31/01/01

Announcement

The World Haiku Festival Mark II (WHF Mark II)

January is drawing to a close. So are WHC's New Year's Celebrations. It has
been a hectic month for us. As a last item of the New Year's Celebrations, the
World Haiku Club is pleased to announce another initiative for implementation
all through the year 2001 under the name of "The World Haiku Festival Mark II",
or "WHF Mark II" for short. It is an initiative which is sequel to the efforts
of the World Haiku Festival 2000, a follow-up of what the Festival has started.

As you know, the overall motto of the WHF2000 is "World haiku for the 21st
century - binding people's minds and hearts together through haiku: the wild
flowers of poesy". During the year 2000 and during the first month of this
year, we have gone some way to pursue this goal. Now, we need to go further. We
must not be complacent or starry-eyed as we also need to address the question
of those who divide us. We will tackle it by increasing the number of those who
unite us. 

More specifically, the Festival's two main themes are "Challenging Conventions"
and "Charting Our Future". Basically, WHF2000 and the Global Haiku Festival
(GHF) of last April are in pursuit of the common goals of celebrating and
developing the world haiku movement. WHF2000's starting point is where GHF left
off. The agenda of GHF was a major survey of the history of haiku in different
regions and countries of the world. Following that, WHF2000 focuses on the
critical reassessment of the status quo and on the pursuit of ways in which the
future of haiku may be charted, i.e. the present and future of world haiku. 

To attain these aims, some guidelines have been formulated. For instance,
emphasis is placed on works and discussions which are as new, critical,
thought-provoking, challenging and innovative as possible. In other words,
uncritical acceptance of what is already there is not the option, however
celebrated and well-established it may be. Also, encouragement should be given
to young generations, including children, beginners, newcomers or relatively
unknown talents without losing respect for genuinely excellent established
poets. The activities of WHC, particularly those on the WHChaikuforum and other
WHC mailing lists reflect these aims. The proposed world haiku anthology will
also focus on new talents. As a result, there are promising signs which have
begun to reveal themselves. For instance, more and more people are coming into
the haiku community from outside and similar movements to the one we have
started are beginning to emerge in different parts of the world, all desirable
and welcome developments.

WHF Mark II will start with various reports and summaries on WHF2000, most
notably its highlight, the London - Oxford Conference 25 - 30 August 2000. It
will then initiate a series of haiku composition, discussions and events, which
will form the beginning of more advanced stages of what WHF2000 has begun. This
will occupy a significant part of WHC's activities for 2001 and beyond.

Before starting that process from 1 February, I will cite from the Conference
quotations, those remarks which reflect the spirit of what WHC is trying to
achieve: -

". to those who respect and identify with Basho's devotion to the natural
world, divorcing haiku (and ourselves) from the reality and myriad wonders of
natural Creation is a travesty, and worse. Ecological science has shown that
the myopic anthropocentrism which has dominated Western culture for millennia
is a dangerously limited view: one which humanity must grow from, if life on
Earth is to survive." (J. W. Hackett)

"Poetry is like a free bird that knows no boundary, like seeds that are carried
along by the wind, that grow, bloom and bear fruit where they find good soil
without asking anyone's permission" (Ion Codrescu)

"We are united in the common goal of celebration and development of
international haiku movement" (Declaration by the Global Haiku Festival and the
World Haiku Festival 2000)

"Some devoted poets of the world have yearned for haiku, this short poem that
is at the forefront of world poetry and offers the highest level of
completeness. Haiku provides a means for these poets to break free of this
situation. The only way we can return haiku or poetry to the common people is
by responding to the wishes of these poets." (the Matsuyama Declaration)

"A way forward, which is our challenge in this new century, is to try and
expand our imagination and open our hearts. That way, we can reach out to the
sense and sensibility of haiku poets around the world. What is good in the
Japanese haiku tradition can thus be combined with the new poetic values being
generated in other haiku nations." (Susumu Takiguchi)

"... So, once again, I echo Basho's cry: "Return to nature!" In my poems, may I
never fail to demonstrate that essential haiku sensitivity to the world around
me, and build, each by each, small shrines to the consciousness that says there
is something larger, and more important, than this mere self that does the
looking and the scribbling." (William J. Higginson)

Those who participated in the London - Oxford Conference enjoyed the whirlwind
of the six days' discourse, haiku readings, lectures, ginko, kukai,
coffee-break chats and above all the magically friendly and creative atmosphere
which they generated. Now, the participants in WHC activities are you, members
of this list and those of other WHC lists. I hope you will enjoy WHC as well as
the Conference participants did.

Yours sincerely and kengin,

Susumu