In the Gallery

Haiku is a three-line poetic form originating in Japan. Comic strips, taking form in American newspapers, are often just three or four panels long. It turns out that the two forms blend together very well. 
 
While the Japanese art of haiga (haiku plus a drawing) is centuries old, the idea of making a haiku comic (turning a haiku poem into a comic strip of more than one panel) is something that originated in only the last 30 or so years. 
 
Traditional haiku consists of 3 lines with a 5-7-5 syllable count. They almost always include a seasonal nature word and a “mind leap.” Starting in the 20th century, modern haiku do not always follow these rules. There are haiku that have a few more or a few less than 17 syllables, that are one to four lines, and cover a wide array of subject matter. What remains important is the brevity of the haiku, the experience it records, and the leap it creates in the reader’s mind. 
 
Please take your time and enjoy each of our “haiku moments” presented in words and pictures, and with that combination, becoming something more than the sum of their parts.