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CONTEMPORARY HAIKU:
the renaissance and the transformation.
Literary criticism (2008) by Adam Donaldson Powell (based upon “Right Eye in Twilight”, published by Wasteland Press, USA, 2006, ISBN13: 978-1-60047-016-5 and ISBN10: 1-60047-016-5, 62 pages, paperback, US$12; and “Earth Pilgrimage” (Pellegrinaggio terrestre), published by Albalibri Editore, Italy, 2007, ISBN 88-89618-52-3 and ISBN 978-88-89618-52-3, 146 pages, paperback, €10).
As I sit before the screen of my laptop computer, the fat of my palms resting on the flat area of the keyboard and my fingers poised to attack – I close my eyes and begin to breathe rhythmically, as a concert pianist. I feel both certain of the notes that are about to flow through the tentacles of my body-mind-spirit machine, but immediately become encapsulated by the poetry of my own breathing. And in the cello-like dark mellow tones, underscoring the inevitability of one breath following another, I am at one with the driving impulse behind the art of Ban’ya Natsuishi. That impulse, that drive has many names but is perhaps best described as “satori” (meaning a state of spiritual enlightenment ... but also quite simply ‘insight’).
The haiku of Natsuishi have many dimensions, and forms of expression. Perhaps the most common factors are the renaissance and transformation of duality, and the exposure of illusion caused by the folly of spiritual separation. Natsuishi has the uncanny talent of presenting perspectives from all angles – and yet, never contradictory in spite of individual or collective social experience. True insight, and effective artistic communication, is never exclusive or preaching ... but rather expanding and questioning. It is exemplified by the ability to combine perspectives of the ‘external looking inward’ and the ‘internal looking outward’, the left side of the brain in tandem with the right side, the virtuosity of a well-trained and natural violinist on an equal footing with the exquisitely understated harmonies of a monk choir.
And still, Natsuishi does not cheat us of a glimpse into his own humanity – in fact, in “Right Eye in Twilight” he takes us along on his own personal journey, which both literally and poetically describes a search for vision (‘insight’). Here, the author invites the reader to accompany him in his rapturous process – ascending toward a state of satori that had nevertheless always existed in each of us from the very first times we opened (and closed) our eyes. It is this nakedness that reveals the childishness in us all – the fear, the frustration, the wantonness, the infatuation with the process itself – and that creates sublime poetry, in balance with our adult, intellectual and rational expression.
From “Right Eye in Twilight”:
A black horse
slowly getting white
in the wood
and
New York –
the terror of dust
toying with sundown
and
Water is a white nebula
within me
blown by winds
and the very beautiful
On a morning swamp
I see
the Palace of Versailles
For me, the very essence of the ‘satori’ of Ban’ya Natsuishi is exemplified in the most delicate and sensitive haiku found in the collection entitled “Earth Pilgrimage” (Pellegrinaggio terrestre). Each of these multi-faceted diamonds express both intimacy with oneself, one’s surroundings and with Spirit – free from separation. And yet they do not seek to deny the harshness of living on Terra, but rather allow the reader to see the effects of turning the face of the diamond – just slightly enough to get lost in the momentary light capturing us, our blindness giving true vision for an instant. A few priceless examples follow:
Shoved off the stairs –
falling I become
a rainbow
and
From the reed marsh
New York appears
like an old UFO
and
A new moon –
the sublimity of the orchid
not yet achieved
and
An almond in bloom
leaning against
cactuses
and finally
Even in the clouds
a mute and a deaf person
arguing with each other
Contemporary haiku art simply does not get any better than as expressed in “Earth Pilgrimage”. It is both a renaissance and a transformation – of the essence, and the ever expanding and contracting nature of the haiku.
And my breathing continues in empathetic harmony, at one with the insight and vision of Ban’ya Natsuishi.
