My Journal with Haiku Sprinkled in

by David G. Lanoue

Published on the 200th anniversary of Kobayashi Issa’s Oraga haru (“My Spring”), this haiku-peppered writer’s sketchbook is a loving homage to the Japanese master. Lanoue covers four seasons of his own life (Spring 2015, Summer 2016, Autumn 2017, and Winter 2018-19) while drawing parallels, both serious and playful, between his own experiences and those of his great mentor two centuries earlier. Like Issa’s poetic journal of 1819, Lanoue’s journal of 2015-19 addresses life’s mundane particulars as well as its deepest purpose—with off-the-cuff reflections on poetry, desire, aging, travel, politics, work, dreams, love, art, childhood, higher education, and Buddhism thrown in.

235 pages, Paperback

Published April 8, 2019

Reviews

[Charles]

An honest and delightful portrayal of four "seasons" in the life of an English professor, writer, and poet. While you enjoy reading Lanoue's insights on life, you also learn a lot about haiku and renku (Japanese linked verse), as well as about Issa, who is perhaps the most famous haiku poet in history and who Lanoue has made a special study of for the last several decades. Very enjoyable.