| In 2001, frustrated with trying to apply Japanese kigo to this hemisphere and continent I began researching potential Australian kigo/season words. I reviewed haiku written by Australians and invited suggestions. I was surprised to find only a handful of seasonal designators valid for all of Australia; most of these were events in human affairs such as Australia Day, Anzac Day, Melbourne Cup. I abandoned the project in favour of finding seasonal indicators for the region in which I live. |
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I have been writing haiku in
this region
since 1997. For three years my mother and I held weekly ginko in the region's
Brunswick Valley.
In 2005 our regional haiku group cloudcatchers was formed. It's object was not specifically to identify and use regional season words but, being based on seasonal ginko, it was instructive in this regard. this region: its season words and sample haiku Certain conclusions were unavoidable:
Regional season indicators are available but poets are not
interested in writing only for those readers who might understand them —
they seek the national and world stages. They write about the nature
they experience there and then; if that conveys the season then fine;
if not and they still want to indicate it they will probably
use the season name ("Spring" etc). Most poets do not know enough about
Japanese kigo to worry about season-conflicts. Regional season
indicators are of no practical value to Australian haiku poets.
As a result of these experiences and further study, I revised my whole approach to kigo and seasonal references in Australia. This lead to the launch in 2006 of the Haiku Dreaming Australia project. |
Haiku Dreaming
Australia arose from my study and unsuccessful attempts to use
Australian and regional kigo/seasonal references, as outlined here.
My continued learning can be followed on the Dreaming site pages:
The Australian Haiku Society (AHS) endorses the Dreaming project but not necessarily the opinions expressed in it. It remains my private project. However it does dovetail with my work for AHS on defining haiku and related terms. |
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