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5.0 AVERAGE
5.0 AVERAGE
It's not often that I will seek out a book that focuses on the critical analysis of the writings of a specific haikai poet, and when I do it is usually focused on the historically recognized haiku masters like Bashō, Buson, Issa, or Shiki. After reading Ce Rosenow's Lenard D. Moore and African American Haiku: Mergeing Traditions, I am thrilled to say that this book is a wonderful analysis of an English-language, modern haikai poet living today! Rosenow's book analyzes the style, techniques, and inspirations of Moore's haikai and gives commentary of how Moore's poetry is a good representation of the effective use of haikai to express some of the historic black American experience and narrative. The analysis is thoughtful, accessible, and filled with useful references and quotes from the academic haiku community (in the English language, of course).
I'd like to put a note here that I am using the word haikai (like I have three times already) to represent all haiku-like poetry (haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, etc.), just to be clear.
When I first picked up the book, I thought that this book would share and analyze the haiku of many black poets, but that is not the case. Lenard D. Moore and his poetry is the complete focus of this work. The Introduction gives a short commentary of what is to come in the following five chapters of this book, but also goes over the output, written works, and accomplishments of Lenard D. Moore, a short review on contemporary English haiku, and comments on African American haiku as a whole. Chapter One is titled "Communal Narratives in Haiku Sequences," and focuses on two (though it could be argued three) of Moore's published works of haiku sequences (renku) to express the experiences of black Americans during two specific times: the Gulf War (Desert Storm) and the Million Man March (Gathering at the Crossroads). This chapter is arguably the strongest within Rosenow's book on reviewing Moore's use of haikai poetry to share the narratives and experiences of black Americans, and focuses on the trait of "story-telling" that Moore intended to use within his haikai.
Chapter Two focused on Moore's writing of "jazz poetry, jazz haiku, and Jazzku." Moore has written many haiku that use many different literary devices (onomatopoeia, rhythm, tempo, lyricism, improvisational words, etc.) to convey the the energetic and improvisational aspects of jazz music. There is much more said in this chapter than that, but I will leave it to the reader to look more into Rosenow's comments on the topic.
Now the theme of Lenard D. Moore's haikai as an effective expression of the experiences (including his own) and culture of the black American community is still the focus of Chapter Three, Four, and Five, but I would argue that the comments made on upcoming topics are universal in the ability to write effective haiku. I had thought before reading this book that the topic was specific and that the interest in seeking out this book would be for a niche audience in what could already be considered a niche community. Now, I am more than happy to recommend this book to a broader audience looking for book that teaches on effective ways to read and write haiku.
Chapter Three, titled "Ekphrastic Haiku," analyzes Moore's use of this technique after giving Charles Trumbull's definition and categories of ekphrastic haiku. Ekphrastic haiku is a style of haiku that is written as inspired by pieces of art (usually) from another medium (music, paintings, sculptures, photography, etc.), and Trumbull gives three categories of ekphrastic haiku in his article on the subject:
1. Pure Description
2. Interpretation and/or Appreciation
3. Parallel Expression of the Original Piece's "Poetic Truth"
Chapter Four discusses Moore's use of "Elegiac Haiku" to express loss and grief through haikai poetry. This section does go into the historic griefs of the black American community, but there is a personal focus of Moore's personal losses of contemporaries, friends, and family (specifically the loss of his father and of his daughter). The last chapter talks about Moore's use of the haikai form haibun, which is a form of poetry that uses prose and haiku to become one effective work of poetry. Five of Moore's haibun are included in this chapter for critical analysis, and we are able to see the themes of the other chapters within many of these haibun (expressed narrative of a community, jazz-themes, ekphrastic poetry, and elegiac poetry). We are also given commentary on what Roberta Beary gives as traits of an effective haibun in her work, "Why I Write Haibun, or The Holy Trinity of Haibun" in reference to Moore's effective use of these traits:
1. A title that grabs the reader but doesn't reveal too much of the action ahead
2. Prose that is short and engaging
3. Haiku that reflects or expands the prose but doesn't repeat it
Throughout all of these chapters, more direct aspects of Moore's haiku and of the haiku community as a whole are commented on (kigo, kireji, renso, gunsaku, rensaku, sankofa, shasei, etc.).
This is not a long book by any means; an introduction and 5 chapters together in 77 pages. Also, this is a fairly expensive book, and the price of such a short book can be a deterrent. I've already mentioned that this book is more focused on one haiku poet and his use of haiku within the black American community. It would have been nice to hear more haikai that are focused on the writers within that community, but I don't believe that was the original focus of the author and that I am the one who had the (wrong) expectation of what would be included in the contents of this book. That's about as far as my criticisms of this book go, and I'll be the first to admit that they are relatively weak.