-- Adam Donaldson Powell, 2008
BAN'YA NATSUISHI (JAPAN) which is the pen name of Masayuki Inui, was born in Aioi City, Hyôgo Prefecture, Japan. He studied at Tokyo University where he received a Masters of Arts in Comparative Literature and Culture in 1981. In 1992 he was appointed Professor at Meiji University where he continues to teach. In 1993, he gave lectures at Jilin University in China, and was invited to a haiku meeting in Germany in 1994, and also in Italy in 1995. From 1996 to 1998, he was a guest research fellow at Paris 7th University. In 1998, and together with Sayumi Kamakura, he founded the international haiku quarterly "Ginyu", functioning as its publisher and editor-in-chief. In 2000, after attending the Global Haiku Festival in USA, he co-founded the World Haiku Association, based in Slovenia. He currently works as the association’s director. In 2001 Natsuishi attended the Vilenica Poetry Festival in Slovenia, in 2003 the Struga Poetry Evenings in Macedonia, and in the same year he worked as the Chairman of The Steering Committee for the 2nd World Haiku Association Conference, which was held in Japan. In 2004 he was invited to the poetry festival at Porto Santo in Portugal. In 2005 he attended the 3rd World Haiku Association Conference in Bulgaria, the 3rd Wellington International Poetry Festival, and presided over the international haiku session of Euro-Japan Poetry Festival in Tokyo. In 2006 he was invited to Poetry Spring in Vilnius, Lithuania and the Ohrid P.E.N. Conference in Macedonia. In 2007 he visited Inner Mongolia and promoted haiku writing there, and also in that year he held the 4th World Haiku Association Conference in Tokyo, functioning as its chairperson. In 2008 he will preside over the Tokyo Poetry Festival 2008 (functioning as the director of the festival).
Among his many awards can be mentioned:
in 1980 he was recommended as Poet of the Year by Haiku-hyôron
in 1981 he won First Prize in a competition sponsored by haiku monthly Haiku-kenkyû
in 1984 he was awarded the Shii-no-ki Prize
in 1991 he was awarded the Modern Haiku Association Prize
in 2002 he was the recipient of the Hekigodô Kawahigashi Prize of the 21st Century (Ehime Haiku Prize)
Main Japanese publications:
Poetics of Haiku, Seichi-sha, 1983.
Dictionary of Keywords for Contemporary Haiku, Rippu-shobô, 1990.
Poetic Spirit of Genius, Yûshorin, 1993.
Haiku: A Century’s Quest , Kôdansha, 1995 (edited).
Contemporary Haiku Manuel, Rippu-shobô, 1996.
Haiku Is Our Friend, Kyôiku-shuppan, 1997.
Haiku Troubadours 2000, Ginyu Press, 2000.
Collected Haiku Poems by Ban’ya Natsuishi: Crossing Borders, Chûseki-sha,2001.
Chibimaruko-chan’s Haiku Class Room, Shûei-sha, 2002.
A Guide to World Haiku, Chûseki-sha, 2003.
World Haiku 2005, Nishida-shoten, 2004.
World Haiku 2006, Shichigatsudo, 2005.
Right Eye in Twilight, Chûseki-sha, Japan, 2006.
World Haiku 2007, Shichigatsudo, 2007.
Renku: A través do ar/Through the Air/A travers l’air, Shichigatsudo, 2007 (co-authored with Casimiro de Brito).
Tenbo Gendai no Shiika vol. 10, Meiji Shoin, 2007 (co-authored).
World Haiku 2008, Shichigatsudo, 2008.
Overseas publications:
Haiku: antichi e moderni, Garzanti Editore, Italy, 1996 (co-authored).
A Future Waterfall―100 Haiku from the Japanese, Red Monn Press, USA, 1999 & 2004.
Romanje po Zemlji, Društvo Apokalipsa, Slovenia, 2000.
Цветята на Вятьра, Matom, Bulgaria, 2001.
Poesia Sempre NÚMERO 17, Fundação Biblioteca Nacional, Brazil, 2002 (co-authored).
Haiku: Poetry Ancient & Modern, MQP, UK, 2002 (co-authored).
Haiku: the leaves are back on the tree, Greece, 2002 (co-authored).
Ombres et Lumières, LCR, Bulgaria, 2003 (co-authored).
Haiku: Poésie anciennes et Modernes, Édition Vega, France, 2003 (co-authored).
Странный Ветер, Иностранка, Russia, 2003 (co-authored).
The Road: world haiku, Ango Boy, Bulgaria, 2004 (co-authored).
Ribnik tišine: slovenska haiku antologija, Društvo Apokalipsa, Slovenia, 2005 (co-authored).
L’Anthologie du Poème Bref, Les Dossiers d’Aquitaine, France, 2005 (co-authored).
Right Eye in Twilight, Wasteland Press, USA, 2006.
ÎMBRĂŢIŞAREA PLANETELOR (THE EMBRACE OF PLANETS), Edidura Făt-Frumos, Romania, 2006.
Endless Helix: Haiku and Short Poems, Cyberwit.net, India, 2007.
Le bleu du martin pêcheur: Haïkus, L'iroli, Beauvais, France, 2007 (co-authored).
