Haiku Books
PAPERBACK & MINI MATCHBOOKS
by Jennifer Star
Please enjoy the haiku tour below of sample poems and book reviews. Contact the author directly to order books.
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The poems contained within these books — The Spectacular Within the Mundane and Matchbook Haiku — were born from a desire to intensify my focus on the small yet spectacular details inside ordinary life on earth. Those small beauties that can so often be missed or go unnoticed.
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The haiku format of 17 syllables (5-7-5) was the perfect foundation for my desire, providing a welcomed personal challenge to express daily observations in a few profound and meaningful words.
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After a year of daily haiku-writing in 2014, a poet-friend encouraged me to offer my haiku to the public. This encouragement, coupled with my love for designing and making books, was a marriage that couldn't be denied. And thus, the books came to be.
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The four main themes that arose from the best 120 haiku from the year are: Love, Nature, Awareness, and Being. Each theme features three or four additional sub-themes.
The holding of space
Creating a container
That is filled with love
What Readers Are Saying
Sally J Smith
Artist
Clean. Elegant. Deep. Like a Haiku itself these mini-books stir the soul, comfort the heart and ring clear like a silver bell in a misty dawn. Jennifer's collection of Haiku poems fill the pages with pure inspiration. A treasure. Like a Haiku itself, the mini-books appear to be spare and trim, yet this collection of gems stays with you long after the last pages are turned. Something to come back to, over and over again. Use them as an oracle or just savor the straightforward elegance. A keeper. Or, better yet - get two sets - one for yourself and one to give! A perfect gift.
Written and spoken
With power in the meaning
The touch of a word
Lucia Capacchione, PhD
Author, Artist & Educator
This book lives up to the promise of its title. Using words sparingly, in the tradition of Haiku, Jennifer Star does indeed unveil treasures in everyday experiences. Her distinctly contemporary approach to this poetic form brings us to a new sense of inner knowing about familiar yet overlooked elements of daily life. The topics she explores are known to all of us - love, friendship, nature, creativity, aging and death - yet Jennifer's sense of awe and appreciation shed new light on what we might have missed. As a life-long fan of traditional Japanese Haiku, I was moved and inspired by this Western woman's fresh way of seeing through this form of word-making. The book is artfully designed, with graphic details that set off the words with elegance and flair. Reading it in small pieces on busy days felt like a personal mini-retreat. Treat yourself to a helping of inspiration and beauty.
Aleia O’Reilly
Founder of Further Shore
The Spectacular Within the Mundane and Matchbook Haiku are precious jewels. If you enjoy Haiku, Rumi, poetry of any kind really, or just drinking in beauty via the written word, this collection will quench your thirst. Turning every page, a gift; a glorious journey without having to walk a step! Thirst quenched for now; but planning to revisit this oasis time and again. Thank you, Jennifer for sharing in such a deeply uplifting and visually stimulating way.
To read a good book
Is traveling to new worlds
Unknown, far away
Bookstore
The Spectacular Within the Mundane:
One Woman's Haiku Journey
$20
Paperback signed by the author
182 pages, 7.5 x 7.5 inches
Preview (or purchase unsigned) at Lulu.com
Contact the author to order. Shipping (and CA sales tax) added at checkout.
Get & Give Matchbook Haiku
Matchbook Haiku mini-books make an excellent gift for those who appreciate and notice the small beauties in life or, on the other hand, those who are in need of encouragement to welcome them in their life.
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Each handmade mini-book opens/closes just like a matchbook
40-41 pages; 30 haiku poems. Dimensions: 4.25 x 3.5 x .25 inches
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$10 each; $35 per set of four (one of each title)
Plus shipping (and CA sales tax)
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Call 805•927•7261 to place a phone order
Contact the author for more information
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Click on any image of a Matchbook Haiku mini-book for its mini-preview
On Love
Beloveds • Friends • Sharing
On Nature
Mountains • Sea • Wildlife • Weather
On Awareness
Creativity • Learning • Wisdom • Wellness
On Being
Life • Aging • Death