---
title: Haiku
description: Haiku is a traditional Japanese poetic form characterized by its three-line, 17-syllable structure and focus on nature. Learners will understand how to capture brief moments, employ sensory imagery, and master the structural constraints of this minimalist form.
category: literature-writing
subcategory: poetry
difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced
url: /subject/haiku
---

# Haiku

Haiku is a traditional Japanese poetic form characterized by its three-line, 17-syllable structure and focus on nature. Learners will understand how to capture brief moments, employ sensory imagery, and master the structural constraints of this minimalist form.

## Available Resources

2 Books • 5 Websites

## Websites

### 1. Modern Haiku

Independent journal published since 1969, printing three issues a year of haiku, senryu, haibun, essays and book reviews. Readers can study the editors' selections, browse archived issues online, and learn current submission standards for English-language haiku.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.modernhaiku.org/

**Tags:** haiku, poetry, literary-journal, japanese-poetry, senryu

### 2. Tiny Words

Online journal of haiku and other very short poems, publishing daily since 2001 and holding a deep searchable archive. Regular reading of its selections gives a concrete sense of what contemporary English-language editors accept and why.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://tinywords.com/

**Tags:** haiku, poetry, short-form-poetry, literary-journal

### 3. Haiku Society of America

National organization founded in 1968, publisher of Frogpond and keeper of the official HSA definitions of haiku, senryu, haibun and renku. Its site carries contest guidelines, regional meeting information, and archived award-winning poems for study.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.hsa-haiku.org/

**Tags:** haiku, poetry, haiku-society-of-america, frogpond, writing-contests

### 4. The Haiku Foundation

Nonprofit archive offering the Digital Library of out-of-print haiku books, the Haiku Registry of poets, per-poem commentary features, and education materials. Useful for tracing how the form developed in English and for finding primary texts free.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://thehaikufoundation.org/

**Tags:** haiku, poetry, digital-library, archives, japanese-poetry

### 5. poets.org

Poets.org is the official site of the Academy of American Poets. It features a large collection of poems and poet bios, plus audio readings, essays, and classroom resources for readers and educators.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://poets.org

**Tags:** websites, arts-design, creative-arts

## Podcasts

### 1. Poetry Off the Shelf

**Author:** Poetry Foundation

Producer Helena de Groot talks to poets about language, dreams, love and loss, identity, connection, anger, discomfort, the creative process, the state of the world and the world of the soul. Hard conversations are welcomed—laughter is, too.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en-us | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.poetryfoundation.org/

**Tags:** poetry, poet-interviews, creative-process, contemporary-poetry

## Books

### 1. The Haiku Handbook

**Author:** William J. Higginson, Penny Harter

Higginson and Harter's standard introduction: how haiku works in Japanese, how the form migrated into English and other languages, and practical guidance on writing, sharing and teaching it. Includes translations, a short history, and a glossary.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/4770031130?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, poetry

### 2. Writing and Enjoying Haiku

**Author:** Jane Reichhold

Reichhold's hands-on guide to composing haiku in English: finding material in ordinary observation, working with season words and the cut, revising drafts, and shaping finished poems. Includes exercises, many sample haiku, and guidance on submitting to journals.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/4770028865?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, poetry

---

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