Madarak / Birds: 50 Haiku, Balassi Kiadó, Hungary, 2007.
Pellegrinaggio terrestre / Earth Pilgrimage, alba libri, Italy, 2007.
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL (Norway) is a literary critic and a multilingual author, writing in English, Spanish, French and Norwegian; and a professional visual artist. He has published seven books (including collections of poetry, short stories and literary criticism) in the USA, Norway and India, as well as several short and longer works in international literary publications on several continents. He has previously authored theatrical works performed onstage, and he has (to-date) read his poetry at venues in New York City, Oslo (Norway), Buenos Aires and Kathmandu (Nepal).
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MOSHÉ LIBA:
scribe of his generation, and ours.
-- Literary criticism based upon: Cerca del Paraíso, Ediciones Rondas, Barcelona, 1989; The Holocaust – between me and myself, New Zealand Jewish Chronicle Publications, Wellington, NZ, 2000; They Drank Kava, E.S.A.W. Paekakariki, Wellington, 2004; Over the Waters, HeadworX, Wellington, 2004; and the poem entitled “El Violonista de Auschwitz” (from Poetas de Nuestro Tiempo, serial no. 6, Ediciones Rondas, Barcelona, 1988).
There are few poets that possess such a multitude of artistic, academic and linguistic talents as Moshé Liba. While his impressive curriculum vitae reveals that he is a poet, a writer and an author of many different kinds of books, a painter, a sculptor, a lecturer, and a former diplomat, all of this tells us very little about the actual poetry of a man that I acknowledge as a true “scribe of his generation, and ours”. This, because of his commitment to recording culture, traditions and history in his poetic works ... perhaps ensuring that we both learn, and that we do not so quickly forget the diversity, the similarities, the learning, the mistakes, and the importance of humanity. However, I would also venture that Moshé Liba’s understanding of the intricate balancing processes spanning a lifetime – in whatever culture – from birth to death, is both the result of rich personal experience and of philosophical investigation. Yes, Moshé Liba is quite alive, bursting with the vibration of life force, and full of memories that brim over with such vibrant detail that one might think that any one of his works were written just yesterday.
It is precisely these personal qualities, talents, and this understanding of human nature and life through a rich palette of experiences that gives colour to the poetic works of Moshé Liba, and give them a timelessness that will ensure that, as long as his poetry exists (either in book form, electronically, or even merely in the memories of those who have read his works and who have been personally transformed), his cultural and historical documentation through fine literature will live on. I do not think that Moshé Liba’s choice of poetry as a medium has been coincidental. On the contrary, he has quite rightly understood the effects of poetry and images upon the reader, and how poetry often holds the key to waltzing (or sneaking) into the reaches of consciousness ... past the guards who occasionally fall asleep while listening to the lullaby-like sounds and repetitive rhythms of everyday life. Moshé Liba is charming, he is witty, he is fun and funny ... and he is also deep, philosophical, political, and socially and culturally awake. Thus, his employment of descriptive storytelling in his poetry is highly effective, yet never feels unnatural or contrived. He has the ability to entice in the reader all possible emotions, and transports his audience to places and times and experiences never before known to the individual reader ... yet which, under the spell of Moshé Liba’s magic, are experienced as one’s own memories – embedded in the minds, hearts and souls of the reader as deeply, and as quickly as a beautiful wild weed.
There are many fine examples – far too many to cite, but I would very much like to present a few to illustrate my comments:
From “Over the Waters”:
Counting the sheep
In the middle of nowhere
in front of a paddock full of sheep
a man was standing
shaking, like in prayer.
But, it’s incredible
he is asleep, standing
there, I heard myself
saying, loudly.
What is it, what?
woke the man, startled
I was counting my sheep
he added, rubbing his eyes.
Here we are, I said
driving away; it’s classical,
counting the sheep
makes you sleep.
And
Generations (from the book section entitled “Vietnam”)
The elders
speak Chinese
The grand-fathers
speak French
The adults
learned Russian
The youngsters
speak English
The main language
is Vietnamese
The poem-ballad entitled “They Drank Kava” is a fascinating and amusing story in poetic form that, although it takes place on an island in the Pacific Basin, could very well have happened in another culture and in another part of the world. In other words, here again human nature transcends local cultural experience.
“The Holocaust – between me and myself” is a sobering work of genius that is much more than a reminder of the Holocaust, in that it shows the reader how the reverberations are still being experienced today.