Yes the topic is somewhat niche, but this book gives valuable insight to the works of Lenard D. Moore and also gives comments and resources that are universally helpful to the English-language haikai poet. I am glad to have this work on my bookshelf to read again! I still would say that this is a short book, but the author gives a conclusion at the end of the book and states that Moore has also explored other forms of haikai like senryu, tanka, and renga, and that as Moore continues to write in these forms, “it is likely that these areas will eventually provide sufficient material to support future critical analysis.” I'll be happy to buy that book once it comes out, but you are going to have to buy your own; I am not lending out this book or the potential following volumes.
I'd like to put a note here that I am using the word haikai (like I have three times already) to represent all haiku-like poetry (haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, etc.), just to be clear.
When I first picked up the book, I thought that this book would share and analyze the haiku of many black poets, but that is not the case. Lenard D. Moore and his poetry is the complete focus of this work. The Introduction gives a short commentary of what is to come in the following five chapters of this book, but also goes over the output, written works, and accomplishments of Lenard D. Moore, a short review on contemporary English haiku, and comments on African American haiku as a whole. Chapter One is titled "Communal Narratives in Haiku Sequences," and focuses on two (though it could be argued three) of Moore's published works of haiku sequences (renku) to express the experiences of black Americans during two specific times: the Gulf War (Desert Storm) and the Million Man March (Gathering at the Crossroads). This chapter is arguably the strongest within Rosenow's book on reviewing Moore's use of haikai poetry to share the narratives and experiences of black Americans, and focuses on the trait of "story-telling" that Moore intended to use within his haikai.
Chapter Two focused on Moore's writing of "jazz poetry, jazz haiku, and Jazzku." Moore has written many haiku that use many different literary devices (onomatopoeia, rhythm, tempo, lyricism, improvisational words, etc.) to convey the the energetic and improvisational aspects of jazz music. There is much more said in this chapter than that, but I will leave it to the reader to look more into Rosenow's comments on the topic.
Now the theme of Lenard D. Moore's haikai as an effective expression of the experiences (including his own) and culture of the black American community is still the focus of Chapter Three, Four, and Five, but I would argue that the comments made on upcoming topics are universal in the ability to write effective haiku. I had thought before reading this book that the topic was specific and that the interest in seeking out this book would be for a niche audience in what could already be considered a niche community. Now, I am more than happy to recommend this book to a broader audience looking for book that teaches on effective ways to read and write haiku.
Chapter Three, titled "Ekphrastic Haiku," analyzes Moore's use of this technique after giving Charles Trumbull's definition and categories of ekphrastic haiku. Ekphrastic haiku is a style of haiku that is written as inspired by pieces of art (usually) from another medium (music, paintings, sculptures, photography, etc.), and Trumbull gives three categories of ekphrastic haiku in his article on the subject:
1. Pure Description
2. Interpretation and/or Appreciation
3. Parallel Expression of the Original Piece's "Poetic Truth"
Chapter Four discusses Moore's use of "Elegiac Haiku" to express loss and grief through haikai poetry. This section does go into the historic griefs of the black American community, but there is a personal focus of Moore's personal losses of contemporaries, friends, and family (specifically the loss of his father and of his daughter). The last chapter talks about Moore's use of the haikai form haibun, which is a form of poetry that uses prose and haiku to become one effective work of poetry. Five of Moore's haibun are included in this chapter for critical analysis, and we are able to see the themes of the other chapters within many of these haibun (expressed narrative of a community, jazz-themes, ekphrastic poetry, and elegiac poetry). We are also given commentary on what Roberta Beary gives as traits of an effective haibun in her work, "Why I Write Haibun, or The Holy Trinity of Haibun" in reference to Moore's effective use of these traits:
1. A title that grabs the reader but doesn't reveal too much of the action ahead
2. Prose that is short and engaging
3. Haiku that reflects or expands the prose but doesn't repeat it
Throughout all of these chapters, more direct aspects of Moore's haiku and of the haiku community as a whole are commented on (kigo, kireji, renso, gunsaku, rensaku, sankofa, shasei, etc.).
This is not a long book by any means; an introduction and 5 chapters together in 77 pages. Also, this is a fairly expensive book, and the price of such a short book can be a deterrent. I've already mentioned that this book is more focused on one haiku poet and his use of haiku within the black American community. It would have been nice to hear more haikai that are focused on the writers within that community, but I don't believe that was the original focus of the author and that I am the one who had the (wrong) expectation of what would be included in the contents of this book. That's about as far as my criticisms of this book go, and I'll be the first to admit that they are relatively weak.
Yes the topic is somewhat niche, but this book gives valuable insight to the works of Lenard D. Moore and also gives comments and resources that are universally helpful to the English-language haikai poet. I am glad to have this work on my bookshelf to read again! I still would say that this is a short book, but the author gives a conclusion at the end of the book and states that Moore has also explored other forms of haikai like senryu, tanka, and renga, and that as Moore continues to write in these forms, “it is likely that these areas will eventually provide sufficient material to support future critical analysis.” I'll be happy to buy that book once it comes out, but you are going to have to buy your own; I am not lending out this book or the potential following volumes.