worries
a loose thread

Publication Credits: Asahi Shimbun (Japan 2012)



toy suns
the winter-dark rain
smashes the city

Publications credits:
Blithe Spirit (vol 23 no. 4 November 2012); Does Fish-God Know (YTBN Press 2012)



drifting rain 
my hundred autumn rooms 
to be alone

Publication Credits: Mainichi Shimbun (Japan, Oct. 2012)


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Changing Winter: a haikai verse sequence

 

Changing Winter

burnt toast

Jack Frost spreads

across the window

mythical river

all the colours of the sun

across the frosting

our storm in a teacup

there’s thirteen ways

to stop a hiccup

Santa’s Palace

a boy hands the snowman

over to his brother

climate change

a little girl's decision

about snowcastles

Publications credits: Inner Art Journal  (Winter issue 2012/2013)
http://innerartjournal.com/winter-2013/alan-summers/

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Alan Summers, one-line haiku in premier haiku magazine Roadrunner, plus haiku prize

Two of my one-line haiku were accepted for Roadrunner Haiku Journal, a premier publication on haikai literature.



Hirst's butterflies disturbing the exhibits people



chestnut moon shifting in my memory ghost floors

Publication Credits: Roadrunner 12.3 (December 2012)

I have a number of other haiku and short verse under various pseudonyms as part of the MASKS 4 feature.  There'll be a prize for the most guessed correctly.


Roadrunner Haiku Journal was founded and edited by Jason Sanford Brown beginning in 2004. With the first issue of 2009, Scott Metz took over as editor, and has since coedited with Paul Pfleuger, Jr.

R'r is an online journal seeking to publish the best and most diverse in English-language haiku (including senryu, zappai and short poetry inspired by haiku).

Various people have helped make Roadrunner become one of the foremost magazines about contemporary haiku including: Elizabeth Searle Lamb; Jim Kacian; Ferris Gilli; Miriam Sagan; and William J. Higginson.

Weblink to Damien Hirst, global and controversial artist: http://www.damienhirst.com/

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Alan Summers haiku featured at The Haiku Foundation Per Diem: Daily Haiku on the subject of childhood

sunlit sweat

the young vagrant

sucks a thumb

Alan Summers

Publications credits: Haiku Harvest  vol. 4 no. 1 (2003); Haiku Harvest: 2000 – 2006 (Modern English Tanka Press 2007); Does Fish-God Know (YTBN Press 2012)

Per Diem: Daily Haiku

The Haiku Foundation

December (31 poems): Children
How children move, exasperate and inspire us to look at life, our surroundings and ourselves. Editor: Sonam Chhoki
 

Per Diem: Daily Haiku featuring haiku by Alan Summers on the subject of childhood

The Haiku Foundation's Per Diem: Daily Haiku

December (31 poems): Children
How children move, exasperate and inspire us to look at life, our surroundings and ourselves. Editor: Sonam Chhoki


two boys giggle
as he enters the bike shop ...
the onion seller

Alan Summers


Publications credits: Blithe Spirit vol. 11 no. 3, 2001 (British Haiku Society Journal); Stepping Stones:  a way into haiku (British Haiku Society 2007)

Stepping Stoness:  a way into haiku
http://britishhaikusociety.org.uk/book-shop/stepping-stones/

2003 Bristol Onion Sellers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/5046971621/

The Haiku Foundation
Mission Statement
The impetus behind The Haiku Foundation was the realization that English-language haiku had done a poor job of promoting itself in two important venues: in gathering, interpreting, honoring and making available its comprehensive history, and in reaching beyond a coterie audience to establish its importance as a literary vehicle in the present and future. As a result, THF has two primary missions:

1) to archive our first century of English-language haiku; and
2) to expand possibilities for our second.

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Per Diem: Daily Haiku featuring haiku by Alan Summers on the subject of childhood

Per Diem: Daily Haiku

The Haiku Foundation

December (31 poems): Children
How children move, exasperate and inspire us to look at life, our surroundings and ourselves.
Editor: Sonam Chhoki

Throughout December a different haiku by different authors will explore what childhood is about, possibly our most important joy.

