A Haikai Community

Good Friends:

I work at a small book and tea store called Many Rivers Books and Tea. The store hosts weekly events and readings. Last Friday the store hosted two poets, Pat Nolan and Keith Abbot, who have been practicing Haikai Renga, or Renku (they used both terms) for about 30 years. Since I have previously posted on the benefits of solo renga, I thought I'd post here my impressions of this more traditional group approach.

The group consists of four or five poets (I was a little confused about the number; one person might have been referred to by more than one nickname). The group has been doing the 36 verse Kasen style of Renga, in the spirit of Basho, for about a decade. I was excited that an actual community devoted to Renga had evolved and lasted. I found it inspiring.

They refer to themselves as the "Miner School of Haikai", after the scholar Earl Miner and his scholarly presentation of Haikai, "Japanese Linked Verse", which is their source and authority for most matters. That is to say, when there is some kind of disagreement about form, they defer to Miner's work. I think this might be a reason the group has lasted so long; because they have an authority to defer to who is not an actual member of their group. I suspect this reduces possible interpersonal disagreements. Miner died a few years ago, but before he died they were in written communication with him and would ask him questions about points that arose as their practice of Haikai proceeded. They laughingly said that Miner at times admired, and at times deplored, their efforts.

They also spoke of how the different personalities of the members are reflected in their links. One member writes in a very "plain" style; meaning, I think, that this member will write about very ordinary things. Another member loves to throw in something very eccentric and enjoys pushing the edge. It seemed to me that the four of them have a very good balance from the way it was described so that the flow of the Haikai is consistently refreshed by these different personalities.

One aspect they mentioned was that over time they have become more true to traditional syllabics; that is to say the verses are more and more alternating 14 and 17 syllable stanzas. This wasn't a conscious decision on their part, it naturally evolved over the years. They mentioned how it has become easier to write in this manner.

In some ways the group is experimental. For example, they accept any kind of flower, not just flowering trees, for the traditional placement of the flower verse. I'm aware of others who have adopted this interpretation in the west. On the other hand, they stick closely to the moon placements and they include the love stanzas as well. Under Miner's influence, they also repeat each stanza and in the repetition they allow themselves to shift a pronoun in order to facilitate a link to the following verse. This is something Miner did in his translations of Haikai, but it hasn't been followed by subsequent scholars. Personally, I prefer the steady flow of not repeating the verses. The group is aware that in Japan the verses are not repeated, but they find that this approach works for them and it is one of the reasons they refer to themselves as the Miner School of Haikai.

It was a pleasure to hear about, and to meet some of those involved in, an ongoing group devoted to Haikai. My hope is that such groups can blossom elsewhere in the future.

Best wishes,

Jim