Natalie Goldberg & Kaz Tanahashi & Clark Strand & Joan Halifax: Five Hundred Years of Haiku (Part 1 of 6)

In Upaya’s 5th year of our Haiku program Roshi Joan Halifax, Sensei Kaz Tanahashi, Natalie Goldberg, and Clark Strand explore this centuries-old art form. Our six-part series includes stories from the speakers which describe their personal experiences with writing haiku, Japanese grammar and some of the more technical aspects of writing haiku, and samples of the many unique forms of haiku which have been written by diverse groups of people over the years. 

Upaya founder and Abbot Roshi Joan Halifax welcomes the participants: “Part of the virtue of being at Upaya is that it is a landscape internally that is also reflected externally, about space and light and health and civility, beauty, care, and compassion…to be in the spirit of this place.”

The art form of haiku. On our first evening together, Roshi Joan Halifax, Sensei Kaz Tanahashi, Natalie Goldberg, and Clark Strand remember their favorite haiku and ask the audience to share their reasons for coming to learn about haiku at Upaya. Natalie begins the conversation by asking, “Why are you really here?” And Kaz shares his parody of Basho’s famous frog poem: Old frog, a pond jumps in, sound of water.

To access the entire series, please click on the link below:

Upaya Podcast Series: Five Hundred Years of Haiku