Details

Angelee DeodharAngelee Deodhar

(20 July 1947 – 28 June 2018)

“In two and a half decades of learning about haiku I have understood one thing,

that all writing is a lonely calling – to write a passable haiku one must be alone much – observe and respond from a felt depth.”

(from an interview with Angelee in the blogzine GLO-TALK, Monday, 30 June 2014)

A letter to Angelee

My dear friend,

When you departed from this world last summer it was felt all over the world. From our correspondence I knew the kind of person you were – warm, kind, intelligent, giving, however I had no idea what an enormous impact you have had on so many people, both seasoned writers and beginners on their haiku journeys.

Hippocrates wrote that ‘wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity’. And you managed to take what’s sacred for your profession as a physician and transferred it into your life as a poet. You have always believed in the therapeutic effects of haikai poetry which you encountered through personal experience however the true therapy for anyone who was your friend or even just an acquaintance was simply in communicating with you – meeting you in person, sharing our common love of haiku, haiga or haibun, exchanging letters or e-mails. You had the rare talent to promote haiku and its related forms going beyond the boundaries we human beings tend to put around us. I remember vividly our conversation when I approached you to take part in a women’s anthology and when asked where you were born your answer was simple and yet so powerful – in undivided India. You wanted people to live and work together peacefully beyond the cultural differences and worked so hard to achieve that among the various haiku groups and societies. Your work as an editor and translator from Hindi has put India firmly on the haiku map and judging by the tributes online you have managed to influence the work of hundreds of poets from this amazing country.

You have accomplished so much and just a quick search online could reveal so many of your achievements done quietly just like a true angel. But then you do carry it in your name as well so no surprise there.

All of us, your friends and dare I say admirers, we do miss you. And yet we feel your presence around us as your legacy lives on.

With love and deep respect,

Iliyana

Photo by Tej Bans Singh Jauhar

Some publications:

  • If Someone Asks…Masaoka Shiki’s Life and Haiku, 2005;
  • Classic Haiku: A Master’s Selection, edited by Miura Yuzuru, 2006;
  • Ogura Hyakunin Isshu: 100 Poems by 100 Poets, 2007;
  • Children’s Haiku from around the world-A Haiku Primer 2007;
  • Indian Haiku, 2008;
  • The Distant Mountain:The Life and Haiku of Kobayashi Issa, a bilingual edition by by David G. Lanoue (English translations&comments) and Angelee Deodhar (Hindi translations) 2009;
  • Journeys: An Anthology of International Haibun, by Angelee Deodhar (Editor), 2014
  • Journeys 2015: An Anthology of International Haibun, Angelee Deodhar (Editor), 2015
  • Journeys 2017: An Anthology of International Haibun, Angelee Deodhar (Editor), 2017

Selected work:

azure butterflies
flitting about
flakes of sky

(New Hope International, 1997 (UK)

*

an I.V. line
anchors me to the monitor
thoughts still wander

(Modern Haiku, XXIX:1, 1998 (USA)

*

in the silence
of the zendo
my stomach growls

(Frogpond XXI:2, 1998 (USA)

*

between us
vapours from the teacups
autumn chill

(Modern Haiku, Volume XXXI: Number 3, Fall 2000)

*

haiga workshop
in the downstroke of the brush
the sound of rain

(Presence Award, Highly Commended, also published in Haiku Canada Newsletter, Vol XV, June 2002 Number 3)

*

midnight walk
the dog nudges me down
our moonlit path

(The Asahi Shimbun, 25-26 Oct 2003)

*

rumors of war
up into a darkening sky
- a child's newsprint kite

(Third Prize, The Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award for 2003; New Year's bells: Mainichi Daily News, Jan. 3, 2004 (No.655)

*

late afternoon
up to its belly in hyacinths
a pregnant buffalo

(The Heron’s Nest, Volume VII, 2005)

*

after the rain
cherry blossom breath
from every puddle

(Akita International Haiku Network, 2013)

*

out of the fog
a crow's cracked caw
drips into silence

winter bare tree
ice crystals sculpt
an abandoned nest

Tai Chi-
a blue heron takes up
the master's stance

(Poetry Pacific, e.zine, 5 November 2015)

*

gibbous moon
my ear on the curve
of her belly

(The Heron’s Nest, Volume XVII, Number 2: June 2015)

*

last night’s rain
the bird bath full
of sparrows

(Africa Haiku Network Rainfall Haiku Series, Haiga/Photoku No. #28, 28/06/18)

*

windswept -
into an upside down umbrella
frangipani blossoms

ветровито
в преобърнатия чадър
цветчета от плумерия

(the bilingual anthology Peonies/Божури, ed. by Iliyana Stoyanova, Sofia 2019)

*

‘Haiku Silence’ - essay by Angelee Deodhar

(https://poetrysociety.org.nz/affiliates/haiku-nz/haiku-poems-articles/archived-articles/haiku-silence/)

Sources: