It's a little hard to believe that we reached the 'proper' conclusion of Cordite 29.1: Haikunaut in early March 2009, after the posting of one hundred new haiku by a range of Japanese and international Haikunauts, David G Lanoue's Introduction to the issue and Keiji Minato's series of articles on modern Japanese haiku and renga. At that stage, we thought the hard work had been done, and that we would therefore try out an experiment in interactive renga writing.
Now, two months later, we're still reeling from the overwhelming response to Haikunaut Island Renga. A grand total of 1204 comments were posted to the site over the past sixty days in aid of the construction of the Renga (read Part 1 here and Part 2 here). The reason why we broke the renga in two was because of the large number of comments on Part 1 (378 in total), which we thought might hinder new Haikunauts from joining in the fun (and as some of you probably know, scrolling through 378 comments just to get to the comments box can be a bore). So for us it was something of a shock that Part 2 received more than twice as many comments (826 in total) as Part 1.
Of course, the number of comments is not the only (let alone the most important) measure of the success of the Renga. In the end, what made the whole experience so brilliant was the staggering range and quality of the haiku submitted by contributors from all over the world, incluidng a hard-core band of regulars who somehow managed to create a magic space within the renga where free associations and conversations flourished. This was especially gratifying for us, as we have struggled for a long time to find a positive way to 'interact' with our readers.
With the publication of Cordite 29: Pastoral in December 2008, and the range of comments (about fifty) its contents provoked, we thought we might have hit on some kind of secret formula. Clearly, we were wrong. Haikunaut Island Renga has smashed all of our (admittedly paltry) records. 1204 comments amounts, almost exactly, to a comment for every post ever published on the Cordite site. Parts 1 and 2 of the Renga have attracted almost as many hits between them as our average number of hits per month across the entire site. But enough about site stats.
Where to now? While to some extent Haikunaut Island Renga was a one-off experiment, in keeping with the theme of the Haikunaut issue, we're also keen to hear your thoughts on future manifestations of interactive renga on the Cordite site. What about a Post-Avant Renga? Or Speed Renga with a twenty-four hour time limit? Or even a Machine Translation Renga, written by Googlebots? Okay so maybe that's taking things a bit too far. We are, however, very keen to receive comments and suggestions on this subject.
We'd also be very keen to hear about your experience of the Renga, especially the comments system. Are there any changes you'd like to see made to the way the comments system is set up on the site? Did you attempt or were you able to access the comments RSS feed, and did this help you keep track of the Renga flow? Would numbered comments have helped (we're still trying to figure out how to do that)? Did the site fail to load at any time? What else could have helped improve the Haikunaut experience?
Well, maybe that's too many questions and not enough answers. I'd like to thank all of the contributors to the Renga (and when I get a spare moment, I'll write up a list of all contributors and add it to the Haikunaut index page). Let's not forget all of the contributors to the Haikunaut issue itself, who have made their haiku available here freely for your enjoyment. Finally, I'd like to send out super-huge Haikunaut props to our guest editors, David G. Lanoue and Keiji Minato. I'm honoured to consider both David and Keiji as friends and I'm so glad that we have finally made Haikunaut a reality, after too many years of scheming and dreaming.
David Prater
May 2009
As with any renga, this exercise opened up the enormous possibilities of interactive, linked poetry.
As a novice haijin myself, first, I was secretly thrilled to be the 1000th commentator.
I felt intuitively that new doors might open for me by that auspicious event.
Secondly, having once read Susumu sensei state that to truly understand haiku (haikai) one must practice renga. Mr. Takigichi is editor and founder of the World Haiku Review.
And last, the experience exposed me to new and old ideas I might never have discovered elswhere. It opened my mind, allowing me “stretch out and tighten up”
my writing in an unhindered, friendly, and nurturing atmosphere.
Thanks again for the experience.
