is a Japanese form of short

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

similar to

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...

in construction: three lines with 17 (or , often translated as

syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...

s, but see the article on for distinctions). tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are more serious. Unlike haiku, do not include a (cutting word), and do not generally include a , or

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

word.

Form and content

is named after

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

poet , whose collection launched the genre into the public consciousness. A typical example from the collection: This , which can also be translated "Catching him / I see the robber / is my son," is not so much a personal experience of the author as an example of a type of situation (provided by a short comment called a or fore-verse, which usually prefaces a number of examples) and/or a brief or witty rendition of an incident from history or the arts (plays, songs, tales, poetry, etc.).

English-language publications

In the 1970s, Michael McClintock edited ''Seer Ox: American Senryu Magazine''. In 1993, Michael Dylan Welch edited and published ''Fig Newtons:'' ''to Go'', the first anthology of English-language .William J. Higginson, ''Frogpond'' XXV:1, Winter–Spring 1994, pages 103–105. *''Prune Juice'', a journal of and , is edited by Tia Haynes. *''Failed Haiku'' is edited by Mike Rehling and Bryan Rickert. *''Simply Haiku'' archives (final publication in 2009) contain a regular column edited by

Alan Pizzarelli Alan Pizzarelli (born 1950) is an American poet, songwriter, and musician. He was born of an Italian-American family in Newark, New Jersey, and raised in the first ward’s Little Italy. He is a major figure in English-language haiku and Senryū ...

. Additionally, one can regularly find and related articles in some haiku publications. For example, the ''World Haiku Review'' has regularly published . regularly appear or appeared in the pages of ''

Modern Haiku ''Modern Haiku'' is an independent Haiku and Haiku Studies journal, based in the United States. Its first issue appeared in 1969, making it, as of 2021, the longest-running haiku journal outside of Japan. Throughout its history, it has featured man ...

'', ''Frogpond'', ''Bottle Rockets'', ''Woodnotes'', ''Tundra'', ''Haiku Canada Review'', ''Presence'', ''Blithe Spirit'', ''Kingfisher'', and other haiku journals, often unsegregated from haiku.

awards

The

Haiku Society of America The Haiku Society of America is a non-profit organization composed of haiku poets, editors, critics, publishers and enthusiasts that promotes the composition and appreciation of haiku in English. Founded in 1968, it is the largest society dedicat ...

holds the annual Gerald Brady Memorial Award for best unpublished . Since about 1990, the Haiku Poets of Northern California has been running a contest, as part of its San Francisco International Haiku and Senryu Contest.

References

Bibliography and further reading

* J C Brown, ''Senryu: Poems of the People'', Simon & Schuster Ltd, 1991, * R. H. Blyth, translator, ''Senryu: Japanese Satirical Verses''. 1949, The Hokuseido Press, . Includes black and white sketches and some colored plates *''R. H. Blyth, translator, Japanese Humour.'' 1957, Japan Travel Bureau *R. H. Blyth, translator, ''Japanese Life and Character in Senryu''. 1960, The Hokuseido Press *R. H. Blyth, translator, ''Oriental Humour''. 1960, The Hokuseido Press *R. H. Blyth, translator, ''Edo Satirical Verse Anthologies''. 1961, The Hokuseido Press *

Robin D. Gill Robin Dallas Gill, born in 1951 at Miami Beach, Florida, USA, and brought up on the island of Key Biscayne in the Florida Keys, is a bilingual author in Japanese and English. He first wrote extensively on stereotypes of Japanese identity bef ...

, compiler and translator
''Octopussy, Dry Kidney & Blue Spots – dirty themes from 18-19c Japanese poems''
Paraverse Press, 2007. . Chronicles 1,300 – Blyth mentioned that he could only introduce what the censors allowed; these are the type of that were not allowed. *Lorraine Ellis Harr (tombo), ''Selected Senryu''. 1976, J & C Transcripts. One of the earliest English-language -only publications *

James Day Hodgson James Day Hodgson (December 3, 1915November 28, 2012) was an American politician. He served as the Secretary of Labor and the Ambassador to Japan. Life and career Hodgson was born in Dawson, Minnesota, the son of Fred Arthur Hodgson, a lumber ...

, ''American Senryu''. 1992, The Japan Times, *Howard S. Levy and Junko Ohsawa, ''One Hundred Senryu Selections''. 1979, So. Pasadena, CA, Langstaff Publications, *

, ''Senryu Magazine''. 2001, River Willow. Although this book looks like a regular journal, it is the effort of Alan Pizzarelli only, done as a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of haiku journals. * Makoto Ueda, ''Light Verse from the Floating World: An Anthology of Premodern Japanese Senryu'', Columbia University Press, 1999. cloth *Michael Dylan Welch, ed. ''Fig Newtons: Senryu to Go'', Press Here, 1993 (the first anthology of English-language )

External links