The following poem, a contemporary take on the Californian Dream, was delivered at the 2019 bonenkai by Preston Keido Houser, who followed it up with a shakuhachi piece in lighter vein. A villanelle is a fixed-form poem consisting of five tercets and a quatrain and follows a specific rhyme scheme using only two different sounds. …Read More
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Forsaking the farce of form and faceArtists forced to raze the dominant paradigmSeizing the sense of silence and space The painter replicates without a traceFleeing frigid hue and spectral climeForsaking the farce of form and face The poet shuns a language of sonorous laceRefuses circumscription to rhythm and rhymeSeizing the sense of silence and space …Read More
The following limericks are selected from a collection entitled 101 Nervous Nun Limericks by shakuhachi maestro, Preston Keido Houser. These follow his love limericks from a monk’s perspective. The verses are much in the spirit of koans and Zen humour, lighthearted yet hinting at something deeper. They also have a deliberately irregular syllable pattern from …Read More
by Preston Houser There once was a monk from Great Plains Who was stunned by Love’s cryptic claims. Love liberates from bondage Lonely hearts taken hostage And sets the free in chains. There once was a monk from St. Klaus Perplexed by love because Unlike the shadow it casts It’s fun while it …Read More
Below are two more villanelles from Preston Keido Houser. A villanelle is a fixed-form poem consisting of five tercets and a quatrain which follows a specific rhyme scheme using only two different sounds. It originated as a form of ballad and took its name from a 1606 poem by Jean Passarat, coming into fashion in …Read More
by Preston Keido Houser There once was a monk from Tangier Whose prayers left him nothing to hear But by embracing the violence Of interminable silence Did a mantra appear to his ear There once was a monk from Bayonne Who was blind to the beam he was shown But by loving his eyes Did …Read More
The Writers in Kyoto commemoration of WW1 was timed to coincide with the centenary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916. The event proved hugely entertaining and a worthy way to remember the nightmare undergone 100 years ago. There were recitals, family reminiscences, articles and letters from the …Read More
Two Friends – Poetry Reading by Mark Richardson and Mark Scott (At The Gael on June 21, 2015) WiK Policy Meeting June 2015 at Tadg’s Restaurant The Two Davids: presentation at …Read More
WiK Writing Competition
WiK Anthologies
The Nature of Kyoto (2023)
Eds. Lisa Twaronite Sone & Robert Weis
Foreword by Pico Iyer
Structures of Kyoto (2021)
Eds: Rebecca Otowa & Karen Lee Tawarayama
Foreword by Judith Clancy
Encounters with Kyoto (2019)
Eds: Jann Williams & Ian Josh Yates
Foreword by Juliet Winters Carpenter
Echoes (2017)
Eds: John Dougill, Amy Chavez, & Mark Richardson
Preface by Alex Kerr
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