Reviews
I’ve been reviewing the situation. The following reviews (and many mini-reviews) focus mainly on haiku and tanka books, and were first published, mainly in Woodnotes, from about 1990 onward. As a result, some of these reviews may include ordering details, especially addresses and prices, that are no longer accurate. These are reviews I’ve written; for reviews of my books written by others, I provide links mainly on the Books page, where available, and sometimes on the Commentary page. See also Blurbs (which are a kind of review) and Recommended Books on Haiku. If you have any comments or questions, please contact Michael Dylan Welch.
★ = most recommended reviews (start with these)
Books About Haiku
★ African American Haiku: Cultural Visions, edited by John Zheng [see unpublished longer version]
★ Contextualization Icebergs: A Review of On Haiku by Hiroaki Sato
Creativity: A New Psychology by George Swede [not strictly about haiku]
Discovering Fire by David Grayson
Essentially Oriental: R. H. Blyth Selection, edited by Kuniyoshi Munakata and Michael Guest
The Genius of Haiku: Readings from R. H. Blyth, edited by David Cobb
Haiga: Takebe Sōchō and the Haiku-Painting Tradition by Stephen Addiss
Haiku and Zen: The Bodhisattva of Forgetfulness by Brian Tasker
The Haiku Bag by Naomi Beth Wakan
Haiku Compass: Directions in the Poetical Map of the United States of America by William J. Higginson
The Haiku Habit by Jeanne Emrich
Haiku: One Breath Poetry by Naomi Wakan
A Haiku Path: The Haiku Society of America 1968–1988
★ The Haiku Seasons by William J. Higginson
★ Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac, by William J. Higginson
JuxtaOne and JuxtaTwo, edited by Peter McDonald
Oasis in the Heart by Toshimi Horiuchi
On My Mind, an interview with Anita Virgil by vincent tripi
Raking Sand, an interview with Virginia Brady Young by vincent tripi
★ Renga Roots: Haiku Before Haiku by Steven D. Carter
The Seasons in Haikai by William J. Higginson
★ Sharing Experience: Robert Aitken’s River of Heaven
★ Shiki’s Winter: Donald Keene’s The Winter Sun Shines In: A Life of Masaoka Shiki
★ Three Simple Lines by Natalie Goldberg
Tribe: Meditations of a Haiku Poet by vincent tripi
Writing Across Cultures: A Handbook on Writing Poetry & Lyrical Prose by Edna Kovacs
A Year’s Speculations on Haiku by Robert Spiess
Haiku and Senryu Collections
Alachua: North Florida Haiku by Kenneth C. Leibman
All Eyes by Francine Porad
★ Along the Way by Gilles Fabre
a matter of wings by anne mckay
American Gothic by Steven Carter
American Senryu by James D. Hodgson
American Zen by a Guy Who Tried It by Steve Sanfield
Among Floating Duckweed by Bruce Ross
At Bat by Cor van den Heuvel
at mull river by anne mckay
At the Zendō by Penny Harter
Autumn Wind in the Cracks by Tom Clausen
Awareness Beyond Mind by Kenneth Verity
Before All the Leaves Are Gone by Gary Hotham
Bending with the Wind by Nick Avis
Between Two Waves by H. F. Noyes
Between Waves by Alexis Rotella
Bluegrey by Martin Lucas
Border Crossing: Haiku and Related Poetry by Jean Jorgensen
Braided Rug by sally l. nichols and Carol Purington
The Butterfly’s Weight by vincent tripi
Buzz by David Jacobs
can i get there by candle by anne mckay
Cascadia by William Scott Galasso
Chester Creek Ravine by Bart Sutter
Chrysanthemum Dusk by Susan B. Auld
Clocking Out by Carlos Colón
Cold Moon: Erotic Haiku by Gabriel Rosenstock
come at nine come at nine by anne mckay
★ Complex Echoes: A Review of North Lake by Ce Rosenow
Cricket Song by John Thompson
Cry of the Hawk by Hank Dunlap
Curve of Light by Elizabeth St Jacques
curve into curve by anne mckay
Dance of Light by Elizabeth St Jacques
Dandelion Seeds by Arvinder Kaur
Darkness & Light by Martin Lucas
A Dash Through Leaves by Penny Griffin
Desert Wind by Ferenc Bakos
Drawings Among Haiku by Ion Codrescu
Driveway from Childhood by Pamela Miller Ness
Drumming in the Free World by Kim Redshaw
The Duck’s Wake by Jeff Witkin
