about me...
David G. Lanoue
I'm a translator of Japanese haiku, a teacher of English and world literature, a writer of haiku and "haiku novels."
I earned my B.A. at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska (1976), then went on to complete the M.A. & Ph.D. in English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1977, 1981). My dissertation topic was musical symbolism 14th-century English, French and Spanish poetry. Since 1981, I've been teaching English at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where I hold the rank of professor.
In 1982 I discovered haiku. I began studying Japanese and visited Japan in 1987 and '88, working on a book of translations of the poet Issa. This appeared in 1991: Issa: Cup-of-Tea Poems (Asian Humanities Press). I returned to Japan in 2001, '03 and '07.
Over the years, I've published haiku and haiku criticism in Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Bottle Rockets, Ginyu (Tokyo), Jointure (Paris), Poesia (Milan), Literaturen Vestnik (Sofia, Bulgaria) ... and other places.
In 2000, with the help of my son Bryan and Bart Everson of Xavier University, I launched my website, The Haiku of Kobayashi Issa, the most comprehensive English-language Issa site on the Web.
I'm an active member of the Haiku Society of America and a former director of the World Haiku Association. In 2002 I co-founded, with Johnette Downing, the New Orleans Haiku Society.
So far, I've published two of a series of haiku novels: Haiku Guy (2000) and Laughing Buddha (2004).
In 2003 I had the privilege of editing The Haiku Society of America's Members' Anthology. My critical book on Issa and Buddhism, Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa, came out in 2004.
Svetla Hristova's Bulgarian translation of Haiku Guy appeared in May, 2007, published by Iztok-Zapad Press. On May 23, I gave a talk on Issa and participated in a book signing in Sofia. During the same trip, on June 19, I presented a paper on "The Spiritual Poetry of Kobayashi Issa" in Milan.
In October 2007, I gave a lecture on Issa and Pure Land Buddhism at the Higashi Honganji temple in Tokyo. Later that month, I visited Belgrade to celebrate the publication of Saša Vazic's Serbian translation of Haiku Guy.
In June 2008 I gave a talk on "America's First Haiku Masters: Kerouac and Wright," at a conference on "World Haiku: A Challenge to the 21st Century," held at South West University in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. A few days later, in Sofia, I participated in a bilingual reading and book signing of the Bulgarian translation of Laughing Buddha—at the Helicon Bookstore.
Also by David G. Lanoue...Kobayashi Issa Archive