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Now and Here
In this beautifully presented book, poet Naomi Beth Wakan joins photographer Christine Brooks Cote to offer glimpses into their "now and here." Wakan wrote tanka-a format of five-line poems originating in Japan-in response to photographs by Cote. Wakan chose this particular format because it starts with an objective description of the image- "Early morning / the dew still resting / where it settled"-and then pivots to the poet's subjective reaction-"would we could wake refreshed / to look at things in new ways". Cote's photographs are the perfect inspiration for a poet-"you're looking at my life and what I love; you're seeing bits and pieces of places I have been; and you're catching glimpses of the best moments of my life." The title, Now and Here, comes from Henry David Thoreau: " . . . all these times and places and occasions are now and here."
On the Arts
With a strong creative streak and a passion for learning and writing, Naomi Beth Wakan has dabbled in many different art forms during her eighty-eight years. Her activities have led her to see art as the awareness of sensory action and reaction in the everyday. In other words, opportunities for making art are everywhere, and the possibilities for expressing oneself as an artist are endless. One's very life is an art, if lived with awareness. In this collection of short essays, Wakan writes about her experiences as someone who both appreciates and practices art, covering topics such as ikebana, photography, reading, film noir, domesticity, recycling, personal essay writing, solitude, and more. This book will entertain, but also awaken the reader to the possibilities of living a rich and rewarding life by infusing one's life with awareness and creativity.
Wind on the Heath
Though mainly a prolific personal essayist, Naomi Beth Wakan admits that poetry in the form of haiku, tanka, and free verse has occupied a large percentage of her waking hours and many of her sleeping ones too. This exceptional collection, Wind on the Heath, includes poems written when Wakan was in her twenties along with many written in recent years, thus spanning roughly sixty years of inquisitive thinking and creative writing. The foundation of Wakan's work is her dedication to living an examined life, which Wakan describes in this way: Seeking in the darkness/a crack through/which we may glimpse reality. Her poetry, superbly presented in this life-spanning collection, allows readers to see the flicker of light showing through the crack. This is poetry to live by.
The Way of Tanka
The Way of Tanka is an approachable yet comprehensive examination of the Japanese form of poetry known as tanka. The author, Naomi Beth Wakan, discusses its roots in early Japanese courts where it was considered the poetry of lovers, as well as its adaptation to western culture and the characteristics that separate it from the more popular form of Japanese poetry: haiku. Throughout, Wakan weaves her story of personal self-transformation as she moved from the more disciplined writing of haiku to the more metaphorical and philosophical writing of tanka. Numerous examples of tanka are provided, and the rich explanation of the experience of writing tanka encourages readers to write their own tanka while remaining open to the possibilities it provides for personal growth.
Poetry That Heals
In this inspiring memoir, Naomi Beth Wakan takes the reader on a journey through her lifelong experiences writing various forms of Japanese poetry, especially haiku and its related genres. She explains the rules and structure that distinguish the various forms, providing many examples of her own work as well as poems from well-known historical and contemporary poets. Very importantly, however, Wakan shows by example that the "rules" are not to be taken as impediments, but rather as guideposts on the journey to discover and explore oneself. Looking back, Wakan realizes that her practice of poetry writing has enabled her to develop awareness, dispassionate interest, personal healing, and compassion. In her own words: "I have come to see that in creating poetry, I am creating myself."
Time Together
Time Together, a collection of poems and photographs by Naomi Beth Wakan and Elias Wakan, is dedicated with love to Gabriola, the island near Vancouver, British Columbia, where the couple has lived for some twenty years. Both in their nineties, the Wakans have each been solo artists for quite some time: Elias, a photographer and sculptor using wood as his medium; Naomi, an essayist and poet, and dabbler in many other art forms. This book, however, was a joint adventure, and creating it was an opportunity both to look back on their time spent with each other as well as their time spent on the island whose earth and people have gifted them with lives of joy and bounty. Time Together is a celebration of longevity, community, and love.
Segues
In a wonderful and unconventional poetic meditation on living, Wakan muses on everything from understanding the physics of the universe to ageing, preparing for death and dealing with cancer in often entertaining yet pointed verse.
Late Bloomer
In this lively, perceptive, and encouraging book, Naomi Beth Wakan shares he experience as an older writer, from dealing with ageism to working around a sometimes erratic memory, providing valuable insights to other older writers. Along the way she collects the experiences of twelve other writers, profiling them and their achievements. In addition to Wakan?s own writing, Late Bloomer contains twelve short interviews, examples of the interviewee?s writing, and a reference section. This is a wonderful book, written for an older audience that has often been neglected in this genre.
On the Arts
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The Way of Haiku
The Way of Haiku is a guide for learning to write the most popular form of Japanese poetry: haiku. But true to the inviting and personal style of its author, Naomi Beth Wakan, it is also a comprehensive examination of the form and an eye-opening view into the way that reading and writing haiku can change the way one looks at life. “Writing haiku helps you appreciate the wonder of ordinary things and ordinary days.” Wakan discusses the history of haiku’s development, its important literary elements, and the differences between haiku written in Japanese and those written in English. Numerous examples of haiku are provided, some written by Japanese haijin (haiku writers) and presented in translation, and some written by English-speaking writers. The rich explanation of the experience of writing haiku and the encouraging words of the author encourage readers to write their own haiku while remaining open to the possibilities it provides for personal growth.