Eating Blowfish by Frank Higgins
Emerald Rain by William Scott Galasso
The Essence of Modern Haiku by Seishi Yamaguchi
Extended Wings: Haiku and Tanka by Francine Porad
The Fingertips of a Glassblower by Bill Cooper
First Frost by Zhu Hao
★ Flamingo Shapes by John Barlow
Fog Lifting by Francine Porad
footprints by Nick Avis
Forest House with Cat by Edith Marcombe Shiffert
Foxes in the Garden and Other Prose Pieces by Patricia Neubauer
Frogs Singing by Nika [Jim Force]
From the Upper Room by anne mckay
Getting On by Ernest J. Berry
Grandma’s Chip Bowl by David Jacobs
Grinding My Ink by Margaret Chula
★ Grit, Grace, and Gold by Kit Pancoast Nagamura
Haiku by Bill Albert
Haiku and Sumi-e by Lidia Rozmus
Haiku Chiaroscuro by David Cobb
Haiku Edge: New and Selected Haiku by Robert Epstein
★ Haiku, Green Tea & Sushi by Ernest J. Berry [see previously unpublished longer version]
Haiku Tapestry by Naomi Y. Brown
Hairs & Hawk Circles by Gary Hotham
Happy Wake Up by Milenko D. Ćirović Ljutički
Home Sick From Work by John Sheirer
Horizon by Anatoly Kudryavitsky
Housebound in Nirvana by Brian Tasker
Hundreds of Wishes by Francine Porad
In and Out of Fog by Lee Gurga
I Smell Something Foul by Alison Herschberg
★ Joy in Me Still by George Swede
Joy Is My Middle Name by Francine Porad
Jumping from Kiyomizu: A Haiku Sequence by David Cobb
Just a Moment by Jim Norton
Ladles and Jellyspoons by Francine Porad
Landings Soft by Elizabeth St Jacques
Layers of Content by Werner Reichhold
Mandalas by Edna Kovacs
Monsoon by William Hart
A Moon in Each Eye by Charles B. Dickson
The Moon Tonight by Cathy Drinkwater Better
Mountain Climbing by Carlos Colón
The Mown Meadow by Wally Swist
Moyayama: Russian Haiku: A Diary by Alexey V. Andreyev
Musical Chairs: A Haiku Journey Through Childhood by Alexis Rotella
The Music of Tree Limbs by Marsh Cassady
My Haiku Journey by Jack Stamm
The Neighbor’s Red Car by John Sheirer
Nine Steps: A Japanese Garden in the Fog by Wilma M. Erwin and Brad J. Wolthers
★ Noddy by Robert Spiess
No Love Poems by Kenneth Tanemura [also includes tanka]
No Reason At All by John Brandi and Steve Sanfield
Notes from a Humdrum: A Year in Haiku by Brian Tasker
Nothing Sensible: Erotic Haiku by Sue Dering
101 Corporate Haiku by William Warriner
One Hundred Butterflies by Peter Levitt
One Jumps Free by Kevin Hull
One Leaf Detaches by Margaret Chula
★ ongoing song: the voice of anne mckay
The Open Eye by Lenard D. Moore
Out of Cassiopeia by Charles B. Dickson
Paris by William Hart
The Patchwork Quilt by Francine Porad
A Path of Desire: Tan Renga by Peter Newton and Kathe L. Palka
★ Practicing Kindness: Mitsu Suzuki’s A White Tea Bowl
Presents of Mind by Jim Kacian
Puerto Rico by Anita Virgil
A Ragbag of Haiku by Brian Tasker
Rectangle of Light by Marje A. Dyck
The Regulars by Matthew Paul
A Ribbon of Silver Thread by Joseph Kirschner
River by Phyllis Walsh
Row of Pine: A Collection of Haiku by Jeff Winke
Rumblestrips by John Sheirer
Rumours of Snow by anne mckay
Senryu: Poems of the People by J. C. Brown
Sexy Hieroglyphics by Laurie Fox
Silent Stones, Empty Passageways by Jean Dubois
Silver Mine by Walter Liggett
Silver Path of Moon: Haibun by Janice M. Bostok
A Simple Universe by Sonō Uchida
Skipped Stones: Faces in Time by Harvey Hess
The Slant of Winter Light by Randal Johnson
A Slip of Bamboo: A Collection of Haiku from Maui by Victor C. Pellegrino
Small Things Make Me Laugh by Yu Chang
★ Snow Bones by Masaya Saito
Snow Falling on Snow by vincent tripi
Something Unerasable by John Stevenson
A String of Monarchs by Alexis Rotella and Florence Miller
Students Breathing by John Sheirer
Summer in Italy by Jerry Ball
Tendrils of the Eye by George Knox
Tenement Landscapes by Paul David Mena
39 Haiku by Robert Kania
This Moment by Margaret Chula
Trawlers by Sam Savage
Two Little Girls: Haiku for Fun by Patricia Neubauer
Unsold Flowers by Ion Codrescu
Vermilion Falling by William Scott Galasso
Voice of the Cicada by Raffael de Gruttola
