Media review of souls and wings
To read some of the book reviews and comments from the readership, please go to the publisher’s web site Editions du Tanka francophone (Click on the title of the book; the English section comes after the French one).manual update: August 3rd 2010
English/French Tanka collection by a French-language poetess
For the first time, in nearly 50 years, a French language woman poet writes a complete collection of tanka (91) which is also offered in English: D’âmes et d’ailes/of souls and wings by Janick Belleau.of souls and wings is introduced with a HERstory of tanka since the 9th century (from Ono no Komachi to Tawara Machi including Jehanne Grandjean, the first Francophone poetess).
Click on either links (tanka or Sappho) for details and the totality of media coverage and comments from the readership.
manual update: August 3rd, 2010
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Haiku
books
2008. Regards de femmes – haikus francophones. AFH, Lyon & Adage, Montréal
Second printing available since mid-June 2009.
Direction of JB. Collection of 283 previously unpublished haiku and tercets by 86 French speaking women authors and of 14 illustrations by various women artists. A world-first because it is the only book giving voice to French haiku women poets. Topics: friendship, family, the passages of life, society, the future of the planet.
A study by JB precedes the main body: Francophone et féminin, le haïku (Haiku, French and female) which is a brief history of haiku written in French by women since the beginning of the XXth century. The study ends by a proposition of androgynous writing.
2006. L’Erotique poème court / haiku. Biliki, Brussels
Co-direction by JB and Micheline Beaudry. Collection of 77 French-speaking poets and 182 of their previously unpublished short poems; 9 illustrations by Line Michaud. A world-first: haiku in French, original language, perpetuating the traditional Japanese theme of eroticism. Finalist for the Belgian Literary Prize, The Salt of the Readership, an award granted to works to which traditional media pay little attention.
2003. Humeur… Sensibility… Alma… – haiku / tanka.
Please, read the details in the Sappho section.
feature articles
2008. February. Haiku Canada Review
Canadian Haiku Women Pioneers From Sea To Sea (1928-1985)
Portrait of 12 women pioneers of haiku in Canada and their achievements: Simone Routier, Claire Pratt, Joan Giroux, Catherine M. Buckaway, Mildred A. Rose, L. Pearl Schuck, Betty Drevniok, Margaret Saunders, Jocelyne Villeneuve, Ruby Spriggs, Ava Kar (Anna Vakar), Dorothy Howard.
Translation from French by Dorothy Howard in PDF
William J. Higginson, Worldfield Haikai Pub, USA
2007. Winter. Haiku Canada Review
Penny Harter, American Poet and Haikuist – in her Own Words
Interview focusing on basic rules of haiku – rules formulated for teachers by the poetess in 1985 in her text « A Lesson Plan That Works » which appears in William J. Higginson’s book for which Harter collaborated: « The Haiku Handbook ». Does the poetess still follow these rules, a few decades later?
2006. Spring. Fredericton. Revue Ellipse Mag 77
JB, guest editor of the Section, Written in the feminine. Some definitions (haiku, senryu, tercet) and presentation of 6 women poets (isabel Asúnsolo, Blanca Baquero, Micheline Beaudry, Anne-Marie Labelle, Angèle Lux et Monika Thoma-Petit) and of some of their previously unpublished haiku; plus, 16 haiku by JB.
Translation from French mainly by Jo-Anne Elder.
presentations
2010. May 21-23, Montréal, Haiku Canada Weekend
JB's talk: Panorama of Haiku (1998-2009) - the vision of Francophone poets and thinkers in France (Alain Kervern, Maurice Coyaud, Corinne Atlan / Zéno Bianu, Jean Antonini, Dominique Chipot, isabel Asúnsolo / Éric Hellal); in Québec (Dorothy Howard, André Duhaime, Robert Melançon, Francine Chicoine); and in Belgium (Serge Tomé).
Beginning of talk: I approach the state of contemporary haiku practically, letting Francophone poets and thinkers remind us of their vision.
I think that we, poets of haiku, rely on guides both recent and current, to draw and trace the royal road of French haiku.
How to prove this? My method isn’t as exhaustive as that of other poets such as Andrea C. Missia and Max Verhart. Rather, I created a list from my personal library of anthologies and collective works published over the last ten years. I favoured the works introduced with a preface, a foreword or an introduction giving a short or long definition of haiku. They are authors or co-authors who have written these texts-definitions. Their words have been faithfully transcribed and objectively analyzed. Chronology is by year of publication.
My paper flows as follows: first, I quote, in their own words, Francophone poets and thinkers who describe the characteristics of haiku according to their definition of it. Second, I clarify the words, phrases, snatches of sentences, if necessary, when there is a ‘yes’ in the appropriate column of the spreadsheet.
Then, comes a conclusion.
The Spreadsheet: Eleven characteristics define haiku, beginning with the columns Poem, Brevity, etc. These are the words appearing regularly in the above-mentioned Prefaces. The characteristics are classified according to the form and content of haiku: the first five are the form, i.e. the structure; the last six are the content, i.e. the spirit.
2009. May 15-17. Vancouver. Haiku Canada
Annual Weekend Conference at the University of British Columbia (UBC)
Presentation: Haiku Women connected through Inner Life
Abstract: Themes favoured by haiku women, whether they are French, English or Japanese, are recurrent. The talk concentrates on the intimate thoughts of women poets while being busy with everyday tasks. Relevant haiku accompany the presentation – those in French, read by Micheline Beaudry and Diane Descôteaux.
Translation from French by Dorothy Howard.
NB : Trip at our expense
2008. May 16-18. Ottawa. Haiku Canada
Annual Weekend Conference at the Carleton University
Presentation: Women’s Writing and Haiku – Thematic Evolution
Abstract: What are the characteristics of women’s writing? The most recurrent, those defined by Western women theorists since 1974, are examined: first person subject, one’s own body (often dealt with humour), the everyday, and the mother-daughter relationship. There are also newer themes of friendship, environment and society. Presentation concludes by submitting that the concept itself of women’s writing is constantly evolving, giving way in some instances, to androgynous writing.
Translation from French by Dorothy Howard.
NB: travel at our expense
2007. October 8-22. Tokyo
Three organisations, three presentations of the same paper: Canadian Haiku Women Pioneers From Sea To Sea, 1928-1985 :
Meguro Haiku International Circle led Yasuomi Koganei(October 13);
Modern Haiku Association led by Toshio Kimura (October 14);
and Meiji University, Center for International Programs for Prof. Yoshikazu Obata’s classroom (October 17).
Translation from French into English by Dorothy Howard in PDF
Deep bow to poet and translator (from English to Japanese), Ms
NB : heartfelt thanks to the 3 organisations and to A. F. to have paid most of my expense.
2007. August 15-19. Winston-Salem. Haiku North America Conference
Presentation: Canadian Haiku Women Pioneers From Sea To Sea - (1928-1985)
Abstract: Some women pioneers devoted a great part of their creativity to writing haiku and to publishing their texts; others devoted their creative energy to promoting haiku by writing critical studies, publishing literary reviews, mentoring or being elected executives the national association, Haiku Canada.
Translation from French by Dorothy Howard in PDF
NB : trip at our expense