Per Diem: Daily Haiku

 

umbilical cord-
a space man’s first
baby steps

-- Alan Summers

Publications credits: “Rocket Dreams” commission Read/performed U.K. National Poetry Day October 4th 2007 with Space Historian Piers Bizony and NASA images at the Planetarium At-Bristol, as part of World Space Week:
http://bristolculture.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/at-bristol-planetarium-millennium-square.jpg 

The Haiku Foundation

Mission Statement

The impetus behind The Haiku Foundation was the realization that English-language haiku had done a poor job of promoting itself in two important venues: in gathering, interpreting, honoring and making available its comprehensive history, and in reaching beyond a coterie audience to establish its importance as a literary vehicle in the present and future. As a result, THF has two primary missions:

1) to archive our first century of English-language haiku; and

2) to expand possibilities for our second.

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Haiku by Alan Summers becomes an Editors' Choice Selection in a leading American haiku magazine.

The Heron’s Nest
Editors' Choices
Volume XIV, Number 4: December, 2012


lullaby of rain
another pinch of saffron
in the pumpkin soup

Alan Summers



Interestingly enough the above haiku is set in a 5 syllable 7 syllable 5 syllable pattern of English-language syllables which is rare amongst published haiku writers.   These haiku are possible if there is no padding out in words merely to make the syllable count, and where line breaks are utilised in a natural poetic fashion.

More about haiku as it's written today was studied in depth at:
Haiku and Tanka: Amazement & Intensity

Alan's Teacher Profile:
http://www.poetrycoop.com/poetry-workshops/teaching-artists
    
Alan also runs regular and popular online courses in haiku; tanka; haibun; and tanka prose etc... at With Words.

For further information, and quotes from previous participants: karen@withwords.org.uk


More about the haiku magazine:
The Heron’s Nest
"where tradition and innovation meet ... and complement each other"

The Heron's Nest, now in its fourteenth year of publication, is a quarterly online journal.

It is our intention to present haiku in which the outward form of each poem has been determined by two important elements.

The primary element is the poetic experience, faithfully and uniquely evoked in words.

The second element helps to shape the first; it is the poet's knowledge and respect for traditional haiku values.

When well balanced these elements result in work that is distinctively and unmistakably haiku.

"Poetic experiences" are those that inspire us to express ourselves creatively with words.

"Haiku values" are the traditional underpinnings, both Japanese and Western, by which haiku sensibility has evolved into what it is today, and which will continue to shape haiku traditions in the future.

—John Stevenson, Managing Editor

Here is my book review of John Stevenson's Live: Again

Previously published in Blithe Spirit, Journal of the British Haiku Society, and reproduced online at Haijinx magazine:
http://www.haijinx.org/IV-1/reviews/liveagain.html


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small kindnesses

small kindnesses

My small kindnesses are helping those with heavy luggage who forget they can use lifts/elevators at train stations. Also, I allow people to leave the train by not blocking them, as so many others do. Plus anyone smaller than the crowd, I make sure they can get onto a train first, and be able to put away any luggage, and find a nice seat, as I'm a big man I can discreetly block,  and so protect those less able.

dark morning...
the sushi bar opens up
for the train station

Check out Fiona's free book offer for today:

http://www.writingourwayhome.com/p/small-kindnesses-blogs-taking-part.html

 

All about small kindnesses we offer or receive:

http://www.writingourwayhome.com/2012/11/what-small-kindness-do-you-remember.html

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Selected Haiku by Alan Summers

A selection of haiku across the years from Alan Summers

bright breeze

a sighted person fingers

the statue’s eyes

Publications credits: City: Bristol Today in Poems and Pictures (Paralalia 2004); tinywords.com (USA 2007); Moonset Vol. 3 Issue 2 (Moonset Literary newspaper llc. USA 2007)

City: Bristol Today in Poems and Pictures:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/City-Bristol-Today-Poems-Pictures/dp/0954811704

Old Man’s Beard a cyclist wobbles the length of it

 (one line haiku)

