Hi, I’m Melissa. In a little while I’m going to start my haikai news column, but before I do that I’d like to acknowledge the news that I think is probably most in our minds and hearts these days — the March 11 earthquake and subsequent disasters in Japan. The suffering of the Japanese people is immense and likely to be so for weeks, months, and possibly years to come. We know they’ll overcome this as they have overcome so many other hard times, but in the meantime, we wish there was something we could do to help. Besides donating to international relief organizations, there are a couple of specific ways we’ve come across to stay informed and connected with the Japanese haiku community and to give aid to Japan through the power of poetry. After the Big Earthquake Gabi Greve, well-known for her World Kigo Database (http://worldkigo2005.blogspot.com/), has begun keeping an exhaustive daily blog of earthquake-related news from Japan, as well as haiku and haiga about the earthquake, and general Japanese cultural and literary information relating to earthquakes. We Are All Japan Sasa Vazic and Robert Wilson have organized this Facebook group, which is open to anyone to join but consists at this point mainly of members of the international haiku community, to share news, poetry, and expressions of sympathy about the earthquake. In addition to this, they’ve also begun organizing a poetry anthology, the proceeds of which will go to earthquake relief. If you would like to participate, please submit any kind of poetry as well as haibun (stating your name, city and country) to svtojapan-at-gmail(dot)com. A photo or artwork is also needed for the cover. Please send your original work to the same email. Deadline: May 15, 2011. Okay, let’s start again: Hi, I’m Melissa. It’s nice to meet you all. I assume you’re here because you’re haikai poets or fans, wondering what to do or where to go or what to read or write tonight, or this weekend, or some other day in the next few months when you don’t have much else going on. Well, let me tell you, there is no shortage of possibilities. All over the world at this moment, other haikai poets are plotting conferences and meetings for you to attend, and workshops for you to learn things at, and contests for you to enter. They’re writing things you want to read and asking you to send them things you’ve written. They’re saying things worth listening to and asking questions worth answering. My job is to make it easier for you to find out about all this stuff by gathering it together in one place, specifically here, my little garden. It’s not the tidiest or most formal garden in the world, but it’s got variety going for it. There’s a lot to look at. A jumble of stuff. Take a stroll around with me, maybe you’ll see something that appeals to you.

haijinx volume IV, issue 1 March 2011 entrée welcome haikai haiku | haiga | haibun news a jumble of flowers Melissa Allen introduction Road Trips Stuff to Read Stuff to Write Getting Together The End articles Humour, Life and Haiku selected haiku & bio Frank Dullaghan Reviving Japanese Haikai through Chinese Classics Chen-ou Liu Kigo: The Heartbeat of Haiku Robert D Wilson reviews evolution: RMA 2010 Aubrie Cox Haiku Pix Review Carmen Sterba Live Again by John Stevenson Alan Summers pay attention: a river of stones Aubrie Cox NaHaiWriMo Aubrie Cox overview 1 | 2 Michael Dylan Welch interview 1 | 2 | 3 select haiku Michael Dylan Welch Aubrie Cox Alan Summers Shimi editor pages Melissa Allen Roberta Beary kris moon Carmen Sterba Alan Summers Mark Brooks (Shimi) about this issue acknowledgements contributors fin