Andrew Kirchgesner • Andrew's Haiku •

Lee Gurga: An Interview & Appreciation Background and biographical information Lee Gurga was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He is currently a dentist with a practice located in Lincoln, Illinois. Gurga also studied mathematics, Asian studies, and dance, in addition to dentristry, at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois (U of I). As part of his Asian studies program, he had the unique opportunity to study kabuki dance (traditional Japanese popular drama performed with highly stylized singing and dancing) and tea ceremony under the direction of Shozo Sato. Shozo Sato is a theatre director and master of Zen arts. He was officially adopted into the Kabuki family of Nakamura, and is a master of the highest order of Japanese Tea Ceremony, Ikebana (flower arrangement), and Sumi-e (black ink painting). Gurga first became interested in haiku in 1966, after finding a copy of R.H. Blyth’s translations of Japanese haiku on the shelf of a Chicago book store. After finding the translations of Japanese haiku, Gurga began to write haiku himself, although did not publish any of his work. He wrote haiku on and off for several years before he finally began publishing his work in 1987. Soon after Lee Gurga began publishing his haiku in 1987, he started receiving awards for his haiku, and a collection of his haiku, a mouse pours out, was published by High/Coo Press in 1988, only one year after he published any of his haiku. In 1992, Gurga helped edit Midwest Haiku Anthology, along with our very own professor Dr. Randy Brooks. Gurga has received many awards for his haiku writing, including first place in the 1996 Haiku Summit Contest, the 1996 Canadian Writers’ Journal Haiku Contest, the 1996 Kusamakura International Haiku Contest, and the 1990 Mainichi Daily News Haiku in English Contest. His haiku has won him a brief story in U.S. News & World Report, and in 1998 he received an Illinois Arts Council Poetry Fellowship for his haiku work. Lee Gurga became active in the Haiku Society of America (HSA) in 1988, and served as Vice President of the HSA in 1991, and in 1995-1996. In 1997 he served as President of the HSA. He was instrumental in organizing many gatherings and conferences, and led a delegation of English language haiku poets and editors to the second Joint Conference in Tokyo. He is currently the associate editor of Modern Haiku, the longest running journal of haiku studies in English, as well as being the haiku selector for the Illinois Times newspaper. Interview via email with Lee Gurga: Andrew Kirchgesner: How did your appreciation for haiku come about? Lee Gurga: I found R.H. Blyth's books on haiku on the shelf of a bookstore when I was in high school. I guess what attracted me to it was that it combined poetry with a philosophy of life based on self-awareness. What could be better? Andrew Kirchgesner: When did you start writing haiku? Why? Lee Gurga: Soon after I had read and digested Blyth's books—while I was still in high school. Why? I suppose for the reason stated above—it gave me the opportunity to combine poetry with an opportunity to increase my awareness of myself and the world around me—and the relation between the two. Andrew Kirchgesner: I have a copy of your book Fresh Scent in which you write some personal haiku. Have you always written personal haiku, with the intention for everyone to see? I've noticed in that book that you mention your parents, your brother, and your 6-year old (at time of writing). Do you write personal haiku just as often as other haiku? Why or why not? Lee Gurga: I think all haiku a personal in some sense—one writes haiku about one's life, not about the Persian Wars. Andrew Kirchgesner: Are there any moments in your past or childhood that you like to write haiku about? If so, can you share a moment like this with me? Lee Gurga: The moments I have found significant to write about I already have! I believe I have already shared them with you in the book! Andrew Kirchgesner: How or where does your motivation for writing haiku (other than from real life experiences) come from? Lee Gurga: It seems you are confusing motivation with inspiration. Inspiration comes from one's life—when one is aware enough to seize the moment. Motivation comes from a desire to create a work of art that enlarges beyond the personal. Gurga’s contribution to haiku: I became interested in Lee Gurga and his haiku work when I found out he lives in central Illinois, and is the haiku selector for the Illinois Times newspaper. I sent an email to Gurga, in interview-style fashion (above). What surprised me was that Gurga became interested in haiku in high school, but more interesting still is that he started writing it on and off in high school, shortly after becoming interested in haiku. I’ll have to agree with Gurga that the opportunity to combine awareness of one’s self and the world around one’s self is quite amazing. Haiku seems to bridge these two so well, involving personal haiku with haiku dealing with nature and personal experiences. I find it refreshing that Gurga only deals with personal issues in his haiku. Some authors would be afraid to open themselves up so much to the public like he does in his haiku (myself included), yet he seems