S9E18 Haiku that Breathe: exploring Lyrical Short Forms

About this episode

This episode explores lyrical haiku and senryū in English, focusing on works written before 2000 and emphasizing subtlety and musicality.

This episode of the Poetry Pea Podcast continues an exploration of lyrical haiku and senryū in the English language, with a focus on work written before the year 2000. What makes a haiku “lyrical”? Not overblown emotion or elaborate language, but a quieter musicality—rhythm, emotional restraint, and an image that’s allowed to resonate. This episode offers a thoughtful introduction to earlier contemporary haiku, setting the stage for a later look at more recent voices, in the next episode, do please join us. If you’re interested in poetry that values subtlety, attention, and the music of the spoken word, this is a good place to begin.

People in this episode

Host: Poetry Pea

Topics covered

• lyrical haiku
• senryū
• English language poetry
• contemporary haiku
• musicality in poetry

Keywords

• haiku
• senryū
• lyrical poetry
• contemporary poetry
• emotional restraint
• musicality
• English poetry

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Haiku, Senryū

More episodes of Poetry Pea - haiku and other English Language Japanese short forms

• S9E22 The Poetry of Nouns: Verbless Haiku and the Power of Suggestion · June 8, 2026 · 34 min
• S9E21 Flashku: Tiny Poems and One Line Haiku · June 1, 2026 · 20 min
• S9E20 Poetry Pea Podcast April Video Prompt poems: pink skies, cricket song, and evening haiku · May 25, 2026 · 19 min
• S9E19 Soaring Beauty: Contemporary Lyrical Haiku and Senryu · May 18, 2026 · 33 min
• S9E17 Haiku on the River · May 4, 2026 · 24 min
• S9E16 From Basho to Shiki classical lyrical haiku that endure · April 27, 2026 · 17 min