New to Haiku: Advice for Beginners–Mary Stevens

Today at New to Haiku, let’s welcome Mary Stevens. Mary is currently on the judging panel of The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems. Her first collection of haiku, enough light, was published by Red Moon Press in 2023. Her haiku have won numerous awards, including first place in the Harold G. Henderson Memorial Awards in 2020 and second place in the Peggy Willis Lyles Awards that same year. Thank you for sharing your haiku journey with us, Mary!

In Advice for Beginners posts, we ask established haiku poets to share a bit about themselves so that you can meet them and learn more about their writing journeys. We, too, wanted to learn what advice they would give to beginning haiku poets. You can read posts from previous Advice for Beginners interviewees here.

Welcome to New to Haiku, Mary. It’s good to have you here. How would you describe your writing process?

Very occasionally a haiku will just bonk me on head, often when I’m driving or in the shower. They arrive complete, with little or no need for revision. These I call “Gifts from The Beyond.” But for the most part, my process involves list-journaling about the events of the day and what I saw and heard, and then seeking connections between those snippets and my emotional states. I am most prolific when feeling a sense of openness to the universe. To stimulate my creativity, I gift myself solitude, adventure—whether travel or a middle-of-the night Moon Ramble—or explore another form of artistic expression, especially dance.

One that bonked me on the head:

autumn peach
the honeybees finish
what they started

first in The Heron’s Nest, Editors’ Choices, March 2022

One that came from a Moon Ramble:

milk moon
my palms full
of light

first in Upstate Dim Sum, Spring 2021

Do you have a haiku mentor? What advice did they give you?

When first starting out, I read a lot of haiku books and journals. I studied them. I would read the poems many times, aloud, and analyze how they worked. I looked at the presence and absence of parts of speech—nouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives, adverbs, etc.—and the effect that the line breaks and line order imparted. I memorized favorites. I noticed my emotions and looked for how the poet used language to evoke them in me.

You have been a member of several haiku groups, including the Broadmoor Haiku Collective (BHC), the Route 9 Haiku Group, and Haiku Poets of the Garden State (HPGS). How did these groups influence your writing?

In the BHC (Brad Bennett, Alan S. Bridges, Judson Evans, Kristen Lindquist, Hannah Mahoney, Jeannie Martin, Paul Miller, myself—and in the beginning years, Tom Sacramona), we take turns providing writing prompts. This has allowed me to write more than I would if I weren’t in the group. Also, because each member is a stellar haiku poet, I hold myself to the very highest standards. Knowing that poets I think so highly of are the first to see a poem is very motivational. Also, members occasionally present on haiku-related topics or try out an essay idea in the group, so there is a study aspect to the meeting. There is much kindness and support in this group, so I feel I can be experimental with my writing. Our anthology what weathers, what returns, edited by Kristen Lindquist, came from these online gatherings.

In the Route 9 Haiku Group (Shawn Blair, Yu Chang, Tom Clausen, Ion Codrescu, John Stevenson, Susan Yavaniski, myself—and up until her death, Hilary Tann), we meet monthly at a restaurant in Schenectady, NY, to eat dim sum and select poems to go into the pool for our journal, Upstate Dim Sum, which comes out twice a year. It is so wonderful to hear Yu’s, Tom’s and John’s stories from the group’s first 20 years and what the haiku world was like back then, and such a gift to hear the thought processes behind the poems of those time-tested poets. When I first joined, I definitely had imposter syndrome! However, I reframed that anxiety into the attitude that I had everything to learn. And in this aspect, they have been generous. I appreciate the warmth with which they invited me into the group and the sweetness with which they treat each other and myself.

In the HPGS (organized and facilitated by former HSA treasurer, Bill Deegan), we bring poems to workshop, which is ideal for finding out if a poem comes across as intended. Also, I enjoy contributing to the annual haiku signs display at the New Jersey Botanical Gardens. (HPGS made me an honorary New Jerseyan because I hosted their Zoom gatherings). It is a joy to talk about haiku conventions and the craft with these friendly and caring people.

