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Honorary Curator Gary Hotham

Gary Hotham
Honorary Curator, 2022-2023

Appointment Announcement

John Stevenson photoThe American Haiku Archives advisory board is pleased to announce the appointment of Gary Hotham as the 2022-2023 honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives at the California State Library in Sacramento.

This honor recognizes his five decades of deep involvement with haiku, starting as a teenager in 1967. He has published numerous haiku books and is currently serving as a nominator for Red Moon Press annual anthologies and as the first vice president of the Haiku Society of America.

Gary grew up in Maine, now lives in Maryland, and has lived previously in Japan, Germany, and England.

We are pleased to celebrate Gary Hotham, and to bestow this honor from the American Haiku Archives, which seeks to preserve and promote haiku and related poetry throughout the North American continent. The following are five of Gary's haiku:

fog.
sitting here
without the mountains

                                          music two centuries old—
                                          the color flows
                                          out of the teabag

                                                                                    as far as the light goes
                                                                                    my daughter goes—
                                                                                    after the firefly

                     hand to hand—
                     the unframed photos
                     of her life

                                                               distant thunder—
                                                               the dog's toenails click
                                                               against the linoleum

The AHA advisory board is delighted to pay tribute to Gary Hotham as the twenty-sixth honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives.

~Michael Dylan Welch, American Haiku Archives Advisory Board Co-chair

 

2022 Haiku Poets of Northern California Reading

Gary Hotham - October 16, 2022 (Haiku Poets of Northern California)

Gary Hotham reading

Please enjoy this video recording of the Zoom reading from October 16, 2022, hosted by the Haiku Poets of Northern California.

AHA sponsored a Zoom reading on Saturday, September 17, 2022 to celebrate Gary Hotham as the 2022–23 honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives. Gary read selections of his haiku from five decades of his haiku books.

 

Selected Haiku by Gary Hotham

 

fog.
sitting here
without the mountains

                     Without the Mountains (Yiqralo Press, 1976)

 

                     early morning breeze
                     the mountain's shadow
                     begins to move

                                          The Fern's Underside (Juniper Press, 1977)

 

                                                               no place
                                                               to hide my hands—
                                                               the rain begins

                                                                                    Off And On Rain (High/Coo Press, 1978)

 

                                          coffee
                                          in a paper cup—
                                          a long way from home

                                                               Against the Linoleum (Yiqralo Press, 1979)

 

                     rest stop—
                     in the darkness
                     grass stiff with frost

                                          This Space Blank (Juniper Press, 1984)

 

music two centuries old—
the color flows
out of the teabag

                     Pulling Out the Bent Nail (Wind Chimes Press, 1988)

 

                                          as far as the light goes
                                          my daughter goes—
                                          after the firefly

                                                               As Far as the Light Goes (Juniper, 1990)


                                                               another day of snow
                                                               the statue's fingers
                                                               broken off

                                                                                    The Wind's View (Juniper Press, 1993)

 

                                          time to go—
                                          the stones we threw
                                          at the bottom of the ocean

                                                               Before All the Leaves Are Gone (Juniper Press, 1996)

 

                     shade trees on both sides—
                     the same road
                     Napoleon took

                                          Hair's & Hawk Circles (Tel-Let, 1996)

 

early in the night—
the stars we can see
the space for more

                     Footprints and Fingerprints (Modest Proposal Chapbooks, 1999)

 

                                                               our bare feet
                                                               next to each other
                                                               next to the ocean

                                                                                    Bare Feet (Longhouse, 1998)

                     hand to hand—
                     the unframed photos
                     of her life

                                          Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark (Canon Press, 1999)

 

                                                               in the toy bucket—
                                                               the part of the ocean
                                                               she carries

                                                                                    The Sky Stays Behind (Juniper Press, 2000)

                     evening loon call—
                     nothing makes it
                     call again

                                          Missed Appointment (Modest Proposal Chapbooks, 2007)

 

                                                               near the museum—
                                                               children racing
                                                               the lawn sprinkler

                                                                                    Sand Over Sand (Longhouse, 2009)

 

                                          more footsteps—
                                          the broken branch
                                          breaks again

                                                               Spilled Milk: Haiku Destinies (Pinyon Publishing, 2010)

 

dew hanging on the fence—
paint chips off
the danger sign

                     Nothing More Happens in the 20th Century (Pecan Grove Press, 2011)

 

                                          home
                                          for Dad's funeral—
                                          not the same quiet in the kitchen

                                                               Our Waves Meet the Ocean Waves (Longhouse, 2013)

 

near dark—
the grand hotel drips
long after the rain

                     Stone's Throw: Promises of Mere Words (Pinyon Publishing, 2016)

 

                                             Tintern Abbey
                                          stones that didn't
                                                    rust

                                                               23 (Longhouse Poetry, 2019)

 

                          squeezing
                     into our universe
                      cherry blossoms

                                          Rightsizing the Universe: Haiku Theory (Yiqralo Press, 2019}


        hiding
     all of mine
mountain silence

                     Park Bench Memories: Haiku Tailwinds (Yiqralo Press, 2020)

 

                        in the space
                     our light makes
                            moths

                                          Mannequins Dressed for the Window (Yiqralo Press, 2021)

 

                                                    hiking
                                          shade the sun hasn't
                                                    found

                                                               Playground Grass (Yiqralo Press, 2022)

 

                           lost
                     in the pond
                      the splash

                                  Soft-Serve: Haiku Remains (Pinyon Publishing, forthcoming 2023)

 

Haiku Collections

Hotham, Gary. Against the Linoleum. Laurel, MD: Yiqralo Press, 1979.

