Stella Pierides

1. How did you get started with haiku?

Haiku encapsulates issues close to my heart: It concentrates on and values the moment, while grounding itself in historical and geological reference. It makes inroads into the mind through juxtaposition of imagery, or ideas. It draws on our shared world and so it is capable of delighting with sudden recognition and insight. It speaks about all human experience, using economy of means. All this, and more, this bundle of experience and insight attracted me, and once I was ready to understand haiku, and to use it to communicate myself, I got hooked.

2. Tell us more about yourself.

I’m a poet and writer, living in Germany and England (not simultaneously!). I am married and have two adult daughters. I enjoy reading, Googling, gardening, film, music, food, walking, and working long hours. I have coedited and contributed to two psychology-related books, produced one poetry book, In the Garden of Absence (which received a 2013 Kanterman Book Award from the Haiku Society of America for books published in 2012), and two books of short stories (the latest is The Heart and Its Reasons, 2014). Published work appears in various print and online venues. Currently, I manage the Per Diem: Daily Haiku feature for the Haiku Foundation. More information about me appears on the Haiku Foundation Registry, and my blog. You can also find me on Twitter at @stellapierides.

3. What does NaHaiWriMo mean to you?

The discipline of responding to a prompt; a supportive, close-knit community of poets from all over the world; reading and sharing different ways of responding to the prompts; the fun of it!

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

Read, write, and share. Visit the Haiku Foundation website daily for the hand-picked Per Diem: Daily Haiku selection. And respond to the daily prompt on the NaHaiWriMo page on Facebook!

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

I am picking poems from areas that interest me as a human being:

swollen river

another deep

regret

This reflects my interest in psychology.

winter wind

feathers and fishbones shift

inside the eyrie

This reflects my interest in nature.

city of masks

the beggar hides

her face

I am interested in society and its vicissitudes. I regularly respond to issues with haiku, haibun, or short stories. This is one of those moments, captured on my first visit to Venice.