From The Holocaust – between me and myself”:
Tiny hands
Little hands
tiny hands
white hands
pale hands
trembling hands
outstretched hands
appealing hands
uplifted hands.
Little hands
tiny hands
dumb hands.
All of them
in silence
to heaven
ascended.
It should also be mentioned that Moshé Liba has published a very moving poem in a book entitled “Poetas de Nuestro Tiempo” (The Poets of our Time), which also is concerned with the Holocaust. This poem is entitled “El Violonista de Auschwitz” (The Violinist of Auschwitz), and brings forth unforgettable images. This poem, written in Ladino, is part of a serial book (no. 6) by Spanish poet and writer Jose Quintana, and that section of the book includes the poem and an essay by Moshé Liba, as well as Quintana’s own literary criticism of Moshé Liba’s work.
Another collection of poems worth reading for the Spanish language poetry enthusiast is “Cerca del Paraíso” (Near Paradise). I would like to show a couple of examples from this impressive little book, as they illustrate the philosophical side of Moshé Liba:
Camino vacío
Camino
vacío
Camino
en el vacío
vengo
de la nada
voy
por caminos vacíos
hacia
la nada
Camino
del vacío
A la nada
vacía
Camino
vacío
and
¿Una muerte?
Yo viví
tantas vidas.
Cómo pueden tener
todas estas vidas
mías.
De una vez,
de repente,
una sola
muerte?
Tantas vidas
vividas.
Tantas veces
No pueden morir
todas
De una
única
muerte.
Moshé Liba is a guardian of history, culture and expression – who effectively uses poetry as one form for preserving and transforming humanity. This ... is an admirable function, and talent – to promote life and understanding in this way. I truly hope that Moshé Liba republishes many of these small works together in a series of collected poetic works. The present and the coming generations of readers and authors have much to learn from his writing.
-- Adam Donaldson Powell, 2008
MOSHÉ LIBA (ISRAEL) is a poet, writer, painter, sculptor, who has also represented the State of Israel for thirty-one years as Ambassador and Consul General in fifteen countries. He has published fifty-three books, textbooks, history books, short stories, children’s books, brochures, and albums, including twenty-six books of poetry. He writes in several languages, and has been awarded many honorary titles, such as: Honorary Doctorates, Barone delle Arti, Distinguished International Poet, Honorary President of La Ronde des Poètes du Cameroun, Socio de la Academia Española de Poesía, and has won different accolades, including the First Prize in a poetry contest in The Hague, Netherlands.
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL (NORWAY) is a literary critic and a multilingual author, writing in English, Spanish, French and Norwegian; and a professional visual artist. He has published eight books (including collections of poetry, short stories and literary criticism) in the USA, Norway and India, as well as several short and longer works in international literary publications on several continents. He has previously authored theatrical works performed onstage, and he has (to-date) read his poetry at venues in New York City, Oslo (Norway), Buenos Aires and Kathmandu (Nepal).
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SAYUMI KAMAKURA:
the timelessness of the veil behind the veil behind the veil.
Literary criticism based on “A Crown of Roses”, a haiku collection by Sayumi Kamakura, published by Cyberwit (India), 2007, 70 pages, ISBN 978-81-8253-090-4, and “A Singing Blue: 50 Selected Haiku”, published by Ginyu Press (Japan), 2000, 63 pages, ISBN 4-87944-032-9.
There is much positive to say about the haiku of Sayumi Kamakura. In her recent haiku collection “A Crown of Roses”, and in her haiku collection from 2000 entitled “A Singing Blue: 50 Selected Haiku”, Sayumi Kamakura presents several impressive haiku – all speaking with the ‘quiet authority’ of an artist who knows her impulses and skills so well that she can make herself heard without raising her poetic voice, without over-dramatizing and without overwriting. Kamakura understands quite well the seductive qualities of haiku that are simple ... and simply well written, and which exhibit the grace and delicateness of artistic and contemporary international poetry, dancing – in and out of past, present and future; reaching out from Japanese tradition into the world ... and again, from the external world, back into the womb of true Japanese intention in regards to haiku.
In the work of Sayumi Kamakura, the “haiku moment” becomes rather the “momentousness of the haiku”. She has the gift of transforming the all-too-common misunderstanding of reductionism to something that is – in fact – larger than life; like the mystery of the bonsai. Art is never about limitation, but rather about playing within structure(s) – and pressing, kneading, pushing against boundaries to give the appearance of being larger than a mathematician’s (or literary/art historian’s, or critic’s) measurements.