Waiting for the Seventh Wave by John Barlow
★ Wall Street Park: A Concrete Renku by Raffael de Gruttola and Carlos Colón
★ Wanting the Mouth of a Lover by Charles Gramlich [previously unpublished]
Waterlily Shadows by Margaret Molarsky
Waveforms: Bull Island Haiku by Pat Boran
What Light There Is by Sylvia Forges-Ryan
White by vincent tripi
Wild Strawberries by Winona Baker
Winding the Clock Again by Jerry Ball
Windmill Shadows: A Hunter’s Book of Haiku by John Howard Laugenour
The Wind’s View: A Selection of Haiku by Gary Hotham
Wings of Moonlight by Garry Gay
Winnows by Maxianne Berger
Woodsmoke by Brian Tasker
Wooing the Meadowlark by Mary Fran Meer
Yes by Alexis Rotella and Florence Miller
★ Young Osprey by Bill Cooper
Poetry Books
★ Archipelago by Arthur Sze
A Hummingbird’s Dance by Ok-Koo Kang Grosjean
★ Kyoto’s Spirit of Place, Revealed
★ Shadows of Moments: A Review of Paul E. Nelson’s American Sentences
Stages and Views by Penny Harter [includes haiku]
You Can’t Be Serious by Ronald Wallace
Japanese Translations
Bashō’s Narrow Road, translated by Hiroaki Sato
Cage of Fireflies: Modern Japanese Haiku, translated by Lucien Stryk
★ The Dover Haiku Anthology: A Review [previously unpublished]
Endless Vow: The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa, translated by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Roko Sherry Chayat
The Essential Haiku: Versions of Bashō, Buson, and Issa, edited by Robert Hass
A Haiku Garden by Stephen Addiss
A Haiku Menagerie by Stephen Addiss
A Hidden Pond: Anthology of Modern Haiku, edited by Kōko Katō, translated by Kōko Katō and David Burleigh
A Long Rainy Season: Haiku and Tanka, edited and translated by Leza Lowitz, Miyuki Aoyama, and Akemi Tomioka
Morning Mist: Thoreau and Bashō Through the Seasons by Mary Kullberg
Pathways: Restful Meditations by Kamishiwa Sensei, Gary Crounse, translator
A Poet’s Anthology: The Range of Japanese Poetry by Makoto Ōoka
Right under the big sky, I don’t wear a hat by Hōsai Ozaki, translated by Hiroaki Sato
The Sound of Water: Haiku by Bashō, Buson, Issa, and Other Poets, translated by Sam Hamill
Ten Poems by Issa, translated by Robert Bly
White Flash/Black Rain: Women of Japan Relive the Bomb, edited and translated by Lequita Vance-Watkins and Mariko Aratani
Haiku Anthologies (mostly)
A Box of Zen, edited by Manuela Dunn Mascetti
After Lights Out [Spring Street Haiku Group]
All Day Long [Haiku Poets of Northern California]
A Shadowed Path: 1995 Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Members Anthology
Beginning: British Haiku Society Members’ Anthology 2016
Blue Spilling Over [Haiku Canada]
Cherry Blossom Rain [Haiku Northwest]
Climbing Mole Hill: An Anthology of Haiku and Haiga for the Republic of Mole Hill, edited by Lidia Rozmus
Dreams Wander: Haiku Society of America 1994 Members’ Anthology
Echoes Across the Cascades [Haiku Northwest]
Fig Newtons: Senryu to Go, edited by Michael Dylan Welch
Frog Bytes, edited by Lorraine Ellis Harr
Full of Moonlight: Haiku Society of America 2016 Members’ Anthology
Haiku Anthology: Second International Haiku Conference
Haiku Canada 15th Anniversary Holograph Anthology
★ Haiku Iz Rata: War Haiku, edited by Marijan Čekolj
Haiku Moment: An Anthology of Contemporary North American Haiku, edited by Bruce Ross
★ Haiku 21 (see also “Notes on Gendai Haiku”), edited by Lee Gurga and Scott Metz
Hands Full of Stars [Boston Haiku Society]
A Harvest of Haiku [Haiku Poets of Upstate New York]
Heiwa: Peace Poetry in English and Japanese, edited by Jiro Nakano and Brien Hallett
Impressions of Morning: Haiku by World Children [JAL Foundation]
★ In Praise of Japanese Love Poems, introduced by Regina Sara Ryan [with new postscript]
Into the Wind [Yuki Teikei Haiku Society]
Listening to the Rain [Small White Teapot Haiku Group, Christchurch] [previously unpublished]
Met on the Road: A Transcontinental Haiku Journal by William J. Higginson with Penny Harter [essentially a haibun]
