Wanted: collaborators!

Who would like to try writing a renga with me? A renga is a poem made up of thematically linked haiku and couplets, usually written by two people (alternating, or taking turns). For example: my haiku/your couplet/my haiku/your couplet/my haiku/your couplet.

Even if you’ve never written a haiku before but are curious, please try your hand! Let’s have some fun writing together.

Haiku originated in Japan, where instead of an alphabet they use syllabaries (as well as Chinese ideograms). Each symbol of the Japanese hiragana and katakana scripts denotes a syllable (usually a consonant followed by a vowel, e.g. ro = ろ). So it’s fair to say that syllables are more important in Japanese than they are in English. And haiku are based around syllables (well not quite … but for simplicity let’s say they are).

In English, a haiku is generally made up of three lines, the first of five syllables, the second line seven syllables, and the final line once again five syllables (5/7/5). This is flexible, so long as the middle line is longer and the poem overall is very short. You can count syllables by clapping in time as you speak your words slowly, noticing the natural breaks. The number of claps should equal the number of syllables. Many dictionaries also indicate syllable breaks with small dots dividing the words.

Haiku usually make reference to a season of the year, but for the purposes of our renga we can dispense with this requirement. The third line of a haiku also differs from the first two in content. The first two lines set up imagery and the third line will often introduce some conflict or depth, with a ‘cutting’ verb. Again, we can dispense with this requirement, but it’s interesting and can be inspiring to know a little background.

For a renga, each haiku is followed by a couplet (two lines) of seven syllables each. So if I write the initial haiku, you would contribute a couplet. Then we’d continue like that until we’re done.

Please reply in the comments below, or message me via the contact page, if you’d like to participate! With your permission I’ll publish successful renga here on my blog, Wordflower, crediting you as a coauthor. So if you’re ready, let’s play!