Encore

Classic Articles & Interviews about Haibun and Tanka Prose

Honoring Ray Rasmussen

Since the Encore section launched in December 2020, cho contributing editor Ray Rasmussen has been researching and resurfacing articles that still have many insights to offer. We’re lucky to have Ray, whose many contributions to the haibun community include serving as general editor (2016–2019) and haibun co-editor (2011–2019) of the late, lamented Haibun Today; designing the original cho website and serving as its technical editor; and, in addition to publishing his own haibun (some of which were collected in his book Landmarks), contributing a wealth of essays exploring the state of haibun and haibun writing.

The only downside is that, since Ray is the Encore section’s editor, none of his past articles can be featured—an omission that we’re happy to correct now. As guest Encore Editor for this issue, I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing Ray’s writing on the art of haibun and am happy to present three “encores.”

The first, “Characteristics of Contemporary English-Language Haibun,” was published in the earliest days of Haibun Today (2007), when it was still a blog overseen by editor/founder Jeffrey Woodward. English-language haibun had established its presence in the “haiku-niverse,” but it was still a time of development when many writers were not just testing the rules, but also still trying to figure out what exactly those rules were. Critical studies were few, and Ray’s essay is one of the best attempts at the time to determine exactly what this haibun thing was all about. As you’ll see, some of the points that Ray raised are still being discussed today.

His desire to understand the inner workings of haibun can also be seen in his 2010 essay “A Title Is a Title Is a Title, or Is It?” Here he takes a deep dive into an under-sung element of the haibun’s structure and even creates a classification system. Coming up with a good title can be one of the hardest aspects of any haibun/poem/artistic creation, and this essay will no doubt have you taking a second and even a third look at what to call your next piece.

Finally, in “The Role of Modeling in Haibun Composition,” Ray offers his experiences in taking favorite writings (not all of them haibun) and using them as springboards for his own work. Through it, he’s been able to expand his range of both topics and styles, and well as enter into a deeper appreciation of, and connection with, the writers he admires.

Below you’ll find links to these articles. As you’ll see, Ray has been one of the more thoughtful analysts and interpreters of contemporary haibun practices over the past decades, and his insights well worth reading.

Rich Youmans, Guest Encore Editor

Selections for cho 19.1

Characteristics of Contemporary English-Language Haibun
By Ray Rasmussen
Explorations into subject matter, style, and possibilities for further development.

A Title Is a Title Is a Title, Or Is It?
By Ray Rasmussen
The title is the reader’s introduction to your haibun; this essay offers a classification system for ensuring your choice works.

The Role of Modeling in Haibun
By Ray Rasmussen
We all have favorite pieces of writing; this essays offers a way to use them to enrich your own work.

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Selections from Previous Issues:

Ken Jones on Haibun: An Interview by Jeffrey Woodward
Jeffrey Woodward’s interview of Ken Jones about Jones’ journey from haiku to haibun is an exemplar of interviewing techniques. Ken, who passed way in 2015, has much to say about the ‘what is” and “how to” of haibun composition.

Make Haibun New through the Chinese Poetic Past:
Basho’s Transformation of Haikai Prose
by Chen-ou Liu
An exploration into how “Basho re-established and refined a mixed genre of verse and prose called haibun (haikai prose), which is exemplified, through his incorporation and recontextualization of the Chinese poetic past in his masterpiece, The Narrow Road to the Interior.” (Issue 18.2)

Looking and Seeing: How Haiga Works
by Jim Kacian
An article about the history and current practices and variety of English haiga. (Issue 18.1)

On Haiga
by Ron C. Moss
A video interview of cho haiga editor Ron C. Moss by Michael Rehling. Ron offers his thoughts about the form and examples of his work, including his experiments with video haiga. (Issue 18.1)

“Toward a Theory and Practice of Tanka-Prose“
by Charles D. Tarlton
A look at the problem of tanka-prose from the limited perspectives of 1) the nature of the prose passage, the prosaic part; 2) the tanka or verse, the lyrical or rhapsodic portion; and 3) the two in tandem, the dialectical transformation that elevates the prose and the tanka to a new level of perception. (Issue 17.3)

“Twenty Five Selections of Tanka Prose & an Editor’s Thoughts about Tanka Prose.“
by Bob Lucky
TP or not TP? there will always be aesthetic questions about what comprises a good tanka and what exactly the prose is supposed to be doing. In the end, a tanka prose piece that connects to readers, however it may do so, will serve as a guide to other writers. Here are 25 guides. (Issue 17.3)

“Saying Less to Mean More”
by Lew Watts
Watts reminds us that we write, not for ourselves, but for others and that sentimentality and obscurity can be turnoffs for readers. (Issue 17.2)

“The Segue in Tanka Prose“
by Jeffrey Woodward
Woodward, one of tanka prose’s best known poets, explores how the writer secures a good transition from one mode of writing (prose) to the other (the tanka, or in the case of haibun, the haiku). (Issue 17.2)

“What Haibun Poets Can Learn from Non-haikai Western Poetry Practices”
by J. Zimmerman
Zimmerman points out that other English-language genres— short stories, memoirs, personal essays, etc.—employ useful composition practices that can enhance the quality of our haibun and tanka prose. (Issue 17.1)

“More than the Sum of Its Parts: Explorations in Contemporary English-language Haibun” 
by Rich Youmans
Youmans offers a brief review of the history of haibun and tanka prose and addresses a central issue: the relationship of the poem (haiku or tanka) to the prose. (Issue 17.1)

“Some Personal Ideas about Writing Haibun”
by David Cobb
Cobb, a master of English-language haibun, raises a number of key issues in composing haibun and tanka prose, and also addresses some “haibun myths.” (Issue 16.3)