Willie
Hi David… well, it was exciting and enjoyable. Keiji's subtle leadership was remarkable and I was drawn in by the general enthusiasm and camaraderie. For myself…I'm still the relative Luddite, and RSS feeds are beyond me [& perhaps beyond my computer... I don't even have 'you-tube' yet] but I had no worries scrolling down the thread. The comments system worked nicely, imo. Good that you decided to make the renga it into two parts, though.
“a Machine Translation Renga, written by Googlebots?”
um…not for me. 'Speed renga' I'd leave to those with the time & fast computers, and I haven't a clue what a 'Post -Avant' renga would be, but I look forward to checking out whatever you come up with.
I discovered this renga by accident, whilst looking up a review of a poet's book. So glad I did! But is there a mailing list or something?
Thanks, anyway, for planning and doing this. As you see from your results, renga is a great from of collaborative poetry that we in the Western world are enthusiastically discovering.
Hi David, not much I can suggest, being new to renga but I would like to 2nd bandit and Lorin, and say that the comment system was great, accessible and perfectly participatory.
This was easily one of the best and most inspirational interactive writing events I've ever been lucky enough to be a part of, so thanks once again, to you and David and Keiji!
If you were to open up another renga, would it be at all possible to organise some sort of physical spin-off/addition to the online process? Perhaps have writers meet at a writer's festival? Obviously this cuts (dramatically) the number of potential (international/national) participants, but the face-to-face renga, I imagine, would have it's own strengths. Might be a huge job to organise though.
Or would it even be possible to select and break participants into mini-groups of 5 or so poets who produce at the same time, eventually ending up with 4 or 5 completed renga, perhaps in shorter forms, half-kasen or nijuin?
Sorry to ramble on a bit, just typing as ideas come to me.
Thanks again!
Ashley
I have enjoyed the experience of the renga enormously – and it has pushed my haiku in some new directions, all to the good. Even when I wasn't necessarily submitting ku for consideration I found reading the comments and poems of others was a valuable exercise.
I have learned through the course of the renga, found some nice new websites, written some decent poetry and had a lot of fun – what more could I ask for?
Maybe one a season for the next four seasons … ?
Many thanks to Cordite for hosting the project and to Keiji.
PS: I have never tried anything like this before but have already moved on to another collaborative renga site. It's addictive!
Hi, again (or is this the first time I met you?). I was reading through our renga today, reviewing how the links between the verses work. Gladly, I found them even better than I had thought. I'm sure another set, if led by me, would never result in a finer result. Thank you again, wonderful contributers!
What I am interested in most now is, though:
How do readers who were NOT participated in the process of writing it see our result?
Basho said: Êñá è? ºïÅç?ãÇçÅõÅ? ç?Å° èçÊïÖÅÇä, which basically means “As soon as its writing process ends, a renga becomes just trash.” Of course, he and his disciples wrote down their renku and even published them, so we cannot completely trust his word. The point is, I guess, the process of composing itself is the most exciting part for renga writers. (If you participated in our renga, you cannot deny that, I'm sure!)
However, Basho & Co.'s end-results are well worth reading again and again, and the master himself was very conscious of the merits, I think. Similarly, I am somehow proud of our end result this time… of course, not on the same level as past masters and his friends' works.
After all, as in all cases of creative works, I am not sure of the merits of our own work without voices “from outside.” So, let me repeat the question above again:
How do you readers not participated in the process of writing our renga see it as readers? Do you like it or not? Any suggestions in your mind to make renga composing freer, more exciting, more revelating?
*
As Davey Prater and Ashley wrote above, there will be a lot of possibilites you can take. Limiting the time of composing is an idea, and, mmm, how about composing a renga with only quotations from famous writers? You can write a renga alone (that might sound strange, but lots of renku masters like Buson did so in the past). Actually, I have experimentally written a renga with only quotations from famous tanka writers, by myself. (You can read it in the PDF file (sorry only in Japanese) at the site of the Experimental Language Factory, a site run by two friends of mine and me:
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~etude/elf/document/inyou_kasen.html
I would like to see renga written by poets who do not know anything about haiku, those who are not interested in it, or even anti-haiku poets who do not regard short forms like haiku as poetry. Or, you may begin a renga that will never end until the end of the world. In that case I would be very glad to throw my lines in it.
