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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."
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.
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.
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.
"Haiku should be written as swiftly as a woodcutter fells a tree or a swordsman leaps at a dangerous enemy." Basho, the father of haiku poetry, was of samurai stock himself and so wrote these words from experience.
Have we completely missed the point of the modern western revolution in the arts? Hugh Moss thinks so, and here he presents a refreshingly original and thought-provoking new approach to understanding art. It not only makes sense of western art over the past century or more, but applies equally to the art of any culture at any time, all within one enlightening framework that, well ... works. This new perspective is impossible to ignore - a theory that places art right at the centre of the evolution of human consciousness, as a key driver of the process. Argued with intelligence, panache and wit, The Art of Understanding Art provides a delightfully entertaining read that will change the way you think about and look at art, whether you are a collector (or would like to be), a connoisseur, an academic, a student or of course an artist (or would like to be). It is illustrated with intriguing skill, depth and humour by Peter Suart.
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.
Collection of portraits from 1988 photographic shoot with Sinead O'Connor.
A collection of English-language haibun by Canadian poet Terry Ann Carter based on the famous pilgrimage route along the eastern coast of Japan.
The Power of Dreams tells the story of a couple, already in their 40?s, who uprooted themselves from urban life to follow their dream of living in the wilderness. They settled in a remote mountain valley called Precipice Valley, part of the ancient trade route linking B.C.'s Chilcotin plateau to the Pacific Coast. Surrounded by mountain vastness they lived there for nearly three decades, much of it in near-total isolation. Their dreams sustained them while they carved out a lifestyle that was both rewarding and challenging. These are the stories of how the two of them designed and hand-built a solar powered, two-storey post and beam house, which they named Firhome, all the while learning how...