In this, the Golden Age of Google, it's not hard to find plenty of information about a prominent and well-regarded poet like Lee Gurga. For example, a search in Google Images swiftly turns up this photo of the poet laughing and showing off his charming smile:
(Hi Lee!)
A little bit of digging elsewhere turns up book reviews, interviews, critical articles, you name it. Lee's publisher, Brooks Books, posts a "Poet's CV" detailing a lifetime of extraordinary achievement, including more than fifteen books and chapbooks published as author, translator and editor, a stint as editor-in-chief of
Modern Haiku, the world's oldest English-language haiku journal, and a list of awards, publications and anthology appearances as long as your arm. He's there on Amazon.com, where his
Haiku: A Poet's Guide is racking up 5-star reviews . . . including one from none other than William J. Higginson, ground-breaking author of
The Haiku Handbook, who sadly passed away just last weekend. And he has the unusual distinction of being the only person in the world (to date!) who turns up in a Google search for
"Haiku Halfwit"! (Don't believe me? Click on it and see!)
Well, needless to say our Distinguished Guest this month is no "halfwit" . . . though the self-deprecating humour is a characteristic touch. People who have been reading Lee's comments on our
Master Class thread nearby already know just what a perceptive reader and critic he really is. But to read Lee's prose is to get only a part of what this gifted poet and teacher has to offer to everyone who loves haiku--and indeed, poetry in general. A poet lives, first and foremost, through his or her poetry, and Lee Gurga is no exception. He has created a body of work that leaves no doubt that the haiku is a mature and richly evocative form of English poetry, capable of expressing the widest variety of moods and ideas memorably . . . and movingly.
Alas for the frustrating realities of small-press poetry publication. Far too much of Lee's work is out of print and unavailable for purchase. Fortunately for us though, we have the Internet and its many resources. Listed at the bottom of this post are three archive sites which together offer a generous sampling of Lee's poems. I encourage everyone visiting here to look into them and absorb what they have to offer. Our Distinguished Guest has much to teach us through his patient critiques and explanations--but he has as much again and more to teach through the quiet, thoughtful voice of his poems.
Just for a taster, three personal favourites:
fresh scent —
the labrador's muzzle
deeper into snow
trying the old pump a mouse pours out
postal chess —
he moves me
from his cell
Each of these strikes me as exemplifying the possibilities of the haiku form in its own richly satisfying way, but of the three, I think I like that image of the dog in the snow best. Perhaps it's just the experience of this last week here on Eratosphere, in which I've had the pleasure of watching fellow poets and friends catch the scent of the elusive and magical quarry called
haiku for the first time. There you all are, friends, heads in the snow and rumps in the air, tails wagging like mad--it's been a sight, let me tell you! With Lee's poems here, you've found the scent of some footprints well worth following. Dig deeper.
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Vintage Haiku by Lee Gurga
• A selection of Lee's poetry at the World Haiku Review.
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Long Walk Alone
• An online chapbook from Brooks Books, featuring poems by Lee Gurga and photography by Gretchen Batz. To navigate, click on the picture thumbnails, or use the arrows to go through the collection in sequence.
•
Lee Gurga at Terebess Asia Online
• A generous selection of Lee's work from the haiku archives of Terebess Asia.
*
p.s. So Lee, I gotta ask: what's up with "Haiku Halfwit" anyway?