One that was posted in the New Jersey Botanical Gardens:

field guide . . .
narrowing it down
by what it’s not

first in The Heron’s Nest, Winter 2022

What advice do you have for new poets trying to find a haiku group to join?

If you live in the U.S., you can email your area HSA coordinator, whom you can find in back of Frogpond; read the HSA Newsletter to find conferences and open groups that meet online; and attend any in-person gatherings you can regularly access. Don’t worry about not being good enough. The way to become good is to be around—as much as possible—the poets whose work you love.

How do you approach reading haiku?

When I sit down with a journal, I read the haiku/senryu three times. On the third pass, I mark the ones I really like. Then I read those a fourth time and study them carefully.

Did someone else’s haiku greatly influence your own?

While I cannot claim that I have the same voice as theirs, the poems of John Stevenson, Yu Chang, and Rowan Beckett had a big influence on me. Reading each of them, I had a distinct sense of “I didn’t know you could do that in haiku/senryu!”: Stevenson’s for his emotional honesty, Chang’s for his sweetness, and Beckett’s for their saying what is traditionally considered unspeakable, especially in haiku poetry. These poets inspired me with a sense of what’s possible and gave me the courage to say what I need to say. The influence never ends, either. Currently I am obsessing on the work of Gary Hotham, especially in his Rightsizing the Universe: Haiku Theory; the juxtapositions in his poems are subtle and powerful and I have been studying them for years.

In 2015, you presented “The Cicada’s Voice: How Wabi Sabi Can Teach Us How to Live,” at the Haiku North America conference. How do you define wabi sabi? How do you feel it informs haiku poetry?

Wabi sabi refers to objects or situations that are imperfect, incomplete, or impermanent. In Japanese art forms, these qualities impart a feeling of loneliness and appreciation for the transitory beauty of this world. For more on wabi sabi, you can view the slide presentation from Haiku North America 2015. At the end [of the slide show] are sources of further reading on the topic.

One that came from a wabi-sabi moment:

autumn sky
the paint worn thin
around the birdhouse door

first in The Heron’s Nest 13.4, 2011

Hannah Mahoney described your 2023 haiku collection, enough light, as work that reflects being “centered in the body as our way of being in the world.” As someone who finds it difficult at times to remain centered in my body, I find this intriguing. What do you recommend to increase mind-body awareness? What do you see as the relationship between haiku and the body?

Pay attention. Look until you see. Consider shape, color, size, motion. Listen until you hear. This could be sounds or language. Go beyond tasting to savoring. Touch to feel. Notice texture and temperature. Discern among scent, fragrance, and aroma. Move how you are moved to move. Feel the physical sensations of your emotions. I consider my own emotions and those I intuit of others as another sense. Get down to the suchness of the moment. Then write. Write whatever comes, even if it’s not a haiku, even if it’s 20 syllables. You want to get it down. You can massage the form later.

One that came out of movement:

dancing
all of me
for me

Upstate Dim Sum, Spring 2024

For those just starting out with writing haiku, what advice would you give?

Writing haiku consists of two parts: noticing the haiku moment and capturing it in the haiku form.

For the noticing part, follow the beauty, the wonder, the meaning, what moves you. What you write shows what draws your attention and what you value. Following it develops a kind of relationship with your writerly self.

For the developing in the craft part of writing haiku, the single most powerful action you can take is to read. Many poems. Read them aloud, over and over again. Read a variety. Study the poems. Analyze them. It is very beneficial to memorize a half-dozen of your very most favorite haiku. When contest results come out, read the poems and judges’ commentary. Read the articles in journals like Frogpond and Modern Haiku that instruct on the conventions of haiku and break down how specific, exemplary poems work.

