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Everyone's favorite "old biddy from Gabriola Island," Naomi Beth Wakan, captures a year of her obsessive reading in her new collection Book Ends. This lively conversation covers almost every genre--fiction, essays, poetry, biography, science and the arts--and Naomi's tart observations on both books and authors frees readers to consider what they actually enjoy reading, rather than what they have been told is good. Naomi's compulsive reading rubs off on the reader, as they are encouraged to become more aware and involved in their own reading selection. Book Ends is a must for any book club member or bibliophile.
John, Ivan, and Giovanni, and their families, are neighbors and good friends, until a stranger from the government reminds them that they live in three different countries, and orders them to build fences.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Did You Just Call Me Old Lady? is an upbeat look at aging and the impacts of Canada’s increasingly aged population through the eyes of a ninety-year-old woman. Far from seeing older citizens as a burden and a strain on our public health care system, Lillian Zimmerman gracefully, and often humourously, argues that long-livers are able to live fulfilling lives and make valuable contributions to society. Zimmerman illustrates how prevalent ageism - the dislike and prejudice against old people - is in society, media and popular culture, showing how language, advertisements for products to alleviate bodily failings, and jokes about memory loss and sexual infirmity are all examples of ageism, in...
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."
In this witty and energetic collection, Naomi Beth Wakan explores all aspects of writing ? from the movement of inspiration to the art of the back cover endorsement. In between, she considers censorship, why she can't write a murder mystery, and how to introduce children to poetry so they will love it. This is a collection that sparkles with personality and with a love of all things written.