THE CHAINED HAY(NA)KU PROJECT Curated by Ivy Alvarez, John Bloomberg-Rissman, Ernesto Priego & Eileen Tabios

THE CHAINED HAY(NA)KU PROJECT
Curated by Ivy Alvarez, John Bloomberg-Rissman, Ernesto Priego & Eileen Tabios
ISBN-13: 978-951-9198-78-1
Price: $16.95
Release Date: 2010
Distributors: Meritage Press, Amazon and Lulu (http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/chained-hay%28na%29ku/12049346)

The hay(na)ku's swift popularity would not have been possible without internet-based communication. With the internet's capacity for engendering collaborations, it was inevitable that a collaborative hay(na)ku project such as THE CHAINED HAY(NA)KU would arise. It, of course, was fitting that THE CHAINED HAY(NA)KU began with an invitation from a blog. On June 24, 2007, an invitation was posted on http://chainedhaynaku.wordpress.com/ for poets to participate in hay(na)ku collaborations. Nearly a hundred poets and artists from around the world responded, and this anthology is one result, along with friendships and much fun!

The following is an excerpt from the collaborative poem by THE CHAINED HAY(NA)KU’s curators—Ivy Alvarez, John Bloomberg-Rissman, Ernesto Priego and Eileen R. Tabios—posted on the invitational blog as an example of hay(na)ku collaboration:

Hear

where nothing

is said. Here



where

everything worth

hearing is offered.



En

arche en

ho logos, kai



ho …

the bush

suddenly ablaze, sky



flaming

in your

eyes and mine,



blood

melting to

ink in our



veins,

then leaking

to shape gold



letters

on correspondence

masquerading as books.



Here

where Nothing

is said, hear



where

Nothing is

said, watch smoke rise



off

the tongue,

words like snakes.



The

tongue is

a golden page.


—from “Four Skin Confessions”

THE CHAINED HAY(NA)KU is also beautifully designed by Melissa Nolledo.

More information about the hay(na)ku poetic form is available at The Hay(na)ku Poetry Blog (http://haynakupoetry.blogspot.com )