Haiku book for Japan victims

Terence Portelli (Ed.): Bil-Ħajku Nsellimlek: Mill-Ġappun għal Malta u Lura, 2011, 56 pp.

A collection of Japanese short poems – haiku – have been published in solidarity with the Japanese people following the tsunami disaster last March.

A haiku is a short poem, generally of not more than 17 syllables spread over three lines, that originated in Japan. Its main characteristics are reference to nature and seasonal change, with particular emphasis on the present moment or haiku spirit.

Readers of these one-breath poems are likely to experience a sense of surprise resulting from the juxtaposition of images.

This representative, and in part retrospective, anthology has more than 200 haiku in Maltese penned by 20 writers living in Malta and abroad. It features examples from pioneers of this genre, from established and published haiku writers, and from five new and promising poets.

The contributors to this anthology are: Carmel Attard, Josette Attard, Louis Briffa, Anton Buttigieg, Manwel Cassar, Franco Debono, Victor Fenech, Joe Friggieri, Oliver Friggieri, Sergio Grech, Maurice Mifsud Bonnici, Manwel Nicholas-Borg, Ġorġ Peresso, John P. Portelli, Terence Portelli, Anselm Sciberras, John Sciberras, Joseph Sciberras, Lino Spiteri and Frank Zammit.

It was compiled and published in solidarity with the Japanese people following the disaster caused by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, and the radiation outbursts at the Fukushima nuclear plant in the subsequent days.

All proceeds from this publication will be sent to the Red Cross Society.

The book is on sale from Agenda Bookshops.