Participants will learn the basics of the Japanese literary form of haiku and haibun, which is a combination of prose and haiku. Participants will look at a brief history of the haibun and examine various examples, with a focus on the work of haiku master Kobyahsi Issa. Workshop participants will learn about the history of the forms, examine various examples, past and present, and then head to Morikami’s beautiful gardens to generate their own haiku and haibun. Participants need to bring a pen and writing pad, snippets of prose, dreams, found poems, journal entries, observations, memories, or a few lines from their own poems to incorporate in their very own haibun.

Yaddyra Peralta’s work has appeared in Miami Rail, Ploughshares, Tigertail, Abe’s Penny, Hinchas de Poesia, Eight Miami Poets (Jai Alai Books) and The Miami Herald. She has taught writing at Miami Dade College, Homestead Correctional Institution, and for O,Miami’s Sunroom project. Yaddyra is Associate Editor at Mango Publishing.