by Neal Whitman

Created on: September 05, 2009

"William Higginson: Western World's Basho"

William Higginson's The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku is the best book on the writing of haiku for Westerners. Right off the bat, a key question: can the writing of haiku, or for that matter, any kind of poetry, be taught? Well, let me back up. In grade school, my teacher conducted poetry unit in which we children were shown how to write 3 lines of 5-7-5 syllables and told, "See, you can write haiku!" But, as adults, after reading Japanese haiku in translation, I found out that there is more to it and Higginson shows the way. "The Way" let's stop right here and take a breath. In Higginson's Handbook, we learn that haiku is not like other poetry that we make up out of imagination, but rather is form that allows us to live life in the moment and share it with others. It is not just a form of poetry, it is a way to live. Haiku, as he explains, we write it to discover ourselves.

Let's take another breath. Can it be taught? Can a book teach you how to write haiku? On the "poetry campaign trail" (not running for office, but reciting poetry in public readings) I have declared firmly and strongly: there are only two ways to learn how to write poetry READ. WRITE. But, there is always a YES, BUT isn't there? After all, the great haiku master, Basho, said to learn the rules and then break them. So, I get to break my own rule. Yes, if you want to write haiku, read and write it. But, also read this book. Higginson uses the haiku virtue of concision to convey an overview of Eastern and Western haiku in Part One, including an terrific summary of contributions of Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki. For the aspirant to putting pen-on-paper haikuist (or today, fingers-to-laptop), Part Two on the nature of haiku and its art & craft, this is worth the book's purchase price. Read it. And, read it again.

Part Three on Teaching Haiku is focused on children and I am sorry to say that his "Haiku for Kids" and his wife Penny Harter's "A Lesson Plan That Works" are as lame as my elementary teacher's instructions intoned long, long ago. But, we are back on track in Part Four where he connects the past to the present. This is essential to figure out where we are going.

When Mr. Higginson died in 2008, we lost a physical presence of great importance. Readers recognize Basho's Ur Haiku:

old pond

a frog leaps in

water's sound

Many in the Haiku World played off it, such as this one by Ed Baker on the Blogging Along Tobacco Road tribute:

old frog

leaps into

s i l e n c e

But, you know what? So long as we read the poet, he or she lives. Read Bill's haiku and read his handbook.

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