Book review: Missed Appointment, by Gary Hotham

Missed Appointment is a short collection of haiku by one of the masters of English-language haiku, Gary Hotham.  Published in 2007, the book features 15 of Hotham's poems in a pocket-sized chapbook format.

   over the parade---

   a window no one

   looks out of

In addition to the poems, the book also contains an introduction from the poet -- "The Amazing in Haiku."  It is a short, interesting essay about the attitudes of poets, including a quote from former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins about haiku.

The haiku and senryu are printed one to a page, in bold black type that serves to further emphasize the white space surrounding the poems in the minimalist haiku fashion.  The book has a cardstock cover featuring the art of Ogato Korin, "Detail of a Japanese Screen."

   farewell party---

   the sweetness of the cake

   hard to swallow

Hotham's haiku are varied in both subject and form, but his distinctly American style shows through in all of them.  Although this book only contains a small sampling of his work, it is obvious Hotham is very comfortable writing haiku, and he's not afraid to stretch its boundaries.

   the shortcut

   the schoolchildren take---

   a new layer of leaves matted into the old

Missed Appointment received an Honorable Mention in the Haiku Society of America's 2008 Mildred Kanterman Memorial Merit Book Awards.  Hotham is no stranger to this award -- his full-length collection of haiku, Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark (published by Canon Press) took first place in the competition in 2000.

Many of the poems from Missed Appointment have been previously published in various highly-esteemed haiku journals, some of which include The Heron's Nest, Frogpond, Presence, and Modern Haiku.  A few of the poems from this book were also selected for inclusion in The Haiku Anthology, a large paperback collection of poems representing the best in English-language haiku.

Missed Appointment is a 20-page chapbook, published by and available from Modest Proposal Chapbooks.  The book, #17 in the Modest Proposal Chapbook series, sells for a mere $3.00 (which includes shipping).  Any Hotham fan (or haiku fan in general) will find this book to be a welcome addition to their collection.

In addition to Missed Appointment, Hotham has published a number of chapbooks and mini-chapbooks, including Off and On Rain (from High/Coo, now known as Brooks Books) and Before All the Leaves are Gone and As Far as the Light Goes, both of which were published by Juniper Press.

Modest Proposal Chapbooks is run by Don Wentworth, editor of the small press journal Lilliput Review.  Both the chapbook series and the journal often feature haiku, senryu, and tanka.  Before Missed Appointment, Modest Proposal also published another collection of Hotham's haiku, titled Footprints and Fingerprints (#4 in the series).

(Originally published on Helium.com, July 2009)

Book review: Breath Marks, by Gary Hotham

Breath Marks is a full-length collection of haiku from veteran poet Gary Hotham.  The book is tiny, small enough to fit in your pocket, and contains 81 haiku (82 including the title poem, printed on the back cover).

Hotham's introduction is titled "Why Poetry?" and focuses on the importance of words and poetry.  He illustrates an important facet of poetry (and more specifically, haiku) when he says, "...it's how the words are combined that's most important for the power and deep effect of the poem upon the reader."

It's obvious from Hotham's haiku that he takes great care in crafting his poems with regard to word choice and placement.  For example:

   outside the door

   daylight

   waits

This poem could have been worded many different ways, but Hotham chose those specific words and conveyed the haiku moment with a brevity that many experienced poets lack.  Hotham's control of language and format should not be surprising -- as well as a respected haiku poet, he is also assistant editor for the haiku journal Wisteria.

Breath Marks is nicely printed, with the haiku each given their own page.  There is even a table of contents, listing the poems by first line.  There are no sections or breaks -- just a hundred or so pages of good haiku.

   fog.

   sitting here

   without the mountains

The book ends with another short essay by the author, titled "Why Haiku?"  In these couple pages, Hotham discusses haiku in general, including the constricting form used by many beginners of three lines of five, seven, and five syllables each.  Hotham says that "in most cases three lines does it" for him -- indeed, almost all of the poems in this book are three lines, though there are a handful of one-, two-, and four-line haiku.

   my wife still asleep--

   snow piles up

   on the steps

Breath Marks was published by Canon Press in 1999, and it won first place in the Haiku Society of America's Merit Book Awards in 2000.  The book is available online from AbeBooks, Amazon, ThriftBooks, or directly from Canon Press (used to be $4; now $8).  Also on the publisher's website is a sampling of some of the poems from the collection.

For more information and analysis about Hotham and his haiku, read Vicki Ballentine's in-depth essay from 2004.  The article briefly discusses Breath Marks, and it also compares some of Hotham's haiku to those of other poets.

   soft rain

   a bubble

   on the water

   goes out

(Originally posted on Helium.com, June 2009)

Disclaimer: I earn a commission on Amazon sales made from links in this post.

Cheap haiku books

After Christmas is the best time to buy a lot of things. If you're looking for some inexpensive haiku, check out these offers:

- Breath Marks by Gary Hotham, $4 online from Barnes & Noble ($8 list price)

- The Haiku Handbook, 25th Anniversary Edition, by William J. Higginson & Penny Harter, $12.24 from Amazon ($18 list price)

- The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, & Issa, translated by Robert Hass, $11.55 from Amazon ($16.99 list price)

- The Sound of Water: Haiku by Basho, Buson, Issa, and Other Poets, translated by Sam Hamill, $8.69 from Amazon ($10.95 list price)

I have all of these books except for the last one, and (unfortunately) I paid much more than they're selling for now. I can definitely recommend each of the first three -- Breath Marks is a great collection of haiku from an American master, The Haiku Handbook is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the form (either appreciating it or writing it), and Essential Haiku includes a large selection of well-translated poems from the Japanese masters. The Sound of Water looks like a good collection as well (I like Sam Hamill's translations that I've read in another collection) and I'll probably have to get that one.

The Haiku Foundation

There is now an official Haiku Foundation, with an impressive website including Charles Trumbull's extensive Haiku Bibliography. Here's the press release from Jim Kacian:

Dear Friends:

The Haiku Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to archive the accomplishments of the first century of haiku in English and to create greater opportunities for its second, was chartered in the state of Virginia, USA, on 6 January 2009. It is a volunteer organization primarily designed to create and implement projects centered around haiku. Most haiku organizations have privileged the poet and her needs: education, publication, socialization. The Haiku Foundation instead seeks to foster the growth of haiku itself. This is where poets come when they want to give back.

We are pleased to announce the public unveiling of our website. We hope you will visit it often and with pleasure. Please tell us how it serves you, and how it might serve you in the future. And most of all, we welcome your participation. Please join us to help us realize our goals.

Jim Kacian
The Haiku Foundation

If you're looking for an interesting article to read, check out Mary Gamble's 2001 essay comparing and contrasting the haiku of Issa and Gary Hotham.

Gary Hotham on sale

Gary Hotham, one of the Western world's most notable haiku poets, has a book of haiku titled Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark. This collection usually retails for $8.00 (which is what I bought it for), but as David Giacalone pointed out, Audubon Press has it available for a measly $3.75.

Some of Gary Hotham's other haiku collections include Missed Appointment (which won an honorable mention in a recent Haiku Society of America contest) and Footprints and Fingerprints, both of which are available from Modest Proposal Chapbooks.

I've read all three collections and can strongly recommend them to any haiku fan.