On Saturday, 1 March 2025, esteemed poets Emiko Miyashita and Yuzo Ono hosted an event for the British Haiku Society (BHS) via the English-Speaking Union of Japan (ESUJ) webpage. The program included a brief introduction to the anthology by its editors, readings by participating poets, and a Q&A session.
The bilingual anthology Shining Wind/Сияен вятър celebrates the multifaceted presence of light through haiku, weaving together 139 voices from 16 countries: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, UK, and USA. By presenting haiku in English and Bulgarian translations, the anthology bridges traditions while honouring haiku’s minimalist form—distilling profound truths into fleeting moments of clarity. With contributions from diverse voices, it illuminates connections between language, culture, and the natural world.
Key themes and connections:
- Light as a universal motif: Poets explore light’s physical and metaphorical dimensions—dawn’s glow, shadows, reflections—mirroring haiku’s tradition of capturing nature’s ephemeral beauty;
- Global unity: The anthology’s international scope reflects haiku’s adaptability to diverse perspectives, echoing one’s own haiku journey, which was blended with Japanese aesthetics and Western sensibilities;
- Language and nature: Through concise imagery, contributors highlight the interplay between human experience and the natural world, aligning with haiku’s ecological ethos of observing life’s interconnectedness.
The audience included Japanese poets and ESUJ members (Shigeo Suzuki, Tsuyoshi Ichikawa, Junko Fujii, Noriyuki Saito, Ryo Kuroda, Kenji Tomikawa, Yuriko Takahashi, Mitsumasu Iwasaki, Kiyotaka Akasaka, Sadaaki Numata, Harumi Kaneko, and Kazumi Karaki) alongside participating poets from the anthology (Ann Rawson, Carita Forslund, Erica Ison, Herb Tate, Iliyana Stoyanova, Jill Muhrer, Jullie Mellor, Kristina Todorova, Maryam Mermey, Maureen Weldon, Maya Daneva, Nadejda Kostadinova, Neil Somerville, Olga Levitt, Paul Beech, Paul Hickey, Roger Noons, Tsanka Shishkova, and Yuzo Ono) and other guests. The reading session was led by Iliyana Stoyanova and featured a PowerPoint presentation that enriched attendees’ appreciation of the poems. In addition to English and Bulgarian texts, some haiku were read in Swedish and Japanese. The event also paid tribute to two poets who are no longer with us: Brendon Kent (UK) and Maya Lyubenova (Bulgaria).
The British Haiku Society expressed gratitude to the ESUJ for organizing this event. It was an honour for their anthology to be presented in Japan—the native land of haiku.