Featured Writer: Harriot West

Harriot West's haibun and haiku have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Awards for her writing include the Museum of Haiku Literature Award and the Modern Haiku award for best haibun. A collection of her haibun and haiku, Into the Light, has recently been published by Mountains and Rivers Press.

A Brief Analysis of Contemporary Society As Seen Through My Eyes

Tolstoy wept while listening to the andante cantabile of Tchaikovsky's first string quartet. I, on the other hand, wondered what kind of hair gel the viola player used, considered where I might find shoes like those worn by the cellist, speculated about the gold band on the right hand of the fair-haired violinist, and worried I'd blushed when I ran into an old boyfriend during intermission.

rustle of silk
what I remember of
War and Peace

First published in Modern Haiku 43:3

reprinted in nothing in the window (Red Moon Press, 2012)

In response to a request for a bit of advice on haibun writing:

I can offer advice on writing—but it's eye-rollingly dull. Basically almost everything I learned in Writing 101—show don't tell, cut and then cut some more. But advice on writing haibun? I'm not sure I have any. It's useful to read and write as much as possible. But how to create that special juxtaposition between haiku and prose? It feels like magic when I read it and so very elusive when I try to write it. And that for me is the allure of haibun.