A Collection of Haiku by Gilles Fabre
Reviews
(from the Back Cover)
‘… A
haijin of keen sensibility, blessed by compassion.’
James W. Hackett
‘… When reading these haiku, one realises haiku is more than poetry as
it is simply stated in the introduction. Haiku is a wake-up call to
live a more intense life with an open spirit and mind.’
‘… The atmosphere in these haiku, together with a certain lightness and
discreet sense of humour, slowly reveal the true identity of haiku: the
continuous encounter between Man and Nature.’
‘…After reading this collection, an emotional scent of a destiny
lingers on… The success of this collection also lies in the Universe’s
great cosmic forces that manifest themselves behind the small details,
banal scenes these haiku capture.’
Alain Kervern
‘… Nowadays, haiku is imaginary as well as realistic. We often find
something fresh, something mysterious and something important in our
ordinary life. Gilles Fabre sincerely catches this something in his
haiku.’
‘… A moment including or suggesting other moments is indispensable for
an excellent haiku as:
In this world / where people kill people / for the first time I kiss my
son’
‘… Gilles Fabre silently shows us a realistic and contemporary truth of
life.’
Ban’ya Natsuishi
Co-founder & Director of World
Haiku Association
‘… He has admirably cultivated his own distinct style – deceptively
easy language, good flow with every word familiar in separation but all
words combined and arranged, a magic.’
‘… It is the first line and the fact that it is there that makes it at
once original and universal:
Even in my pocket / it is everywhere / this morning’s spring wind.
(Museum of Haiku Literature Award, Blithe Spirit, Journal of The
British Haiku Society, Volume 7, Number 4)’
Susumu Takiguchi
Chairman and Founder of the World
Haiku Club
‘… These haiku are rich in content and mood as well as angles of
perception. His haiku also possess undertones of robust sensuality that
are sometimes difficult to detect and explain, but are felt afterwards
with a rush of joy.
George Swede
‘The strength of this collection is its unadorned innocence and the
honesty with which it shares moments that are treasures of (some would
say) inconsequence. There is sometimes irony too, but it is always very
delicately handled. Like Issa, Gilles Fabre talks to sheep and
butterflies, dandelions and snails, even apples and his Arran jumper,
and constantly finds a kind of joie de vivre in the 'ordinariness' of
life. It takes great humility of spirit to celebrate life like this.’
David Cobb
Former President of the British Haiku
Society
‘… I live in Romania on the Black Sea coast where the sound of the
seagull is omnipresent during the daytime. Reading these fine poems I
have the impression that all the moments are happening in my area and
the author had the opportunity to see all the landscape from the bird's
eyes. The accompanying bird - the seagull - gives rhythm to these real,
wonderful haiku by its presence. Highly recommended.’
Ion Codrescu
Editor of Hermitage international
haiku journal