Randall Herman
NaHaiWriMo daily writing prompter for August 2017, March 2019, April 2021, and November 2022.
The following text is updated from Randall’s original 2017 interview.
1. How did you get started with haiku?
I started writing because I have an interest in Japanese culture and aesthetics. Also, I was required to produce an artwork for a seminary class, and I wrote a haiku sequence. That was my beginning with Japanese forms.
2. Tell us more about yourself.
I have lived in South Texas, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Nebraska. Noting the similarities and differences in the natural world has been key to my writing. I’ve always been comfortable playing with words. I guess that goes back to childhood and dad often reading poetry aloud. My first haiku books were anthologies from Makoto Ueda, and I’ve included (below) the verse I wrote upon his death.
3. What does NaHaiWriMo mean to you?
To me NaHaiWriMo is a place to share poems and learn from other poets.
4. What one piece of advice would you offer to those who are new to writing haiku?
My advice to a new writer is to read lots of other poets, and read articles by poets on writing.
5. Please share three of your favourite or best haiku.
moments of silence
spill from long-awaited
cherry blossoms
glowing coals . . .
a translator grieves
the stray moonlight
peeking out from
the kimono . . .
her white neck