to have the mindset that that is the only way to write haiku.I like to write haiku about things I’ve seen or imagined, but not quite so personal to me, as Gurga enjoys doing. I respect the fact that Gurga says all the significant moments in his life he has already written haiku about. I asked him if there were any he has written haiku about, and he told me he already has written about them all. I really like the way Gurga pulls ideas for haiku from his own life, rather than just make things up all the time. Imagined memories make for good haiku, but the personal haiku always has more feelings of attachment, and therefore mean more to the author, which is conveyed to the reader. Discussions of favorite haiku from Gurga: graduation day my son & I side by side knotting our ties           Global Haiku, p56 This haiku gives the reader a feeling of high school graduation. It is a big day not only for the son, but for the parents as well. It gives an image of the son, his big day ahead, stand next to the proud father. They are each tying their ties and getting dressed up to get ready for the ceremony. I like the father and son side by side doing the same thing, as the activity seems to transcend time, as if the father has passed it onto his son. It gives a feeling of them bonding, and becoming closer to each other. his side of it her side of it. winter silence           Global Haiku, p 57 This haiku is probably my favorite of Gurga’s. It tells all too well that the couple had an argument of some kind. I like the back and forth play between sides of the argument, as Gurga states. It seems like they each get to say their peace about what they were fighting about, and it’s just his word against hers in the end. They both realize this, and after they have both said their peace about the situation, there is nothing more to say. Winter silence fills the room, signifying the argument has been dragged to its death, and the coldness because nothing more is being said. wedding picture: each face finds a different camera           Fresh Scent , p 26 This haiku is a classic, because everyone can identify with it so easily. I imagine the married couple getting back their wedding pictures, and looking through them. They notice every single person in the picture seems to be looking towards a different direction. There were so many cameras present to take the picture, and all taking pictures at once, that no one knew which camera to look at when, so the faces just look like they are all staring off into space. Everyone can relate to this haiku because everyone probably has pictures just like this. I know I do. street magician— tourists appear disappear           Fresh Scent , p 35 This haiku seems like a senyru to me. The sight of the street magician performing magic tricks on the street is enough to draw tourists to gather around and watch him. The magician is either performing very easy tricks, or is performing tricks very badly. The gathered crowd of tourists quickly becomes bored with the tricks that the magician is performing, and begins to disperse. The appearing and disappearing of the tourists is funny, especially at the mention of a magician. This haiku could be taken two ways, meaning the magician is physically making people disappear and appear, but the way I interpret it is that the magician is simply performing tricks bad enough that no one wants to watch him anymore. postal chess— he moves me from his cell           Fresh Scent , p 45 Since Gurga likes to write about personal experiences, and since there is other mention about Gurga’s brother being in prison, I am to assume that Lee Gurga is playing a game of chess with his brother. Instead of an ordinary game, the two mail each other their moves, and have to wait to receive the moves in the mail before making another move. This game of chess must go extremely slow, but a great deal of satisfaction comes from it, not to mention much communication and letter writing between Lee Gurga and his brother. The haiku itself says they are playing a game of chess, and are using the post office (for letters) as their gameboard. Gurga’s brother is making his moves to mail from within his prison cell. a bike in the grass one wheel slowly turning— summer afternoon           Fresh Scent , p 55 This haiku makes me think of a warm summer afternoon. The sun is shining, and lots of kids are heading to the playground. They are all walking, except one is riding a bike. When they get to the playground, they all start running towards all the playground equipment. The kid on the bike jumps off it, and just lets go of it as it falls to the ground. He takes off running to join all the other kids. He deserted it so quickly that the wheel is still spinning. All the kids are all having fun playing at the playground in the warm summer sun. Gurga likes to write haiku about real world situations, ones that are very personal to him, according to the interview. I really like the thought Gurga has about the openness to his haiku. His brother was in prison, and he thought it was personal and worthwhile enough to capture those moments in his life (and brother’s life) with haiku. As Gurga himself stated, the moments he has found significant in his life, he has already written haiku about. —Andrew Kirchgesner