Dee Evetts

Last updated

Dee Evetts (born 16 May 1943) is an English haiku poet and writer. [1]

Contents

Career

After dropping out from Cambridge in his second year, Evetts spent several years teaching English, first with Voluntary Service Overseas in Thailand and subsequently in Sweden. In 1974 he turned to carpentry and cabinetmaking for a living. [2] He first began writing haiku in the late 1960s, cultivating his own style of senryū from the 1980s onwards; his self-acknowledged influences in this period included George Swede, Cor van den Heuvel, and John Wills. [3] In 1990, he co-founded the British Haiku Society together with David Cobb. [4] That same year, however, he moved to New York City, where he became involved in the haiku and arts scene: in 1991, he co-founded the Spring Street Haiku Group, and in 1993 became Vice President of the Haiku Society of America; he went on to serve as Secretary of the Society from 1996 to 1999. [2] In the summer of 1994, he was involved in the 42nd Street Art Project organised by Creative Time, selecting haiku to be displayed on the marquees of New York theatres for several months. [5] [6] [7] The New York Times’s otherwise critical review of the controversial public art installation highlighted Evetts's contribution as one of the most successful ones. [8]

1997 saw the publication of Evetts's first major collection of haiku and senryu by the Red Moon Press: Endgrain "helped establish Evetts as a front-runner in American haiku and senryu." [2] The book won the Haiku Society of America's Merit Book Award 1998, with the judges noting the "unforgettable images drawn from alert and perceptive participation in moments of real life." [9] A further collection, Home After Dark, was published in 2002. Between 1999 and 2018 he co-edited, together with Jim Kacian, the first ten volumes of the serial anthology, A New Resonance: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku, which several times won the Haiku Society of America's Merit Book Award in the category, Best Anthology. [10]

Books

Evetts is the author of four collections of poetry: [2]

His work has been included in a number of landmark haiku anthologies, most notably:

Related Research Articles

<i>Haiku</i> Japanese poetry form

Haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan, and can be traced back from the influence of traditional Chinese poetry. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 morae in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a kireji, or "cutting word"; and a kigo, or seasonal reference. However, haiku by classical Japanese poets, such as Matsuo Bashō, also deviate from the 17-on pattern and sometimes do not contain a kireji. Similar poems that do not adhere to these rules are generally classified as senryū.

Senryū (川柳) is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 morae. Senryū tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and senryū are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are more serious.

George Swede, is a Latvian Canadian psychologist, poet and children's writer who lives in Toronto, Ontario. He is a major figure in English-language haiku, known for his wry, poignant observations

Haibun is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. The range of haibun is broad and frequently includes autobiography, diary, essay, prose poem, short story and travel journal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reginald Horace Blyth</span> British Japanologist (1898–1964)

Reginald Horace Blyth was an English writer and devotee of Japanese culture. He is most famous for his writings on Zen and on haiku poetry.

Hokku is the opening stanza of a Japanese orthodox collaborative linked poem, renga, or of its later derivative, renku. From the time of Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), the hokku began to appear as an independent poem, and was also incorporated in haibun. In the late 19th century, Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) renamed the standalone hokku as "haiku", and the latter term is now generally applied retrospectively to all hokku appearing independently of renku or renga, irrespective of when they were written. The term hokku continues to be used in its original sense, as the opening verse of a linked poem.

Bruce Ross is a Canadian American poet, author, philosopher, humanities educator and past president of the Haiku Society of America. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario.

Nicholas Anthony Virgilio was an internationally recognized haiku poet who is credited with helping to popularize the Japanese style of poetry in the United States.

The Haiku Society of America is a non-profit organization composed of haiku poets, editors, critics, publishers and enthusiasts that promotes the composition and appreciation of haiku in English. Founded in 1968, it is the largest society dedicated to haiku and related forms of poetry outside Japan, and holds meetings, lectures, workshops, readings, and contests, throughout the United States. The society's journal, Frogpond, first published in 1978, appears three times a year. As of 2022, the HSA has over 1,000 members.