Publications credits: a handful of stones (celebrating the extraordinary in the ordinary - the official small stone e-zine 2011); A Blackbird Sings, a small stone anthology ISBN 978-0-9571584-2-9 ed.  Fiona Robyn & Kaspalita Thompson (Woodsmoke Press 2012)

sunheat -

also parted in death

a ladybird’s wings

Publications credits: Blithe Spirit  vol. 8. no.3  (British Haiku Society Journal 1998); Does Fish-God Know (Yet To Be Named Press 2012 ISBN-10: 1479211044)

Old Curiosity Shop -

lacquered dolls

out in the mid-day sun

Publications credits: Shamrock, Haiku Journal of the Irish Haiku Society (Ireland 2007)

white sails...

a wind has also shaped

the tree

Publications credits: Azami issues #21 #22 & 27 (Japan 1994 & 1995); Mainichi Shimbun (Japan 2005); a procession of ripples (USA 2006); tinywords.com (USA 2006); Aesthetics, (Bath Spa University, Summer 2007)

an attic window sill

a wasp curls

into its own dust

Publications credits: Woodpecker Special Issue, Extra Shuttle Issue ISSN 1384-6094  (Holland 1997); Snapshots Four  (1998); First Australian Online Haiku Anthology (1999); Haiku International 2000 Anthology, Japan ISBN 4-8161-0675-8 (2000); HaikuOz Information Kit (2001); The Omnibus Anthology, Haiku and Senryu, Hub Editions ISBN 1-903746-09-4 (2001); Cornell University, Mann Library, U.S. "Daily Haiku" poet (October 2001); tinywords.com (2002); Yomiuri Shimbun, Japanese newspaper (for my birthday, September 16th 2002); The New Haiku (Snapshot Press 2002); Raku Teapot: Haiku Book and CD pub. USA Raku Teapot Press in association with White Owl Publishing Book: ISBN 1-891691-03-1 CD:  ISBN 1-891691-04-X (2003); First Australian Haiku Anthology, Paper Wasp ISBN 0 9577925 9 X (2003); Yomiuri Shimbun Go-Shichi-Go Language Lab (Japan 2005); Swot, arts & literature magazine, Bath Spa University (2007); Travelogue on World Haiku Festival 2002 , Part 2  (Akita International Haiku Network Japan 2010); The Haiku Foundation USA haiku 2012 iTunes app

Award credit:

Highly Commended, Haiku Collection Competition, Snapshot Press (1998)

Joint 7th Best of Issue, Snapshot Five (1999)

Education:

HaikuOz Information Kit, the Australian Haiku Society’s Getting Started With Haiku (2001)

over the nettles

where I know I just can’t go

orange-tip butterfly

Publications credits: Presence issue 42 (2010)

almost lost

in the shimmer of water

several ducklings

Publications credits: Blithe Spirit vol.6 no.1 (British Haiku Society Journal 1996); "English/Japanese Haiku" article by Nobuyuki Yuasa read and translated for the Baiko Women's College (Japan 1996) by Nobuyuki Yuasa:  mizu haete  hikari ni kasumu  kogamo kana; "English/Japanese Haiku" by Nobuyuki Yuasa article (Blithe Spirit, British Haiku Society Journal vol.8 no.3 1998); First Australian online Anthology 1999; HI #42, Haiku International Association (Japan 2001); See Haiku Here (Japan 2001); tinywords.com (USA 2001); Flowers on a Shoe String  (Institute of Physics 2002); Wild Flowers, New Leaves, Ami-Net International Press (2002); Raku Teapot: Haiku  Book and CD pub. USA Raku Teapot Press/White Owl Publishing  (2003); First Australian Haiku Anthology, Paper Wasp ISBN 0 9577925 9 X  (2003); Haiku Pathway Katikati, Katikati Open-Air Art Inc. ISBN 0-476-00060-2  (2003); Yomiuri Shimbun  (Japan 2004);  See Haiku Here (Japan 2009); "water" haiga eBook series, ed. Kuniharu Shimizu (Japan, 2010); Haiku Pathway Katikati, Katikati Open-Air Art Inc. (10th Anniversary Edition 2010); The In-Between Season (With Words Pamphlet Series 2012)