I am glad some participants of our renga have already started off in their directions, like Ashley Capes (see Issa's Snail: http://issassnail.wordpress.com/), and would be more glad if some people who read our renga say, “I (or We) can do simlar, though better, more exciting things!” and run off in an unexpected direction!
*
As for the title of our renga, in my opinion, “Haikunaut Island Renga” is a good one enough. Or, maybe I'd like to call it “The Scroll of Youtube Koalas”! Although the title of a renga is usually taken from its first ku, the most important is that it should refer to the occasion of composing the renga. Don't you agree?
Hi Keiji, I'll throw in a vote for that title, sounds right to me!
Keiji-san and Friends….I miss you! The camaraderie and interaction with others was a high point for me with this renga. My haiku grew exponentially weirder, my thought processes ran rampant through the night, and I managed to write everyday. what more could a neophyte to renga possibly ask for? BTW, the practice of writing every day really does positively affect all of our other writing. And thinking of ku during daily tasks really made life just a bit more… surreal (and lovely). Especially in the supermarket!
So, I am sorry that this renga has come to an end. i am sorry I got a job as a high school English teacher in a rural ghetto and can no longer spend evenings composing ku. But most of all, I am sorry that we all are not still conversing.
Ashley, as soon as I get a moment, I will be actively reading your site! I've already submitted ten haiku to Lorin's enterprise: Gean Press. And now I am teaching myself tanka!
Aldia also misses this renga sorely!
I hope to “see” all of you on another renga (point me in the right direction) soon.
Thank you so much, Keiji, for your guidance, tolerance, and sense of humor. Great job! And thanks all,, especially, Ashley, Rhonda, Lorin, Genevieve (oh, too many!) for all of your constructive comments. Much appreciated.
For those interested, I had a new story published in Gander Press Review last fall titled “Checkout.” You can find this online. Just recently, the (ironically) conservative American periodical, National Review, bought one of my new poems, “Postcard from Hubbard Hall.” very strange. This poem should appear in print sometime this month of May.
I leave you tonight with an Australian-themed ku:
Uluru, red
center of dream
sing me homeward
Joseph
Hi all,
Thanks for your responses – a lot to digest here … and of course, as you say Lorin, ours is a relatively recent appreciation of what is obviously a very old collaborative form – and in a very practical sense, the use of the comments to generate the renga perhaps brings out more powerfully this collaborative aspect. So it's good to know that whatever the result, the (comment) process actually works.
Too true, Joseph! Watching this project unfold has made me realise how little writing I actually get done on my own, not to mention how many mundane hours I waste in queues and supermarkets …
Anyway, we'll definitely consider launching another Renga very soon.
As for the title of our debut Haikunaut renga – Ashley, was that a vote for 'Haikunaut Island Renga', or 'The Scroll of Youtube Koalas'?
Any other suggestions?
Hi David,
I agree with Keiji that 'Haikunaut Island Renga' is good enough..in fact I think it is far better than 'good enough': I think it's a wonderful title, a lucky title
It works with the lovely island photo, it works with the verses. 'Haikunauts', with appropriate lightness and humour, suggests travellers/adventurers to new or unexplored places.
'Haikunaut Island Renga' has a wonderful blend of echoes from both Eastern and Western classical literature and language: 'hakai','haiku' and 'renga' from the Japanese, the 'naut' suffix from the Greek, eg 'nautilus', 'Jason and the Argonauts', set among the Mediterranean islands [originally, an epic poem, 3rd century BCE, drawing on more ancient myths and including much magic/sorcery].
'The Scroll of YouTube Koalas' gives me a smile… that koala of yours did keep popping up in its various charming manifestations
…but in my view, as a title, it doesn't have the humour or the complex resonance of the original title.
