June 18, 2009
Ruth Yarrow became hooked on haiku when teaching a college course on how cultures around the earth relate to the natural world. More than 600 of her haiku have been published in the leading haiku journals and in five chapbooks of her haiku, most recently Whiff of Cedar (2007). She has given readings and workshops, judged contests, and served as editor and Northwest regional coordinator for the Haiku Society of America. She finds that writing haiku helps her be aware of the richness of life.
Mike Yarrow has interviewed more than a hundred West Virginia coal miners. He finds that the rich Appalachian story-telling culture enlivens how miners talk about their lives. In the transcripts of his interviews, he has discovered poetry. His found poems have been published in the Appalachian Journal and in Coal: A Poetry Anthology.