Haiku Park Credit:

Haiku Pathway,  Katikati, North Island, New Zealand

handcarved into a river boulder 2000

http://area17.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-katikati-haiku-pathway-guidebook-is.html  http://members.dodo.com.au/janbos/katikati.html  

http://www.katikati.co.nz

the wind sways

a woven hat brim

once grass

Publications credits: Albatross, Contantza Haiku Society, Romania Issue vol III no. 1 Spring-Summer/No. 2 Autumn-Winter 1994; Moonlighting, British Haiku Society Profile (1996); sundog, an australian year (sunfast press 1997 2nd print 1998); California State Library USA

Haibun credit: The Crow Walk haibun HAIKU HIKE (World Walks) Part of Crossover UK's 2006 'Renewability' project (2006)

woodfire

flickering in the silence

corralled horses

Publications credits: Modern Haiku vol. xxvi  no. 3 (USA 1995); Moonlighting  (Intimations Pamphlet Series British Haiku Society Profile, 1996); sundog haiku journal: an australian year  (sunfast press 1997 reprinted 1998); California State Library USA - 1997; First Australian Haiku online Anthology (1999); First Australian Anthology (Paper Wasp 2000); Haiku Dreaming (Australia 2006); The Crow Walk haibun (HAIKU HIKE, World Walks, Crossover UK 'Renewability' project 2006)); Stepping Stones:  a way into haiku ISBN 978-0-9522397-9-6  (British Haiku Society 2007)

the rain

almost a friend

this funeral

Publications credits: Azami #28 (Japan 1995); Snapshots 4 (1998); First Australian online Anthology (October 1999): Blithe Spirit article On minimalism and other things  DJ Peel Vol 9 No.3 (British Haiku Society Journal 1999); tempslibre (Belgium 2001); Cornell University, Mann Library, U.S.A. "Daily Haiku" (Oct 2001); The Omnibus Anthology, haiku and senryu  (Hub Haiku series 2001); Hidden (British Haiku Society Anthology 2002); The New Haiku (Snapshot Press, 2002); First Australian Haiku Anthology (2003); Birmingham Words Magazine Issue 3 (Autumn 2004); seven magazine feature: “Three lines of simple beauty”  (2006); tempslibre (Belgium 2010); Blogging Along Tobacco Road: Alan Summers - Three Questions (2010); Travelogue on World Haiku Festival 2002 , Part 2  (Akita International Haiku Network, Japan 2010);  The Temple Bell Stops: Contemporary Poems of Grief, Loss and Change (Modern English Tanka Press USA 2012); The Haiku Foundation USA haiku app for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch (2011); The In-Between Season (With Words Pamphlet Series 2012)

Award credit:

Highly Commended, Haiku Collection Competition, (Snapshot Press 1998)

Joint 9th Best of Issue, Snapshot Five (1999)

all my mistakes

each click of the pen

the robin moves

Publications credits: Presence #24 (2004);  "D'un ciel a l'autre" Anthologie de haiku de l'Union Europeenne, (Edition de l'Association francaise de haiku 2006); Seven By Twenty twitter-length fiction and poetry magazine (2011)

Oxford Street

the sweet chestnut vendor’s

blackened fingers

Publications credits: Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar 2011

Award credit: Runner up, Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar 2010

vigilante movie

my elbow

heavy on your knee

Publications credits: Symmetry Pebbles (2011); The Humours of Haiku (Iron Press 2012 ISBN 978-0-956572-54-7); Does Fish-God Know (Yet To Be Named Press 2012 ISBN-10: 1479211044)

open window

the cat dozes

half in half out

Publications credits: Presence 3  (1996); Woodpecker, Extra Shuttle Issue  (Holland 1997); Iron Book of British Haiku, (Iron Press 1998, Third print 2000  ISBN-10: 0906228670 / ISBN-13: 978-0906228678); tinywords.com (USA 2001); The Haiku Calendar 2002 (Snapshot Press); Raku Teapot: Haiku Book/CD (USA Raku Teapot Press/White Owl Publishing 2003)

