About the Project
The Culinary Saijiki is a project that combines my love of haiku with my love of food. In 2022, I decided to undertake an in-depth, self-guided study of both kigo and of the saijiki which house them. Focusing on seasonal words, I couldn’t help but notice how frequently I ended up writing about food-related topics in my own haiku (coffee shows up on the regular), and how often other English-language haiku practitioners were including food as well. I became interested in the ways in which haiku practitioners incorporate food in ways that are sometimes seasonal, and sometimes not. Out of a desire to explore the relationship between food and haiku even further, I decided to start this blog to record my thoughts, explorations, and research. Because I love conversation, I am also developing a podcast component to the project; look for that in late June of 2022.
About the Editor
I was born and raised in Northeast Ohio, where I discovered a love for poetry at age 12. After a B.A. in English from Kenyon College and an M.A. in English from Case Western Reserve University, I moved to Austin, Texas, which has been my home for the past 14 years. The variegated Texas landscapes captivated my literary imagination, and it was through my local and statewide poetry communities that I came into my own as a poet. After the process of earning my M.F.A. led to creative burnout, haiku was the only thing I could write. After three years of creative flailing, I realized I had given my heart over to the practice of haiku, and I decided to make it my primary creative form.
Past creative endeavors include publishing my two chapbooks: Come Into the World Like That (Five Oaks Press, 2016), and We’re Smaller Than We Think We Are (Finishing Line Press, 2013). I also served as co-editor of the Texas Poetry Calendar with Wade Martin from 2016-2018, and with Zoe Fay-Sindt in 2020.
I’m an active member of the Austin Haiku Study Group. My haiku, senryu, and haibun have appeared in Autumn Moon, bones, cattails, Failed Haiku, First Frost, Frogpond, and elsewhere.