There's an American saying I like [I don't know who to attribute it to...Mark Twain?...just a guess]: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'
warm wishes,
lorin
Hi Davey – one for 'Haikunaut Island Renga' please!
Would love to be part of another renga here one day, looking forward to it.
Joseph, please do! Would love to have you there. (congratulations on the ss too) I understand about teaching sucking up considerable time, can be a killer. But also, like you said about the supermarkets, haiku is a great (if short) espcape huh?
Ashley
Hey Lorin, the progenitor of that phrase, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it,” was nowhere near as witty as Mark twain. In fact, the phrase originates from a minor government official, Bert Lance, from ….1977! So funny that phrases we think have been in the collective language fro millenia are actually new constructs!
“Haikunaut Island Renga”—- definitely.
On my way, Ashley. had a weird day teaching high school and am now cooking a Bogota Four Potato and Chicken Chowder. (I like cooking.)
Thanks, Davey. I was in the market tonight:
red nail polish
passes garlic
vies with tomatoes
Hey Lorin and all!
Yes, well you know once I get an image in my mind, it tends to take over – hence the recurring YT Koala theme … I am just glad that it got a guernsey – and agree that as a title it doesn't quite have the ping and snap of HIR.
So by my count that's five votes out of five for 'Haikunaut Island Renga'. If there are no further suggestions, I'd like to set it in stone.
One final thought – do we need to re-post the renga in its entirety, or should we leave it as it is, split in two parts, complete with comments, in all its ragged glory?
Hi, Davey and everyone,
So, the title is “Haikunaut Island Renga”! On the second thought, I also prefer “haikunaut” to youtube koalas. I'm glad we bagan with the title and ended with it too.
As for the last point in Davey's comment, I would like it to be as it is, or two pages with all the comments, as one of the participants in our renga. Or, maybe, we can add another page that shows it in its entirety. Is it too much to ask, Davey?
I think I agree with Keiji, could we possibly add a 3rd page with the renga in it's full form? It'd be a shame to lose the comments, though, it seems easier to read the renga in one page. Would look fantastic too
Ashley
Hi Keiji and all!
Okay, we've put the whole thing together in a single post – so, without further ado, read the final version of Haikunaut Island Renga!
Enjoy!
Hi David,
It's great to have Haikunaut Island Renga on one page – looks so good and reads beautifully.
I'd just like to say – as many have said – how much I enjoyed the whole experience. I think at the beginning of the Renga, Cordite said 'have fun', and that's exactly what it was – so much fun. And what made it extra good was Keiji's instruction along the way.
For me (not a computer expert) the site and the comments system worked very well. It always loaded perfectly – something that doesn't often happen on my computer.
As far as what could happen in the future I think a Speed Renga sounds wonderful. I also think Ashley's idea of some sort of physical addition to the experience would be great. If as many as possible could meet at a writers' festival perhaps we could have a reading of our Renga. I realize that might be a pretty short reading – but…if Cordite were to have some more then perhaps we could read them all. Perhaps a whole Renga happening with audience participation…imagine ku hanging from the ceiling like giant mobiles – and projected on the walls…so many possibilities – (I hope no-one's feeling squirmy).
Keiji's suggestions sound wonderful too – 'composing a renga with only quotations from famous writers' – and 'beginning a renga that will never end until the end of the world'!
As Joseph and others have said the camaraderie and interaction with other writers was a high point – and writing every day makes a difference…I agree – not just to all our other writing, but to everything. Joseph, 'supermarket ku' definitely make a difference to supermarkets.
Thank you again Cordite for organizing this great event – thank you Keiji and everyone involved.
I'll never forget this special time that Cordite introduced me to renga – its subtle shifts
from moonlight to love to cherryblossoms, You Tube koalas and almost everything else too – great interaction world wide – quick as a submitted comment – I'm completely addicted – as much with the surprising twists of Renga – as with the on line friendships – of writers living anywhere in the world – I wonder what Sogi and Basho would think of this electronic joining of the minds