Sunday, October 12, 2008

Bill Higginson

A giant of the haiku world, Bill Higginson, has died. I received word from Curtis Dunlap at Blogging Along Tobacco Road and could not put it any better than he does in his most recent post:

We have lost a friend and pioneer in English language haiku and Japanese poetic forms. Please join me in expressing our sincere condolences to Penny, family, and friends of William J. Higginson.

Perhaps the best form of tribute I can offer is a link to Butterfly Dreams: The Seasons Through Haiku and Photographs, with 25 examples of translations by Bill of the haiku masters, photographs by Michael Lustbader.

Here is Bill's translation of a haiku I've read at least five different versions of in recent weeks, none anywhere even near satisfactory, until I read this gem by Bill this morning:


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you a butterfly?
and I Chuang-tzu?
my dreaming heart
Basho


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Thank you, Bill, literally for everything.

best,
Don
at

5 comments:

  1. GregOctober 12, 2008 at 10:17 AM

    that's horrible news. Bill's "The Haiku Handbook" was the most informative and useful book on haiku I've ever read. He is someone who should have a statue erected in his memory.

    monarch butterfly
    lost
    in the glaring sun

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ed BakerOctober 12, 2008 at 11:09 AM

    I too got this news via
    Curtis and sent alon:


    Old Frog
    leaps into
    s i l e n c e

    and I think that Bill and Penny were working on a new edition of HAIKU WORLD

    Ed

    ps where in Maryland do
    you (Greg Schwartz) live? I am in Silver Spring.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GregOctober 12, 2008 at 4:31 PM

    Ed,
    I'm in Owings Mills. saw your haiku on Curtis's page... very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Charles GramlichOctober 12, 2008 at 4:37 PM

    I saw this over on Greg's blog. Sorry to hear it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Issa's Untidy HutOctober 14, 2008 at 6:19 AM

    Folks, thanks for the thoughts, Ed and Greg, very nice haikus, Greg, your's segueing so well with Bill's translation and, Ed, you've done so many very wonderful variants of the Basho Frog and this one may be the finest ...

    Don

    ReplyDelete