Award credits:

Runner-up, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2001 (Snapshot Press)

late deadline

keeping owl hours

with the mice

Publications credits: haijinx volume IV, issue 1 (USA 2011)

snowing

through the blizzard

particles of me

Publications credits: 

The Haiku Calendar 2012 (Snapshot Press); The Humours of Haiku (Iron Press 2012 ISBN 978-0-956572-54-7 )

Award credits:

Winner, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2011 (Snapshot Press)

netsuke...
the hare with amber eyes
jumps back in again

Publications credits: Mainichi Shimbun (Japan 2011)

Award Credits: Honourable Mention, Best of Mainichi 2011 (Japan)

bouncing rain
I force the hotel window
a little wider

Publications credits:

Blithe Spirit (British Haiku Society Journal 2012); Does Fish-God Know (Yet To Be Named Press 2012 ISBN-10: 1479211044)

fading stars
a hedgehog haphazards
its way back home

Publications credits: The Heron’s Nest (USA 2012)

thunder snow
the wind-shifting scent
of fox

Publications credits: Fox Dreams (USA 2012 ed. Aubrie Cox)

dandelion wind

mending bridges

in the mist

Publications credits:  Blithe Spirit (British Haiku Society Journal Vol 22 No. 3 2012); Does Fish-God Know (Yet To Be Named Press 2012 ISBN-10: 1479211044)

dandelion wind haiku by Alan Summers translated into Farsi:

باد پر قاصدک
مرمت کردن پل
در غبار

 

bade por ghasdak

maremat kardan pol 

dar ghobar

Farsi translation by Reza Aerabi

rain on the river–

when does white become

its darkest colour

Publications credits: Haiku News (online newspaper written in the Japanese poetic form of haiku: the personal is the political is the poetical 2012)

sleep disorder

the gas station lights

keep me company

Publications credits: Blithe Spirit (British Haiku Society Journal 2012)

toy suns

the winter-dark rain

smashes the city

Publications credits: Blithe Spirit (British Haiku Society Journal 2012); Does Fish-God Know (Yet To Be Named Press 2012 ISBN-10: 1479211044)

green clouds
the scarecrow worries
a loose thread

Publication Credits: Asahi Shimbun (Japan 2012)

drifting rain 

my hundred autumn rooms 

to be alone

Publication Credits: Mainichi Shimbun (Japan 2012)

cloud mountain
she screams her daughter's name
into the month of march

Publication Credits: British Haiku Society Member’s Anthology, Air (2012)

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Alan Summers will be giving a TEDx talk with haiku as its subject

'CRAFTING THE UNEXPECTED' 
TEDxBradfordonAvon is an independently organised event. The aim is to bring together speakers from fields as diverse as engineering and haiku poetry to act as catalysts  for participants to explore creativity in its widest sense. The theme is 'Crafting the Unexpected'.

Speakers and participants come from a wide range of disciplines including engineering, sculpture, contemporary art, advertising, film direction, haiku poetry, screenplay writing, music and education.  

TED stands for: 
Technology, Entertainment, Design. 

TED itself, is an annual event where some of the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to share what they are most passionate about.  Speakers have included Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Frank Gehry, Paul Simon, Sir Richard Branson, Philippe Starck and Bono. 

All TED talks are uploaded onto the Internet. This is a key factor in spreading and sharing ideas. Please visit www.ted.com

The TEDx weblink:
http://www.tedxbradfordonavon.com/


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Does Fish-God Know haiku collection by Alan Summers

Special Price offer on Amazon!


Does Fish-God Know [Paperback]

Alan Summers (Author)

Publisher: Yet To Be Named Free Press (October 15, 2012)
158 Pages
ISBN-10: 1479211044
ISBN-13: 978-1479211043

Amazon.co.uk review extracts:

This tantalizing collection, from leading light of haiku Alan Summers, is stuffed full of unique and evocative gems. Straddling the heady border between reality and surreality are pieces such as "Toy Suns" and "Ghost Knifefish", while "Curse Her" and "Cherry Moon" throw the battle of the sexes into abrupt relief.  A must-have book for any haiku fan.

