Haiku Pix Review, miscellaneous stuff

Haiku Pix Review is a quarterly magazine that pays 1 contributor's copy.  They only accept unpublished poems not being submitted anywhere else.  The website still shows their publication schedule from 2011, but 2012's is probably similar.  If your work is too late for one issue, it will most likely be considered for the next.

Eric L. Houck, Jr. has a haiku blog with poems, links, and quotes.  It doesn't appear to be updated very often (not like I have any room to talk) but there are some good haiku to be found there, including this one.

The late, great William J. Higginson had an article at Haijinx.org in 2001 about Basho and his use of humor in haiku and other forms.  If you haven't read it, you should check it out.

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.

New Shantytown, Higginson tribute

The new issue of The Shantytown Anomaly is out now and available for purchase. Click on the link for a list of contributors, or to buy your copy.

The Australian Haiku Society has set up a tribute page for William Higginson. You can email them your haiku in memory of Bill, and once all the poems are gathered, they will be sent to his family. All poems must be submitted by October 27th. (Thanks to Deborah P. Kolodji for the link.)

William Higginson

William J. Higginson, one of the giants of the haiku world, has passed away. Enough can not be said about this man, but let it be said by better writers than me:

- Don Wentworth
- Curtis Dunlap
- David Giacalone
- Deborah P. Kolodji

a yellow paper
zig-zags to the floor
bare trees

- William J. Higginson, The Haiku Handbook