The Art of Haiku: An Interview with bilingual haikuist Gabriel Rosestock (Part 2)
See Part 1 of this interview here.
Gabriel Rosenstock, a writer who has published over 400 books, is almost certainly the most prolific haiku writer and translator in Ireland.
Tell us about the ekphrastic haiku in Orang-Utan – can you explain in simple language what are ekphrastic haiku?
Ekphrastic haiku are haiku which respond to works of art, allowing artwork to take you down an unknown path. I have written many tanka, haiku and poems, in Irish and English, which are responses to artwork.
seans nach eol duit
gur uaimse a tháinig
blátha fiáine seo na hoíche
níl fhios agam féin é
seans gur uaitse a tháinig – domsa
perhaps You do not know
they came from me
wild flowers of the night
I do not know myself
perhaps they came from You – for me
https://artvee.com/dl/pegase#00
In a sense, I am returning to the spirit of the Dadaists and Surrealists, to people like Tristan Tzara (Sami Rosenstock), André Breton and so on, including their interest in children’s imagination and in the primitive – but my style is, largely, my own.
When you are writing, do you just write the haiku in one go or do your haiku drafts change much while you are writing them?
As I say, they are spontaneous with little or no interference from the ‘author’. The author remains in the realm of Suso’s ‘Nameless Wildness’ – which is vast!
Do you get most of your themes from daily life, from the natural world, or from your imagination?
What is daily life, what is the natural or unnatural world? What is the imagination? What is a theme? I think we have to revise our language – speak in tongues! It’s not easy, of course. But we need to get out of our skin if we’re going somewhere.
ár mbuíochas as a bheith
mar atá tú . . .
i d’fhuinneog
thank you
for being what you are . . .
a window
https://artvee.com/dl/window-of-the-bakhchi-dere-villa-in-yalta-from-the-journey-to-crimea
Haiku are really short. How do you pick just the right words to make them feel real and powerful?
In haiku, ordinary, natural speech is preferred to poetic speech, flowery speech. It is conveying the moment of awareness, not striving for effect. ‘Haiku are really short’, you say. That’s one way of looking at it. They are neither long nor short, in my view.
Do you always try and stick to the classic 5-7-5 pattern, or do you mix it up a bit?
An average count of 12 syllables is more than enough today (outside of Japan) though I am inclined towards sticking to the 31 syllable count in tanka. If you go over the 17 syllables – or aim at 17 syllables, as J. W. Hackett and Richard Wright did – you are heading for trouble, or tanka!
Some people posit that the technique to writing haiku for children is to make the poems simple enough to understand, but yet deep or interesting at the same time?
I think that’s a simplification of a complex process. Haiku can go on revealing themselves in various ways:
abandoned dog . . .
looking at the face
of every pedestrian
(K. Ramesh)
You are noted for mixing your haiku with inspiring artworks and these 4 books are beautifully produced. How does the artwork help readers enjoy the poems in your opinion?
Children are not well exposed to works of classical art in this country. In many ways, we are visually illiterate!
Do you hope your haiku inspire children to really notice the world around them—using all their senses—even in the busy, hectic lives we live today? Why do you think that’s important?
I hope children experience an inner revolution. I hope they explode in utter joy and rediscover their own blissful nature.
Any advice for older children who might be inspired by your work to try writing haiku themselves? Are there any common mistakes beginners make, and how can they avoid them?
Well, we have Duais Basho, the schools bilingual haiku competition, thanks to Poetry Ireland and IMRAM. Ask them about it! As to avoiding common mistakes, I have three short bilingual videos which give an outline of the best practices when it comes to haiku:
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Do you think haiku are still important in our modern world?
You make it important. Nobody else can.
If you could spend a day writing haiku anywhere in the world, where would it be?
At home.
Has writing haiku for children and adults changed how you, yourself see the world around you?
Yes. It has shown me that we’re doing everything
the wrong way … Entirely!
(c) Mícheál Ó hAodha
Read more from Mícheál Ó hAodha on Writing.ie here.
See Part 1 of this interview here.
Snowy Owl – Ulchabhán Sneachtúil
https://www.amazon.com/Snowy-Owl-Ulchabh%C3%A1n-Sneacht%C3%BAil-Irish/dp/1918058040/
Loneliness – Uaigneas
https://www.amazon.com/Loneliness-Uaigneas-Gabriel-Rosenstock/dp/106854080X/
Popocatépetl
https://www.amazon.com/Popocat%C3%A9petl-Gabriel-Rosenstock/dp/0893044490/
Orang-Utan – Órang-Útan
https://www.amazon.com/Orang-Utan-%C3%93rang-%C3%9Atan-Irish-Gabriel-Rosenstock/dp/1918058059/
