November 17, 2002

Dear Stefanie,

Thank you for your enquiry. I don't think my submission guidelines will be of much help, since they govern format and presentation rather than content preferences.

On form and content of haiku submissions, the policy is that there is no policy. In principle, style and theme are completely open; so too, layout. In practice my tastes adhere fairly closely to the standards exemplified by the journals of the Haiku Society of America, the British Haiku Society, Haiku Canada, etc., as well as other major haiku journals such as Modern
Haiku, Acorn and Snapshots.

When giving guidance to those intending to submit, I try to restrict my theoretical pronouncements, although I frequently emphasise the need for the qualities of simplicity, immediacy and presence, with the poem communicating via the chosen images rather than
through any overt expression of thought or feeling (show, don't tell). It is also frequently necessary to stress that the 5-7-5 syllable form is entirely optional and contrived attempts to achieve this form are counter-productive.

However, I would rather the poet discovered such principles through practice, reading and writing, so my usual advice is to purchase a sample issue of Presence, or consult our web site at

http://freespace.virgin.net/haiku.presence

The only thing I think it's necessary to add at this stage is that my personal preference varies from the majority of other haiku editors in that I don't believe in any fixed form or unique genre of haiku in English. Haiku as a distinct genre makes sense only in the Japanese context. In English a haiku can have anything from one to four lines, or, if printed vertically or otherwise unconventionally, it might even take up an entire page. The boundaries with the sister-forms of senryu and tanka are indistinct, as is the boundary with "conventional" poetry. A poem might extend to eight, or even sixteen, lines and still sustain a haiku spirit throughout. In practice such examples are rare, but Presence encourages, rather than excludes, them, as they arise.

I hope all this is useful information with your project. If you have any further questions I will do my best to reply, though I'm not always a prompt e-mailer.