Rachel Green

NaHaiWriMo daily writing prompter for October 2015

1. How did you get started with haiku?

I started in about 2000 by joining a weekly online poetry group. I learned about haiku, read Bashō, and was hooked. I’ve written one to three haiku or senryu every day for the last fifteen years. Habit keeps me going, though my phone can predict every word now.


2. Tell us more about yourself.

I live in Derbyshire, in England, near the crooked spire of Chesterfield. I trained as a visual artist and am now primarily a writer, with several books available (look me up on my website and Amazon UK). I train KAPAP (Israeli fighting style) and Brazilian jiu-jitsu five days a week.


3. What does NaHaiWriMo mean to you?

It’s a daily prompt to keep my haiku fresh, though as often as not I revert to senryu—there are only so many poems about crows and cemeteries.


4. What one piece of advice would you offer to those who are new to writing haiku?

Ignore the 5-7-5 thing. It’s totally artificial. Read the great poets. Practice every day.


5. Please share three of your favourite or best haiku. 


slanting sunshine

catching all the fresh greens—

hatching snails


sparrowsong

through willow leaves

honesty blooms


hissing rain

on sun-baked pavement

ants scatter