Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa

by David G. Lanoue

Overview

No mere "child's poet," Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) is an aware and committed artist who celebrates, in a lifetime of haiku, the "Other Power" of Amida Buddha: a power that transforms the individual and universe or, more exactly, the individual/universe in their inseparableness. This is the first book-length English-language treatment of this remarkable Japanese poet in relation to his joyful, "priestly" mission.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940016732022
Publisher:	Haikuguy.com
Publication date:	05/17/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	148 KB

About the Author

David G. Lanoue is a professor of English at Xavier University of Louisiana. He is a cofounder of the New Orleans Haiku Society, an associate member of the Haiku Foundation, and president of the Haiku Society of America. His books include translations ("Issa's Best: A Translator's Selection of Master Haiku" and "Cup-of-Tea Poems; Selected Haiku of Kobayashi Issa"), criticism ("Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa"), and a series of "haiku novels":"Haiku Guy," "Laughing Buddha," "Haiku Wars," "Frog Poet," and "Dewdrop World." He maintains The Haiku of Kobayashi Issa website, for which he translated 10,000 of Issa’s haiku.

Editorial Reviews

This is meticulous research illuminated by poetic instinct, spiritual insight and an intuitive, questioning haiku intelligence. Many oft-parroted theories and supposed facts concerning Issa's life and poetics, as proposed by so-called 'heavyweights' of haiku criticism, are here incisively refuted.

Presence 25 (January 2005) - Keith J. Coleman