Hotham, Gary. As Far as the Light Goes. La Crosse, WI: Juniper Press, 1990.

Hotham, Gary. Bare Feet: A Selection of Haiku. Green River, VT: Longhouse, 1998.

Hotham, Gary. Before All the Leaves Are Gone. La Crosse, WI: Juniper Press, 1996.

Hotham, Gary. Breathmarks: Haiku to Read in the Dark. Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 1999.

Hotham, Gary. The Fern's Underside. La Crosse, WI: Juniper Press, 1977.

Hotham, Gary. Fifteen Haiku. Charleston, IL: Otata's Bookshelf, 2021. Online pdf edition.

Hotham, Gary. Footprints & Fingerprints. Pittsburg, PA: Lilliput Review, 1999.

Hotham, Gary. Mannequins Dressed for the Window: Haiku Secrets. Scaggsville, MD: Yiqralo Press, 2021.

Hotham, Gary. Missed Appointment. Pittsburg, PA: Lilliput Review, 2007.

Hotham, Gary. Nothing More Happens in the 20th Century: Haiku Dangers. San Antonio, TX: Pecan Grove Press, 2011.

Hotham, Gary. Odor of Rain. La Crosse, WI: Juniper Press, 2004.

Hotham, Gary. Off and On Rain. Battle Ground, IN: High/Coo Press, 1978.

Hotham, Gary. Park Bench Memories: Haiku Tailwinds. Scaggsville, MD: Yiqralo Press, 2020.

Hotham, Gary. Playground Grass: Haiku Options. Scaggsville, MD: Yiqralo Press, 2022.

Hotham, Gary. Rightsizing the Universe: Haiku Theory. Montrose, CO: Yiqralo Press, 2019.

Hotham, Gary. Spilled Milk: Haiku Destinies. Scaggsville, MD: Pinyon Publishing, 2010.

Hotham, Gary. This Space Blank. La Crosse, WI: Juniper Press, 1984.

Hotham, Gary. Take-out Window: 2014 Haiku Society of America Members' Anthology. New York; Haiku Society of America, 2014.

Hotham, Gary. 23. Green River, VT: Longhouse, 2019.

Hotham, Gary. The Wind's View: A Selection of Haiku. La Crosse, WI: Juniper Press, 1993.

Hotham, Gary. Without the Mountains. Laurel, MD: Yiqralo Press, 1976.

 

Haiku in Anthologies

The Haiku Anthology (Doubleday/Anchor Press, 1974)

The Haiku Anthology (Simon and Schuster, 1986)

The Haiku Anthology (W. W. Norton Company, 1999)

Haiku Moment: An Anthology of Contemporary North American Haiku (Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1993)

Global Haiku (Niagara Falls: Mosaic Press, 2000)

Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years (W. W. Norton and Company, 2013).

The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku by William J. Higginson (McGraw-Hill, 1985/ Kodansha International, 1989)

Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac (Kodansha International, 1996)

The Haiku Seasons: Poetry of the Natural World, second edition (Kodansha International, 1996/ Stone Bridge Press, 2008).

Favorite Haiku Volume 2 by H. F. Noyes (Red Moon Press, 1999)

Haiku: A Poet's Guide by Lee Gurga (Modern Haiku Press, 2003)

 

Essays & Prefaces by Gary Hotham

"Why Haiku?" ~ afterword to Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark

"Why Poetry?" ~ preface to Breath Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark

"God Bless You, Mrs. Maloney, Wherever You Are" ~ preface to Spilled Milk: Haiku Destinies

"Short Word Prejudice" ~ afterword to Spilled Milk: Haiku Destinies

"Preface" ~ Stone's Throw: Promises of Mere Words

"Dixie Cups: History and Haiku" ~ afterword to Mannequins Dressed for the Window: Haiku Secrets

 

Essays on Gary Hotham

Avis, Nick. Book review of Pulling Out the Bent Nail. Inkstone 5.2, 1992.

Ballentine, Vicki. "Gary Hotham's Haiku." Millikin University Haiku, (2004): n. pag. Web. 6 March 2016.

Gamble, Mary. "Comparing Nature in Haiku: Kobayashi Issa Versus Gary Hotham." Millikin University Haiku, (2001): n. pag. Web. 6 March 2016.

Gamble, Mary. "Gary Hotham: Haiku Genius." Millikin University Haiku, (2001): n. pag. Web. 6 March 2016.

 

Web Links

Pinyon Publishing Interview
http://www.pinyon-publishing.com/gary%20hotham%20interview.html

Judge's Comments: 2018 Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards
https://theheronsnest.com/awards/awards_2018.html

Eliot Society presentation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St0U21T40F0

Gary Hotham - Haikupedia
https://haikupedia.org/article-haikupedia/gary-hotham/

Gary Hotham - Touchstone Distinguished Books Honorable Mention 2019
https://thehaikufoundation.org/gary-hotham-touchstone-distinguished-books-honorable-mention-2019/

Gary Hotham - Amazon Author's Page
https://www.amazon.com/Gary-Hotham/e/B00IWOIZ9E/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

Gary Hotham - Poets & Writers Directory
https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/gary_hotham

Gary Hotham - Haiku Poet Podcast Interview by Josh Cleveland & family - March 21, 2021
https://anchor.fm/haiku-poet-101/episodes/Gary-Hotham-Haiku-Poetry-and-Interview-esu3gv

Gary Hotham - featured guest poet - Upstate Dim Sum - Autumn 2017
https://upstate-dim-sum.com/autumn-2017/



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