Reviewer:
Chicago-born musician, and novelist, Tracey Kelly composes music for film and media.

Susan Beth Furst:

October 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

Does Fish-God Know is a beautiful book...and then the haiku poems. One per page, white space, nothing to clutter the mind. Just the words, carefully chosen, Alan's words, his story, or ours...Alan's keen observations are expressed through rich imagery...

Ordinary moments become extraordinary, and no one does it better... The words draw you in, but you don't quite understand what they mean. These mystery haiku are some of the most enjoyable because they invite the reader to solve the mystery in her own way. 

Jacob Salzer:
Does Fish-God Know is a remarkable collection. I highly recommend this book for all readers and writers of poetry, haiku, and related literature.

Steven Rich
Alan Summers is this century's Basho. Highly recommended.

J. Grisetti
One of the first books I have read in the modern haiku style, having isolated myself for years. Alan has introduced both the one and two line haiku and I intend to imitate him in a sincere flattery.

Edwin Lomere
In addition to being a wonderful collection of Mr. Summers' unique haiku, this book serves as a study in how to write in the genre. The scope of moods and insights is brilliant. The use and command of the poetic line is remarkable. 

Paul David Mena
Thank you for writing such a vital work.
http://area17.blogspot.com/2013/02/new-book-review-of-does-fish-god-know.html

Available at Amazon USA; UK; and Europe:

USA: 
http://www.amazon.com/Does-Fish-God-Know-Alan-Summers/dp/1479211044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359118146&sr=8-1&keywords=does+fish-god+know

U.K.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Does-Fish-God-Know-Alan-Summers/dp/1479211044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359120118&sr=8-1

Canada:
http://www.amazon.ca/Does-Fish-God-Know-Alan-Summers/dp/1479211044/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400336849&sr=1-1&keywords=Does+Fish-God+Know

Germany:
http://www.amazon.de/Does-Fish-God-Know-Alan-Summers/dp/1479211044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359120302&sr=8-1

Spain:
http://www.amazon.es/Does-Fish-God-Know-Alan-Summers/dp/1479211044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359120433&sr=8-1

Italy:
http://www.amazon.it/Does-Fish-God-Know-Alan-Summers/dp/1479211044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359120478&sr=8-1

France:
http://www.amazon.fr/Does-Fish-God-Know-Alan-Summers/dp/1479211044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359120510&sr=8-1

 

This book is dedicated to Karen, my wife, muse, and keeper of my heart.

My many thanks also to the good people of haiku, Colin Blundell, Editor of Blithe Spirit, the journal of the British Haiku Society, who published my Does Fish-God Know title poem, which also won the ekphrastic haiku award for that issue, and to my translator Hidenori Hiruta (Akita, Japan) for breathing warmth and fire into his fine translations of my work; and to Emily Dickinson, and The Emperor Of Ice-Cream, Wallace Stevens.

[T]his book contains some of the strongest haiku written by Alan Summers, carefully chosen for their cerebral attack, backbone, humour and adaptive modelling. If you're familiar with Alan's work you'll be pleasantly surprised. 

If you're not familiar with his work then you'll be rushing out to buy other titles by him.

Alan Summers is one of Britain's top haiku writers.

Brendan Slater, 2012

Ah, out of the old pond and into the city!

Does the Fish-God know? And if, what is it he knows? He knows of life with its hard sides and gloomy shades as it is for the many people really subjected to reality. He knows that life is not all flowers and wonderful sunsets. He knows of sides never – or rarely - shown in what at present is (mis)named as "modern haiku".

But he's a god with compassion. Even through rough sceneries The Emperor of Ice-Cream strolls. These haiku have been sorely missed. 

These are NEW haiku as they live and breathe on the back of tradition but are present in the world of the 21st century. 

Alan Summers makes use of the Western mind  and a Japanese tradition to show that haiku has a place in the modern world, and will still have one if we are ready to keep our minds open to every experience and influence that befalls a human.

