Hands in Haibun
a collaboration call
I first heard of haibun all thanks to K.E. Kimball and immediately fell in love with it. Reading it always leaves me with a lingering feeling; the theme echoed in my mind afterwards through the simple lines of the haiku.
When Tamyka Bell proposed the haibun project for Chalkboard some time ago I’ve always thought it’s an awesome idea, so I’ve offered to host it. Let’s go.
Is Haibun Food?
No, but it’s delicious. A haibun is a combination of prose and haiku. The prose is often non-fiction of a single theme such as a slice-of-life or a diary, and focuses on concrete imagery of the theme. It can be as short as a few sentences or as long as a book…but it’s most commonly about a paragraph length.
The haiku is added to amplify, juxtapose, provide a twist, or shift the point of view of the prose. It’s most often seen at the end of the piece, but can also precede the prose or be sandwiched between two sections of prose.
The definition of haiku in English is always contentious. The common form constraint (3 lines of 5–7–5 syllables) is not a strict rule; it’s generally considered less important than some of the thematic and stylistic elements, such as a season reference and an observed moment that shows — instead of telling — the writer’s message. More about haiku here.
Haibun Example:
Uncertain Horizon
by Dan Hardison
This is someone who has always been outgoing, who loved sports, and still insists on staying busy. But Parkinson’s disease is taking its toll. This once vibrant life is slowing down, the speech is difficult to understand, movement is faltering, the step that was ever so sure, now unsteady. Like a ship listing starboard, he continues on to some uncertain horizon.
clinging
to a vanished season . . .
autumn leaf
More great examples can be found here and in Medium.
Back to the question. In its best incarnation, haibun is a delectable food for thought. So, yes, it is food too!
Collaboration Call
We’d like to invite everyone to join in our haibun project. Since this is a collaboration project, we will split the work into prose writers and haiku writers.
Steps:
- Submit a prose by drafting it (from one paragraph to max 1000 words on any theme, even fiction is fine). Please add the below sentence at the bottom of your piece.
This prose is part of the Hands in Haibun project. Please create a haiku to go with this prose to make it a haibun. Visit the guideline post for more.
2. Add an image with linked credits and submit it to Chalkboard. Please ensure images do not violate its licensing / copyrights.
3. We’ll publish this prose to inspire the socks off the world.
4. As a haiku writer, you can copy the prose and add your haiku at the position you wish, but please don’t change the prose wordings.
5. Add the following credits and link to the original prose:
This haibun is part of the Hands in Haibun collaboration. The prose was written by @author. Visit the original post at:
[link to prose]
6. Tag your post with “haibun poem” and any other tags you like such as haiku. Add an image with linked credits and submit it to Chalkboard! Please ensure images do not violate its licensing / copyrights.
7. The haiku entries will be linked from the original prose entry by the editor.
8. The prose authors prepare a haiku themselves to publish for each of their proses at the end of the project. (Optional but highly recommended)
That’s it! I hope that isn’t too complicated, but if you have any doubts please leave a note or comment on the post.
I’m looking forward for the submissions.
