An intro to haiku in English

One of these days I'm going to write a post about what elements I consider essential to a haiku, a senryu, and other variations of the form in English. I hope that there have been hints in my posts here and there when I evaluate and edit my own poems out loud.

For today, though, I'll refer you to Curtis Dunlap over at Blogging Along Tobacco Road. He gives a very thoughtful explanation of the basics. He touches on key ideas such as syllable counts (and the difference between syllables in English and onji in Japanese); the importance of season words for haiku; the use of juxtaposition of images; and the difference between haiku and senryu.

It's a great crash course with examples from his own work and others', as well as a short linkography at the end referring you to more good books and sites.

So what are you still doing here? Go check it out. And while you're there, be sure to dip into the work of numerous excellent haiku poets featured on the right and left sidebars, under the headings "Poets and poems" and "Haiku: Three questions".