A manifestation of gendai haiku that shows it's not a dream ...

Johannes S. H. Bjerg

International writer and artist writing in Danish & English. 

Managing Editor, Bones Journal

Author of  "Penguins/Pingviner" 2011

Modern western haiku written by a Japan Times award winning author. Poems that will bend your mind and tempt you to re-evaluate your sense of reality. A must for lovers of experimental short-verse poetry.

Brendan Slater, YTBN Free Press

The book contains a wide range of experimental haiku, regular haiku, plus short verse, as well as one line haiku.

Does Fish-God Know [Paperback]
ISBN-10: 1479211044
ISBN-13: 978-1479211043

Pub. Yet To Be Named Free Press

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A Blackbird Sings: a book of short poems

A Blackbird Sings: a book of short poems
Kaspalita Thompson (Editor), Fiona Robyn (Editor)

KINDLE version Amazon U.K.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blackbird-Sings-short-poems-ebook/dp/B009NTE7JY

Paperback Amazon U.K.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blackbird-Sings-Anthology-Small-Stones/dp/0957158424

Amazon USA:
http://www.amazon.com/Blackbird-Sings-book-short-poems/dp/0957158424

Amazon USA Kindle version:
http://www.amazon.com/Blackbird-Sings-short-poems-ebook/dp/B009NTE7JY



I’m pleased to say that two of my 1-line haiku are published in this delightful book of short verse.


sick train the night heron shifts silt for all of us

 
Old Man’s Beard a cyclist wobbles the length of it


Publications credits for both haiku: 
a handful of stones (2nd March 2011) ; A Blackbird Sings, a small stone anthology ISBN 978-0-9571584-2-9 ed.  Fiona Robyn & Kaspalita Thompson (Woodsmoke Press 2012)




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Dates: Jan. 7 - Feb. 1, 2013 Haiku and Tanka: Amazement & Intensity: online 2013 haiku and tanka workshop led by Alan Summers for Rooster Moans. The Rooster Moans Poetry Cooperative provides MFA-caliber online poetry workshops.

Update:
Celebrate with 10% Off
From The Rooster Moans Poetry Cooperative

Ring in the new year with three January workshops including Haiku and Tanka: Amazement and Intensity http://poetrycoop.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bb3dc7ead7e8fcce474c593af&id=5f9b54870f&e=b00ac07dec  (now $202.50)


All workshops begin January 7 and last four weeks plus they're archived for an additional four-week period, so you can continue your conversations!

Haiku and Tanka: Amazement & Intensity

FFI weblink  

http://www.poetrycoop.com/poetry-workshops/haiku-and-tanka-amazement-intensity

Dates: Jan. 7 - Feb. 1, 2013

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To Register

Class size: 12
Dates: Jan. 7 - Feb. 1, 2013
Price: $225
Registration is easy. We use Paypal, a service that allows you to pay securely with your credit card or bank account. After registering, you'll receive an email with additional information on your workshop. Thank you!

FFI: http://www.poetrycoop.com/poetry-workshops/haiku-and-tanka-amazement-intensity
Teaching Artists: http://www.poetrycoop.com/poetry-workshops/teaching-artists

A few more details

The Rooster Moans' online poetry workshops last four weeks. While targeted to adults and those with intermediate-toadvanced experience, the cooperative welcomes beginners and writers from other genres, too.

There are four written lessons, each accompanied by one or more discussion questions and writing prompts. Lessons typically include background/history on the workshop's theme, downloadable handouts, links to relevant poems online, suggested reading, related imagery, videos, etc.

Tutors (Teaching artists) attempt to finish all critiques within the week each lesson is posted, whenever possible, and/or all critiques within the month the workshop is active.

Workshops are archived for one month after the workshop ends, during which time students can continue to post and comment. During this period, the teaching artist’s participation is at their discretion.

Teaching artists give every student quality feedback, and lessons typically run between 1000-3000 words, with quality, research, and organization more important than quantity.

Lessons are revealed on four consecutive Sundays, by 12 PM EST, by the artistic director to the students in the workshop, and announced with an eblast.

