Jim Kacian


James Michael Kacian is an American haiku poet, editor, publisher, and public speaker. He has lived in London, Nashville, Bridgton and now resides in Winchester, Virginia.

Life and writing career

Kacian was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, then adopted and raised in Gardner, Massachusetts. He wrote his first mainstream poems in his teens, and published them in small poetry magazines beginning in 1970. He also wrote, recorded, and sold songs while living in Nashville in the 1980s. Upon his return to Virginia in 1985 he discovered English-language haiku, for which he is best known.
In 1993, he founded Red Moon Press, and in the same year began editing the haiku journal South by Southeast. Kacian's Red Moon Press is the largest publisher of haiku and haiku-related books outside Japan, with a current catalog of over 60 titles in print, and producing some dozen titles a year, including 12 years of the award-winning annual Red Moon Anthology. This was followed in 1998 with the editorship of Frogpond, the journal of the Haiku Society of America.
Having proposed a new global haiku association in 1999, Kacian co-founded the World Haiku Association with Ban'ya Natsuishi and Dimitar Anakiev. In September 2000 the WHA held its inaugural conference in Tolmin, Slovenia.

From August to November 2000, Kacian traveled to nine countries — the UK, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan promoting a global haiku. Having invited haiku poets from around the world to submit their haiku to Frogpond, Kacian compiled and edited 2001's XXIV:1 issue, featuring haiku from 24 countries.
In late 2008 Kacian formed and created The Haiku Foundation, a non-profit organization which focuses on archiving English-language haiku's first century while expanding its second, with an official start-date of January 6, 2009.
In August 2013 his comprehensive anthology Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years was published by W. W. Norton & Company. Kacian served as editor-in-chief for the decade-long project, with Allan Burns and Philip Rowland as associate editors, and with a general introduction by former poet laureate Billy Collins. The anthology tells the story of English-language haiku from its first recognized example—Ezra Pound's “In a Station of the Metro”—to current practice, and offers selections from well over 200 poets in a chronological format. It also features Kacian's 70-page overview of the genre.

Poetry collections

Kacian has written sixteen books of poetry, fourteen of which are dedicated to haiku or haiku-related genres. His poems have been translated into many languages.

Featured work

Kacian's haiku,
is etched in a stone along the Katikati Haiku Pathway beside the Uretara Stream in New Zealand. In 2010 a second stone featuring his poem
was added, making him one of only three poets with multiple stones, and the only American.
His essays have been cited in such works as:
Kacian's efforts on behalf of global haiku have been featured in:
And 30 of his selected haiku are featured at:
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with an additional 17 personally selected in December, 2008 at:
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Kacian's work has been anthologized in, among others:
His poem,
serves as the departure point for Richard Gilbert's monograph on contemporary haiku technique, The Disjunctive Dragonfly, defining innovative techniques in English-language haiku.

Editorship

Kacian has edited several English-language haiku books and journals, including:

As a poet

Kacian's haiku have won or placed in many national and international haiku competitions in English, including recently:
The books listed below have won The Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards for outstanding achievement in the genre.
Kacian's work as publisher has also been highly recognized:
In 1996 his production of John Elsberg's A Week in the Lake District was a finalist for Virginia Poetry Book of the Year.
In August 2000, Knots — The Anthology of Southeastern European Haiku Poetry, which Kacian co-edited with Dimitar Anakiev, won second place in the World Haiku Achievement Competition.
In October 2008 he won the Ginyu Award for Outstanding Contribution to World Haiku.

Publication credits

Kacian's poems, articles, and book reviews have appeared internationally in journals, magazines, and newspapers including:
Kacian has read in many parts of the world, including international poetry festivals in New York, New Orleans, London, Oxford, Belgrade, Vilanice, Ohrid, Skopje, Sofia, Sydney, Hobart, Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, Tokyo, Tenri, Kyoto, Kumamoto, Los Angeles, Toronto and Washington D.C. Some of his speeches are listed below:
His advocacy, along with that of such poets as Marlene Mountain and Janice Bostok, of single-line haiku in English has initiated renewed interest in this form following its rare usage during the 20th century. His work also champions several innovative techniques. Kacian's own critical writings elaborate some of these aesthetic innovations.

Interviews