Midwest Haiku Anthology, edited by Randy M. Brooks and Lee Gurga
Morning Snow [Two Autumns, HPNC]
Northern Lights [HNA]
“Nothing Special,” edited by Brian Tasker
One Breath: Haiku Society of America 1995 Members’ Anthology
Paper Lantern [Two Autumns, HPNC]
A Patch of Wildflowers: An Anthology of Haiku by Members of the Western World Haiku Society, edited by Lorraine E. Harr
A Path to the Sea [Two Autumns, HPNC]
Playing Tag Among Buddhas [HPNC]
Poetry Postcard Quarterly: Haiku 96, edited by Peter Taylor
★ Recognizing Influences: The Unswept Path
Scratch-n-Sniff: Haiku and Senryu About Dogs [HPNC]
Shades of Green [HNA]
The Shortest Distance: 1993 Haiku North America Conference Anthology
A Small Umbrella [Spring Street Haiku Group]
Sudden Shower [Haiku Northwest]
Sunlight Through Rain: A Northwest Haiku Year [Haiku Northwest]
Timepieces: Haiku Week At-a-Glance 1993, edited by David Priebe
Timepieces: Haiku Week At-a-Glance 1994, edited by David Priebe
Timepieces: Haiku Week At-a-Glance 1995, edited by David Priebe
Unbroken Curve [Haiku Northwest]
When Butterflies Come: Haiku Society of America 1993 Member’s Anthology
A White Chrysanthemum [Two Autumns, HPNC]
Woodshavings [Spring Street Haiku Group]
World Haiku 2005, edited by Ban’ya Natsuishi
Books for Children or Young Adults
★ Birds on a Wire by J. Patrick Lewis and Paul B. Janeczko
Black Swan/White Crow by J. Patrick Lewis
★ Feeling Haiku Through Thin Wood Walls by David Patneaude
★ Least Things by Jane Yolen
Origami Pinwheels by Kay L. Tracy
Red Dragonfly on My Shoulder by Sylvia Cassedy and Kunihiro Suetake
Shadow Play: Night Haiku by Penny Harter
Snow by Steve Sanfield
★ Three Tanka Books for Children (Tony Medina’s Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy, Robert Paul Weston’s Sakura’s Cherry Blossoms, and Nikki Grimes’ Garvey’s Choice)
★ Two Books for Children (Keisuke Nishimoto’s Haiku Picturebook for Children and Matthew Gollub’s Cool Melons—Turn to Frogs!) [previously unpublished]
★ Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers by Gloria Whelan [previously unpublished]
Novels Featuring Haiku
★ Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King
★ Feeling Haiku Through Thin Wood Walls by David Patneaude
The Haiku Murder by Fran Pickering
The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart
Recordings
★ The Haiku Poetry of Alexis Rotella by Alexis Rotella
Sigmatropic: Sixteen Haiku and Other Stories
Tanka Anthologies
Love: The British Haiku Society 30th Anniversary Members’ Tanka Anthology
Modern Japanese Tanka by Makoto Ueda
★ Modern Tanka in Japan [not strictly a review, but related]
Outcry from the Inferno [from Woodnotes]
★ Outcry from the Inferno [longer, previously unpublished]
Tanka Splendor 1992 [contest results booklet]
Tanka Splendor 1993 [contest results booklet]
Tanka Splendor 1994 [contest results booklet]
Tanka Splendor 1995 [contest results booklet]
Tanka Collections
The Cold Moon Watching by Helen Robinson
★ Directions in Tanka: Kenneth Tanemura’s No Love Poems [previously unpublished]
In Each Other’s Footsteps by David Rice
Like Salt on Sun Spray by Pamela Miller Ness
More Light, Larger Vision by Geraldine Clinton Little
Poems in the Attic by Nikki Grimes
The Rice Papers by Pat Shelley
Shining Moments by Neal Henry Lawrence
Short Songs: Tanka Poems by Amelia Fielden
A Sprig of Thyme by Reiko Nakagawa
★ This Hunger, Tissue-Thin by Larry Kimmel
This Tanka World of Strings by Sanford Goldstein and Kenneth Tanemura
Tracing Your Ribs by Claudia Rosemary Coutu
Turning My Chair by Pat Shelley
the wind-blown clouds by Brian Tasker
Other Tanka Books
★ Surveying Recent Tanka Criticism
★ Takuboku Ishikawa and Bokusui Wakayama in English and Spanish translated by Harue Aoki
Three Tanka Books for Children (Tony Medina’s Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy, Robert Paul Weston’s Sakura’s Cherry Blossoms, and Nikki Grimes’ Garvey’s Choice)
★ The Way of Tanka by Naomi Beth Wakan