The tutor suggests possible publication venues for student’s poems, whenever possible.

Students will also peer-critique each other's work (at least three critiques per week are required).

This is very useful as it expands your skills at critiquing both other students’ work and lets you see your own work with fresh eyes.  We will also encourage each and every student to pursue their own unique voice in poetry.

Further Information 
How do online poetry workshops work?

Our poetry workshops last four weeks and take place online in a password-protected space (“The Coop”). Because the weekly lessons are posted on the web, they make use of rich media— imagery, audio and video clips—as well as providing history on the workshop's theme, suggested reading, and questions for discussion. Students post a poem each week in response to the lesson, which is typically accompanied by several writing prompts for those seeking inspiration. Time is fluid in an online workshop; some weeks, you may be inspired to write and post immediately. Other weeks, depending on what is happening in your off-line life, you may not be able to post until the following week or even the one after that.. Our workshops are archived for a full month after the workshop ends, so you can continue to post and comment on each other's poems during that time. Our teaching artists offer detailed critiques on each of your poems, and offer suggestions, when a poem is ready, for potential publication venues. In the spirit of the cooperative, students peer-critique each other's work, too. It's fun—maybe even a little habit-forming—we promise.

Asynchronous learning is a format that uses online resources to facilitate a global network of information-sharing, as well as emphasizing the importance of peer-to-peer feedback. Behind our tagline: workshops that work is not only the belief that our workshops are effective, but that the rewards obtained from any endeavor are in direct proportion to the efforts put in. Asynchronous learning also fosters cross-cultural communication and has a positive effect on the environment by reducing the carbon footprint of its students and teachers. Most importantly, it allows for 24-7 access to our virtual classroom from anywhere there’s an internet connection and a device to receive it.

http://www.poetrycoop.com/faq

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QUOTES FROM MY VARIOUS HAIKU COURSES
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Hi Alan - thanks so much for this....I learned a lot... I really had no idea there was so much to this art, and I'm completely fascinated. Your comments are extremely perceptive.

MK

As you probably know by now, I use every corner of my life as a way of reflection of my psychological personal development - haiku in itself is great for this, but working with you has just elevated the experience a 100 fold.

Your support over the last couple of years or so have just been such an amazing gift to me - bless you.

I am well aware of the fact that I wouldn't be having such an amazing journey with my haiku if wasn't for you.

FT

…this whole exercise has shown me … trying to distil very personal moments and memories into a few lines is something I have never attempted before, in fact never thought of before - and for that I thank you.

ASH


I have just finished reading your final feedback report on our course. Throughout, your knowledge and love of the subject has been very vividly communicated and I am grateful to you for the way you have generously shared it with us and for the guidance you’ve given.

PW

I can see that they are a way of thinking that is different to our western mind - and am eager to continue.

PC

Thanks very much for all your work. Am starting to get a feel for haiku.

RS

Teaching artist Alan Summers is a Japan Times award-winning writer with a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. He has studied and written haiku and other Japanese form poetry for twenty years.

Alan has won awards, been published internationally and translated into 15 languages, and helped his American team win Japan Times Best Renga of 2002.

He’s a co-editor of five haiku anthologies: Parade of Life: Poems inspired by Japanese Prints; The Poetic Image - Haiku and Photography; Fifty-Seven Damn Good Haiku, Press Here; Four Virtual Haiku Poets; and c.2.2. Themes of Loss of Identity and/or Name. He has been General Secretary of the British Haiku Society and a Foundation Member of the Australian Haiku Society.

Alan is currently editor with gendai haiku magazine Bones, and is working on The Kigo Lab, a project to use the potential of Western haiku seasons for eco-critical writing.

He has had a haiku pamphlet collection published called The In-Between Season (2012), and a gendai haiku collection called Does Fish-God Know:

U.K. plus review: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Does-Fish-God-Know-Alan-Summers/dp/1479211044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357385313&sr=8-1

U.S.A.  http://www.amazon.com/Does-Fish-God-Know-Alan-Summers/dp/1479211044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357385427&sr=8-1&keywords=does+fish-god+know