The Little Book of Gaiku
Fri, Apr 21, 2017
A book of Gaelic haiku poems to accompany my wild land photographs had been an idea ruminating in the depths of my own wild imagination for some time. Having taken the plunge and self published the Little Book of Gaiku I was amazed to be contacted by Scotland on Sunday newspaper for a half page spread on what was believed to be the first full volume of Gaelic haiku poems.
The book did well over the Christmas period and with today being John Muir Day and World Book Day on Sunday I thought I’d give it a little promotion on the blog.
I love Chinese mountain poetry, the haiku of Basho and the gorgeous lyrical tanka poems that resonate with wild land emotion and I decided to follow that path in my writing and photography to pay tribute to landscapes that have shaped my own life, for the past thirty odd years.
One of the gaiku (Gaelic haiku) poems is in homage to my old pals the ravens on Blaven, who posed so photogenically for me once on the south summit and I was moved to begin a second volume of gaiku recently on an ascent of the wonderfully narrow and craggy ridge of Belig when another raven followed me at close quarters. At the summit it was so close, perched on the cairn that a photograph showed me reflected in its eye.
There I am, regarding the raven, regarding me. Perhaps it was one of the Blaven ravens come to sit with me. Perhaps it was the muse come to inspire me.
For World Book Day, or indeed to celebrate John Muir Day with some wild land inspiration, why not pop over to my photography blog for the story behind the Little Book of Gaiku and get a copy of the print book or eBook. If you do, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.