Cor Van den Heuvel is an American haiku poet, editor and archivist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Jenkins</span> Anglo-Welsh poet

Nigel Jenkins was an Anglo-Welsh poet. He was an editor, journalist, psychogeographer, broadcaster and writer of creative non-fiction, as well as being a lecturer at Swansea University and director of the creative writing programme there.

A haiku in English is an English-language poem written in a form or style inspired by Japanese haiku. Like their Japanese counterpart, haiku in English are typically short poems and often reference the seasons, but the degree to which haiku in English implement specific elements of Japanese haiku, such as the arranging of 17 phonetic units in a 5–7–5 pattern, varies greatly.

William J. Higginson was an American poet, translator and author most notable for his work with haiku and renku, born in New York City. He was one of the charter members of the Haiku Society of America, and was present at its formation meeting in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Kacian</span> American poet

James Michael Kacian is an American haiku poet, editor, translator, publisher, organizer, filmmaker, public speaker, and theorist. He has authored more than 20 volumes of English-language haiku, and edited scores more, including serving as editor-in-chief for Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years. In addition, he is founder and owner of Red Moon Press (1993), a co-founder of the World Haiku Association (2000), and founder and president of The Haiku Foundation (2009).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Pizzarelli</span> American writer

Alan Pizzarelli is an American poet, songwriter, and musician. He was born of an Italian-American family in Newark, New Jersey, and raised in the first ward’s Little Italy. He is a major figure in English-language haiku and Senryū.

Lee Gurga is an American haiku poet. In 1997 he served as president of the Haiku Society of America. He was the editor of Modern Haiku magazine from 2002 to 2006, and is the current editor of the Modern Haiku Press. Gurga lives in Lincoln, Illinois, where he works as a dentist. Also involved in the translation of Japanese haiku into English, Gurga cites Matsuo Bashō, a Japanese poet from the Edo period, as one of his main appreciations. One of his most known haiku is about graduation day for students and is presented in his book Haiku: A Poet's Guide.

<i>Frogpond</i> Haiku magazine

Frogpond is a haiku magazine published by the Haiku Society of America. It is published electronically three times per year and consists of English-language haiku and senryu, linked forms including sequences, renku, rengay, and haibun, essays and articles on these forms, and book reviews. Submissions may come from members and nonmembers. The first issue was published in February 1978.

The British Haiku Society (BHS) was formed in 1990 and aims to promote haiku and to teach and publish Haiku in English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Colón (writer)</span> American poet

Carlos Colón was an American poet. He primarily wrote English-language haiku and concrete poems. During his lifetime, he published over 12 chapbooks and over 1,400 poems published in a variety of journals including Modern Haiku and Frogpond.

Alexis K. Rotella is an American poet and artist. She has written poems in several of the traditional styles of Japanese poetry, including haiku, senryū, renga, and haibun.

References

  1. "Haiku Foundation Poet Profile". www.thehaikufoundation.org. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  2. 1 2 3 4 van den Heuvel, Cor (2003). "American Haiku's Future". Modern Haiku . Lincoln: Modern Haiku Press. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  3. "Millikin University Haiku Writer Profile". www.brooksbookshaiku.com. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  4. High, Graham (2015). "Introduction:". In High, Graham (ed.). A Silver Tapestry. The Best of 25 Years of Critical Writing from the British Haiku Society. The British Haiku Society. pp. 6–7. ISBN   978-1-906333-03-4.
  5. Walsh, Thomas (8 Jul 1994). "42nd St. Asks, Again, "Is It Art?" For New Project". Back Stage. Vol. 35, no. 27. pp. 1, 6. ISSN   0005-3635. ProQuest   962861951.
  6. "Creative Time Programme Archive". www.creativetime.org. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  7. Pasternak, Anne, ed. (2007). Creative Time: The Book. Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 76–78, 264.
  8. Smith, Roberta (1994-07-29). "Art Review; 42d Street Puts On Heavy Makeup and Smiles a Summer Smile". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  9. "Haiku Society of America: Merit Book Awards 1998". www.hsa-haiku.org. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  10. "Haiku Society of America: Complete Archive of Merit Book Awards". www.hsa-haiku.org. Retrieved 2023-05-12.