Sayumi Kamakura effectively exerts a feeling of timelessness in her haiku, and in the mind and experience of the reader. She accomplishes this by her adeptness in revealing the veil behind the veil behind the veil. The vibrations of the piano cords of her haiku give one a sense of the sublime, ranging from the romanticism of Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff or Johannes Brahms to Karol Szymanowski to that of more minimalist composers such as Erik Satie or even Philip Glass – all elements of passion for life, pressing forward and peeking out of a tranquil detachment and understated true emotion.
Avid readers of my literary criticism know that I make a point out of assessing the musicality of poetry – and that I stress that the inner rhythms and rhymes are equally, if not more, important as (than) the mechanical ones. Sayumi Kamakura understands and plays upon the natural music of her haiku. In short, the haiku lover cannot help but be moved by the artistry of Sayumi Kamakura, who complements her intrinsic understanding of the art of haiku writing and philosophy with a certain feminine touch that tickles the ivory keys of the piano with the very authority and grace I have referred to above.
A few of her haiku are phenomenal, some are excellent, and many are quite good. On the whole, these are two short collections that are well put together. A few examples of her haiku that I personally feel are phenomenal follow:
A cold circle
called God
or the sun
and
The end of summer –
water clings
to a sponge
and
Someday my knees
will be wrapped
in brilliant clouds
and
The moth’s dead body:
consider it as dust
sent from heaven
as well as
Having cried out her heart
the sunflower stands
erect
And
The swimsuit on,
my soles forget
absolutely everything
And of course
Unable to say
‘I love you’ ...
my bare hands, bare feet
implore the mirror
Read Sayumi Kamakura’s haiku ... and become acquainted with yourself. She is the quintessential “goddess” archetype of the contemporary haiku artist, lifting the veils of everything around her.
-- Adam Donaldson Powell, 2008
SAYUMI KAMAKURA (JAPAN) was born in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, 1953. She began composing haiku while a student at Saitama University and studied haiku under the guidance of Toshiro Nomura and Sho Hayashi. In 1988, she won the Oki Sango Prize. The lyrical style of her haiku attracted attention, and in 1998 she established the haiku magazine “Ginyu” with Ban'ya Natsuishi, and has been its Editor since that time. She has attended international haiku or poetry festivals held in Japan, Slovenia, Portugal and Bulgaria. In 2001, she won the Modern Haiku Association Prize. Her published haiku collections include: Jun (Moisture, 1984), Mizu no Jujika (Water Cross, 1987), Tenmado kara (From the Skylight, 1992), Kamakura Sayumi Kushu (Haiku of Sayumi Kamakura, 1998). Hashireba haru(Run to Spring, 2001), She co-authored Gendai Haiku Panorama (1994), Gendai Haiku Handbook (1995), Gendai Haiku Shusei Zen 1 Kan (Contemporary Haiku Anthology in One Volume, 1996), etc. She also published, in both Japanese and English, A Singing Blue: 50 Selected Haiku (2000). Her haiku has been translated into English, Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, Portuguese and Korean. She is a member and Treasurer of the World Haiku Association.
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL (NORWAY) is a literary critic and a multilingual author, writing in English, Spanish, French and Norwegian; and a professional visual artist. He has published seven books (including collections of poetry, short stories and literary criticism) in the USA, Norway and India, as well as several short and longer works in international literary publications on several continents. He has previously authored theatrical works performed onstage, and he has (to-date) read his poetry at venues in New York City, Oslo (Norway), Buenos Aires and Kathmandu (Nepal).
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World Haiku 2008, No. 4: a multilingual collection of contemporary haiku from around the world.
(Published by Schichigatsudo Publishing, Tokyo, Japan, ISBN 978-4-87944-117-1, $15, €13, 2008, 230 pages, softcover, edited by Ban’ya Natsuishi for the World Haiku Association)
This year’s edition of World Haiku (the fourth annual) does not disappoint. It is a first-rate collection of haiku from around the world, written in both Japanese, English, French, Portuguese and a myriad of other languages – all proudly representing contemporary haiku from diverse cultural perspectives. The contributors to this collection of short works and essays on haiku include such noted authors as: Casimiro de Brito (Portugal), Mohammed Bennis (Morocco), Ban'ya Natsuishi (Japan), Sayumi Kamkura (Japan), Leons Briedis (Latvia), Jim Kacian (USA), Grant Caldwell (Australia), Marius Chelaru (Romania), Santosh Kumar (India), R. Siqinchogt (Inner Mongolia) and Orlando Gonzalez Esteva (Cuba). However, in the true spirit of the editor Ban’ya Natsuishi and the World Haiku Association, many other lesser known haiku artists are also featured in this multilingual anthology – from Japan and the rest of the world, and of all ages (including a special section dedicated to haiku by children and young persons). The intention of this book is therefore to present the breadth of haiku writing from around the world, to both Japanese and non-Japanese poets and lovers of haiku in a multilingual publication, thus featuring some of the more esteemed contemporary haiku artists alongside aspiring haiku poets.
