Journey to the Interior: American Versions of Haibun FROM THE PUBLISHER
Haibun is a beautiful Japanese form of autobiographical poetic prose accompanied by verse, usually haiku. Here, Bruce Ross invites us on a journey of self-discovery with over twenty-five North American contributors who use this form to explore such issues as the self, the emotional nature of love, and dwelling in a particular place as well as the revelation of unknown places.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Ross, a former president of the Haiku Society of America and editor of Haiku Moment (Tuttle, 1993), has collected American Haibun, a Japanese form of autobiographical journal writing that combines the language of prose with the short gestures of poetry. After the well-written and comprehensive introduction--a full third of the volume wherein Ross cites Basho, Emerson, Thoreau, Kerouac, Rexroth, and Snyder--the book literally veers from a burdened sense of self and the cosmic (e.g., "between space/ and time.../ infinity arises") to an accomplished conservative American transcendentalism (e.g., "the fire smokes/ as I sleep/ the wolf exhales"). Though the revelations are scarce--only rarely does the writing reach the level of the likes of Heather Allen's award-winning Leaving a Shadow (Copper Canyon, 1996)--this is the first collection of its kind and will appeal to teachers and anyone interested in nature and travel writing or creative nonfiction.--Scott Hightower, NYU/Gallatin, New York
Booknews
The first anthology specifically devoted to original haibun written in English. Collects the work of approximately 25 contemporary North American authors of haibun who explore, in styles ranging from humorous to solemn, such themes as the self, the emotional nature of love, and the sense of dwelling in places both familiar and unknown. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
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