Haiku and recovery: an immersive workshop

Haiku are grounded in the appreciation of nature and specific experiences. They lend themselves to being workshopped and to initiating, more broadly, editing strategies that may also be useful in other contexts. This essay, about an immersive teaching practice, focuses on the qualities of haiku for maximum engagement in a short period of time. The method has been developed by the author whilst acting as a creative writing mentor for the Australian Defence Force Arts for Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork and Skills program at the University of Canberra, a partnership with the Australian Defence Force. Participants have had little or no previous exposure to haiku. The workshop is in four stages: a discussion introducing examples of haiku for discussion; a haiku walk; an editing session conducted on a large white board; and a “haiku checklist” to take away and continue working with. This checklist offers a core of information on writing haiku, distilled from the discussion of guidelines, which will be useful for teachers. The inclusion of a selection of examples from participants demonstrates how an immersive teaching process can instil the essentials of the haiku form in a relatively short span of time.