In addition, this book features several essays on haiku writing, most notably haiku literary critical essays by Ban’ya Natsuishi (Japan) and Orlando Gonzalez Esteva (Cuba), but also including fine essays written by Leons Briedis (Latvia) and Vasile Moldovan (Romania). In his remarkable essay entitled “Future of World Haiku”, Ban’ya Natsuishi not only puts haiku writing in an historical and intercultural perspective, but also explains to readers the difference between haiku and short poems as well as successful and less successful haiku. Like myself, Mr. Natsuishi questions the concept and practice of the so-called “haiku moment”. For Ban’ya Natsuishi and myself, true haiku is more poetic, more concerned with multiple meanings and dimensions, and intrinsically representative of the “essence” of all poetry. As I have written elsewhere, haiku is not so much about “limitations” as it is concerned with creating expressions of artistic, cognitive and experiential expansion within a format characterized (among other things) by reduced size.
A few of my own personal favorites include:
O lago não sabe
até que chegue o vento
quantas ondas tem
by David Rodrigues (Portugal)
and
Une colline de parfum
naît en face du lac
nuée jamais je ne peux l’atteindre
by Mohammed Bennis (Morocco)
and
O teu corpo nu
Ao lado do meu corpo nu:
Música ou silêncio?
By Casimiro de Brito (Portugal)
as well as
The blue sky—
horse dung
becomes a castle of ants
by Ban’ya Natsuishi (Japan)
and
The deep color of girlhood
remains
on a green mandarin orange
by Toshiko Kobayashi (Japan)
For more information about the World Haiku Association, its publication, or to schedule an interview, please contact Ban’ya Natsuishi at www.worldhaiku.net,
e-mail: haikubanya@mub.biglobe.ne.jp
ABOUT THE EDITOR:
BAN'YA NATSUISHI (JAPAN) which is the pen name of Masayuki Inui, was born in Aioi City, Hyôgo Prefecture, Japan. He studied at Tokyo University where he received a Masters of Arts in Comparative Literature and Culture in 1981. In 1992 he was appointed Professor at Meiji University where he continues to teach. In 1993, he gave lectures at Jilin University in China, and was invited to a haiku meeting in Germany in 1994, and also in Italy in 1995. From 1996 to 1998, he was a guest research fellow at Paris 7th University. In 1998, and together with Sayumi Kamakura, he founded the international haiku quarterly "Ginyu", functioning as its publisher and editor-in-chief. In 2000, after attending the Global Haiku Festival in USA, he co-founded the World Haiku Association, based in Slovenia. He currently works as the association’s director. In 2001 Natsuishi attended the Vilenica Poetry Festival in Slovenia, in 2003 the Struga Poetry Evenings in Macedonia, and in the same year he worked as the Chairman of The Steering Committee for the 2nd World Haiku Association Conference, which was held in Japan. In 2004 he was invited to the poetry festival at Porto Santo in Portugal. In 2005 he attended the 3rd World Haiku Association Conference in Bulgaria, the 3rd Wellington International Poetry Festival, and presided over the international haiku session of Euro-Japan Poetry Festival in Tokyo. In 2006 he was invited to Poetry Spring in Vilnius, Lithuania and the Ohrid P.E.N. Conference in Macedonia. In 2007 he visited Inner Mongolia and promoted haiku writing there, and also in that year he held the 4th World Haiku Association Conference in Tokyo, functioning as its chairperson. In 2008 he will preside over the Tokyo Poetry Festival 2008 (functioning as the director of the festival).
ABOUT THE REVIEWER:
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL (NORWAY) is a literary critic and a multilingual author, writing in English, Spanish, French and Norwegian; and a professional visual artist. He has published seven books (including collections of poetry, short stories and literary criticism) in the USA, Norway and India, as well as several short and longer works in international literary publications on several continents. He has previously authored theatrical works performed onstage, and he has (to-date) read his poetry at venues in New York City, Oslo (Norway), Buenos Aires and Kathmandu (Nepal).
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