Rich Youmans
The Flow of Sensibility
A Memorial Tribute to Bruce Ross, 1945-2026
Among the pioneers of English-language haibun, Bruce Ross holds a preeminent place. It’s not just that he edited the first anthology dedicated to haibun in English (Journey to the Interior: American Versions of Haibun, published by Tuttle in 1998) and, with Jim Kacian, founded the contemporary haibun anthology series and, later, contemporary haibun online. He also tried to understand the history and inner workings of the form—how the prose and haiku should combine, how it had progressed from its origins in Japan and taken root around the world, and how, as he put in an introductory note to his anthology,
this conservative Japanese form has been transformed to serve a poetic exploration of the unfathomable interior of the self, the emotional nature of love for another, the deep structure of aesthetic value in nonhuman nature, the implicative sense of dwelling in a particular place, the profound revelation of the unknown place, the hidden wellsprings of our spiritual sense—all in the context of the so-called late twentieth-century postmodern condition.
Bruce explored that transformation with not just a keen acumen and a deep understanding of haibun’s history, but also passion and enthusiasm. I met him a few times, mostly at Haiku North America conferences, and I can still see his mix of intensity (he had strong opinions) and near glee when he homed in a topic close to his heart. Read through his essays, and you can see Bruce grappling with how the prose and haiku should balance and connect, how haibun could and should evolve. Some of his concepts—of haibun as “the narrative of an epiphany,” with the haiku providing revelation; of “the flow of sensibility,” in which “feeling takes precedence” to avoid a simple, plodding account of an event; of “privileging the link” rather than placing too much weight on either the prose or the haiku individually—became fundamental to the form’s development in the 21st century.
Bruce’s contribution to the haiku community goes beyond haibun, of course. A past president of the Haiku Society of America, he edited several haiku anthologies (including Haiku Moment: An Anthology of Contemporary North American Haiku, another Tuttle book that made a big impact in the 1990s) and wrote numerous critical and instructional works. He was also an animal rights activist, a philosopher with an abiding interest in Zen Buddhism, a publisher, and a humanities professor whose topics included religion, critical theory, philosophy, poetics, world literature, and mythology. A native of Ontario, Canada, he and his wife, Astrid Andreescu, lived for many years near Bangor, Maine, where they published Autumn Moon Haiku Journal. He was a man of many accomplishments, but his contributions to contemporary English-language haibun were particularly seminal; Bruce broadened the audience for haibun, deepened the understanding of what the genre had been, and laid a path for others to follow on their own journeys.
Bruce passed away in January, and to honor his legacy we’ve assembled a selection of his work. It includes two essays that provide more insights into his ideas on the form, as well as several of his own haibun. Those latter works reflect his preference for haibun to be autobiographical, as well as his love of nature and traveling (as Bruce noted in an interview with former Haibun Today editor Jeffrey Woodward, “I am especially attracted to travel, and many of my haibun result from such activity”). Above all, they show a man who felt deeply, observed closely, and keenly captured moments too often overlooked.
Essays and Haibun by Bruce Ross
Haibun: Narratives of the Heart
From World Haiku Review, 2001. This essay explores haibun’s past, its essential characteristics, and its potential development.
On Defining Haibun to a Western Readership
From Simply Haiku, 2004. Further thoughts on how Western haibun has evolved.
Selected Haibun
A portfolio of Bruce’s own work.
Note: Thank you to Bruce’s wife, Astrid Andreescu, for permission to reprint his work. Many of Bruce’s books are available through the Autumn Moon Haiku Journal; for a list and ordering instructions, click here.