Essays

    
I’ve written essays on many different topics, long and short, of which the following are a majority, focusing mostly on haiku and related genres of poetry. I’ve arranged the following essays by category, with a few essays listed in more than one category. For additional essays, please visit the Interviews, Introductions, Reports, Reviews, and Speeches pages, and see my Deja-ku Diary blog. See also Further Reading, Postscripts, and Not Previously Published.          +
 
“The skill of writing is creating a context in which other people can think.” —Edwin Schlossberg

★ = most recommended (start with these essays)
 
Have a question about haiku? Email Michael Dylan Welch and I’ll respond with a personal answer, or a suggested essay to read. This site has many essays to consider, so don’t hesitate to ask for reading guidance, to ask questions about haiku, or to offer comments about any of this content.

Recent Additions (with dates added)

Learning Haiku

    Defining Haiku: A Place to Start (on the Living Haiku Anthology)
    How I Came to Haiku [first publication here]
    An Invitation to Spring Haiku
★ Notes on Japanese Forms [definitions of haiku, senryu, haibun, haiga, rengay, renku, and tanka]
    On Writing Haiku [54 comments, rules, and suggestions on the writing of haiku]

“Learning From” Essays

Studying Haiku

    Beat Haiku and My Discussion with Jack Foley [see latter half for my contributions]    +    +
    Defining Haiku by Iterations [first publication here]
    Featured Poet [biographical sketch and six poems]
    Feeling Haiku Through Thin Wood Walls (David Patneaude)
    Frequently Asked Questions About Haiku Northwest [on Haiku Northwest site]
★ Haiku as Poetic Spell [by Martin Lucas; includes extensive commentary by me and the author]
    Haiku Neighbours: North American Haiku Today [keynote address for 2013 Haiku International Association]
    Hopes for American Haiku [on The Haiku Foundation blog]
★ How Do You Write Haiku?
    Kana
    Linking and Leaping: A Haiga Primer [with German translation]
    On the Art of Writing Haiku [first publication here]
    Problems and Challenges of International Haiku [first publication here]
★ A Sampling of Cultural Haiku
    Sandlot Haiku and the Democracy of the Internet [first publication here]
    Savouring Salvage [first publication here]
    A Short History of Haiku in California [on Haiku Society of America site]
    A Short History of Haiku in Washington [on Haiku Society of America site]      +
    Striking Gold: The American Haiku Archive [first publication here]
    Voices
    The Wriggling Koi [a short story]

Studying Senryu

Japanese Haiku

Déjà-ku Essays

    Selected Examples of Déjà-ku [first publication here]
    Some Thoughts on Déjà-ku [first publication here]
★ See also my Deja-ku Diary blog [with numerous essays, listed below]

Déjà-ku Diary (blog essays)

    Open Arms

E. E. Cummings

Other Essays

    Alice’s Chain of Thought [first publication here]
    Writing Love Poems [with one haiku]

Appreciating Haiku

    Approaching Infinity: A Favourite Haiku (Christopher Herold)
★ Beauty in Haiku (Kaneko Tohto)
    Late Fall (Francine Porad)
    The Frayed Rope (Jane Reichhold)
    Heat Wave (Carole MacRury)
★ Issa’s Joy (Issa)
    Misreading Haiku (Roberta Beary)
    Nine Joys (David Lloyd) [first publication here]
    Set in Stone (John Stevenson) [first publication here]
    Subjective Touches (John Stevenson)
★ Three Ironside Haiku (Hamish Ironside)
    Two Favourite Haiku by Jerry Kilbride (Jerry Kilbride)

Linked Poetry

    How to Present a Rengay [first publication here]
    An Introduction to Tan-Renga [first publication here]
    Seven Fundamentals: A Guide to Rengay for Editors [first publication here]

Tanka

    Tanka Monday Report (2019)

Appreciating Tanka

Humour and Satire