Read any good haiku collections or books about haiku that you'd like to recommend? Post them below!

I have nothing in particular to recommend at the moment, though I must say both Catku and Dogku look interesting. :)

Basho's - "Narrow Road to the Interior" trans. by Sam Hamill.

And there is a hard to find translation of Issa into English by Dr. Cliff Edwards (who has written some great books on van Gogh and talks about his connection to Japanese arts) called "Everything Under Heaven." The best translation of Issa I've read. Much more tender than Hamill's in "Spring of My Life"

Also, Richard Wright's book of Haiku is really something. On some versions there is a short review by Gwendolyn Brooks. It reads, "A strong clutch of flowers." This sentence is the best book review I've ever read.

ooh! Thanks for the recommendations, Walter!

I really liked the two Issa haikus that you posted in the other thread. I'll have to see if I can find Everything Under Heaven.

I'll be sure to add all of these books to the group shelf if they aren't already there.

I'm glad you like them. I'm pretty sure that book is my favorite Haiku. If you can, i certainly suggested you grab it quickly. It has a great intro and outro tying issa with Albert Schweitzer's idea of "Reverence for life"
You might even be able to contact Dr. Edwards, he teaches at VCU (www.vcu.edu) in the Religious Studies department.

Well, I just checked Amazon and they had a couple of copies for under $3 used, so I went ahead and picked one up. signed even. :) Can't wait to read it. Thanks again.

Hey, I'm glad you found it. I could use another copy myself. Mine is missing a few pages. It stops on this sentence "They thought they heard music coming from..." Where? I don't know! haha. It's been bugging me for awhile.
after you read it will you Let us know what you think of it?

certainly. It just came in the mail yesterday and I'm about a third into it and quite enjoying it. :) It has a lot of biographical information on Issa, which I'm finding fascinating. I also really love the illustrations - they fit perfectly.

I'm glad you are enjoying it, I would hate to recommend a book you didn't like :) I imagine you must be done reading it by now, as it isn't a very big book (which is one of its many virtues.) Care to comment further?

I should be done, yes, but sadly I'm not yet. Cranky baby interrupts reading flow. But sure, I will comment more once I finish.

Here are my recommendations for those interested in studying and learning how to write haiku:

Mountain Tasting by Santoka Taneda (one of my favorite haiku poets)

Peonies Kana by Upasaka Shiki (One of the four great Japanese haiku poets. The other three are Basho, Buson and Issa.

Japanese Death Poems edited by Yoel Hoffmann (Japanese poets have a tradition of writing their death haiku)

Haiku Anthology edited by Cor Van Den Heuvel (Still the best anthology of American haiku)

An Introduction to Haiku by Harold Gould Henderson (Great introduction, history and examples)

The Haiku Handbook by William J. Higginson

You can see other haiku books under the poetry section of my profile.

Hope these help.

Red Moon Press publishes a couple of anthologies each year that highlight some of the best in English language haiku - The Red Moon Anthology of English Language Haiku and A New Resonance:Emerging Voices in English Language Haiku. I like Jane Reichold's, Writing and Enjoying Haiku:A Hands on Guide

Hi all. On Love and Barley Haiku of Basho and Like the Singing Coming Off the Drums are the 2 books helped me understand and write haiku. I will also check out the books you al listed here. Thank you all for sharing :D.