Also, befriend revision. I used to dislike this part of writing haiku, thinking it tedious. But when Brad Bennett told me that he enjoys the process, it changed my attitude. Now I love removing superfluous words, thinking about line order or number of lines, and checking the thesaurus for words with fewer syllables and whose sounds harmonize with the rest of the poem.

One that took several years to write (It enjoyed many revisions!):

morning calm
the barred owl’s swivel
shakes off the snow

first in Presence #73, 2022

Here are some exceptional resources for study, which I recently cited in my judge’s commentary for the Peggy Willis Lyles Awards competition:

For Japanese aesthetic sensibility:

• Carter, Stephen D. Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology.
• Strand, Clark. Seeds from a Birch Tree.

For connecting with the senses:

• Martin, Jeannie. the length of one breath haiku now.

For crafting haiku:

• Gurga, Lee. Haiku: A Poet’s Guide.
• Welch, Michael Dylan. Graceguts.
• The Haiku Society of America mentorship program, which pairs people new to this style of haiku writing with seasoned haiku practitioners.

For online examples of outstanding modern English-language haiku:

• Gaa, Ben. Haiku explications at Haiku Talk.
• The Heron’s Nest.

Another wonderful way to grow in the genre is to join groups and attend gatherings—online as well as in person. I wrote in isolation for over a decade before I attended Haiku North America, Haiku Circle, and Wild Graces, where I met the wonderful poets I had admired for years. Learning from and playing with these friendly, welcoming people gave me a sense of connection and was a game-changing influence on my writing.

One written at Wild Graces:

haiku gathering
strands of spider silk link
two folding chairs

Wild Graces 7, August 2021

What are some fun ways you have used or experienced haiku?

My favorite project was making weathergrams. I’d write haiku on strips of brown paper (2.5” X 8”), using a calligraphy brush pen and a font I developed myself. Then I would hang them on the trees in my yard for one season (solstice to equinox or equinox to solstice) for weathering. (More wabi sabi)!

Weathergrams hung out on the winter solstice, 2016:

Before and after: weathergram hung out on the autumnal equinox and taken down on the winter solstice, 2016:

Before and after: weathergram hung out on the vernal equinox and taken down on the summer solstice, 2017:

What is a haiku-related project you are currently working on that brings you joy? What do you like about it?

When the monthly Shiki online kukai was running, they’d do an annual New Year’s haiku postcard exchange (Nengajou), using the animals from the lunar new year zodiac as starting points for poems or images. After the Shiki kukai ended, some of us kept up the tradition. When that dwindled down to just Angela Terry and myself, we created a Nengajou among the in-person groups in our respective locations: hers, in the Pacific Northwest; mine in Northeastern USA. It was particularly satisfying that I had been participating for 12 years (since 2010), so it came full circle for me when I started the new tradition with the same animal (tiger) in 2022.

I love making beautiful, meaningful, pleasant connections with people who formerly were strangers. It was especially fun when the Shiki kukai ran it because people from many different countries participated. What fun to receive postcards from other countries! It made the world a little smaller and friendlier. While I miss the international aspect of it, Angela and I needed to keep the group to a size in which people could afford the costs of buying postcards and postage.

My Nengajyou card from Year of the Rat, 2020:

Author of haiku collection, enough light (RMP 2023), Mary Stevens judged the Peggy Willis Lyles Awards contest (2024), co-judged with John Stevenson the Nicholas Virgilio Haiku Contest (2013), and is currently on the panel of judges for the Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems. She presented on wabi sabi at HNA (2015), gave a reading at Wild Graces (2024), and was co-editor of Frogpond‘s linked forms sections (2021). She won first place in the Harold G. Henderson Memorial Awards and second place in the Peggy Willis Lyles Awards in 2020, and The Heron’s Nest Editors’ Choices and the Museum of Haiku Literature Award for Best of Issue in Frogpond in 2022. She is a freelance book indexer at Look Within Indexing & Editing and lives at the foot of the Catskills in New York’s lovely Hudson Valley.

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