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I wait for fireflies / I wait as if for someone / who will never return
The first work in English devoted entirely to the modern haiku master, Momoko Kuroda, with 100 poems plus commentary on the poet's life, social context, form, and technique.
Momoko Kuroda (1938–2023) was a giant of haiku poetry in Japan and a woman of remarkable independence and spirit. She received multiple awards for her poetry including the prestigious Dakotsu prize.
The one hundred poems here—her first collection in English—show her evolution as a poet, her acute lyricism, and her engagement as a writer in issues central to modern Japan: postwar identity, nuclear politics, and Fukushima. Abigail Friedman's introduction and textual commentaries provide important background and superb insight into poetic themes and craft.
"Despite her popularity in Japan, the haiku poet Momoko Kuroda has had few of her works translated into English. This handsome volume remedies the situation and more."
—Frogpond - Haiku Society of America
"The book itself honors the poetic form; it is carefully crafted and beautiful in its details, inviting readers to savor the words—and wisdom within."
—Story Circle Book Review
"..Kuroda’s poetry provides new insight about a culture through one of its most celebrated art forms."
—The Absolute
"The haiku are well written, evocative and offer lucid, lyrical statements - the images immediately appealing."
—Kokako
Momoko Kuroda (b. 1938 in Tochigi Prefecture) is one of the most highly-respected haiku poets in Japan today. She has published five collections of haiku, and authored or co-authored another 22 prose works including essays, season-word compendiums, books on haiku for beginners, and a two-volume set of interviews with notable Showa-era poets.
Abigail Friedman, a retired diplomat and accomplished, award-winning haiku poet, began composing haiku in a haiku group that met at the foot of Mt. Fuji, led by Japanese haiku master Momoko Kuroda. Her book, The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 2006), captures that experience and her insights into haiku.