Poetry. Fiction. Travel. WATER SHINING BEYOND THE FIELDS focuses on travel in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Southern China, and Thailand, presented in the haibun form, celebrated by the Japanese poet Basho in the 17th century. John Brandi defines the form in his latest book: "Haibun might traditionally be regarded as a series of en situ prose descriptions concluded by a haiku. The job of the haiku is to reveal an unexpected flash, an essence not quite captured in the prose." He adds: "But I didn' t set out to follow any rules, my own or Basho's. I set out to set out." WATER SHINING BEYOND THE FIELDS is full of long walks, misty temples, wild bus rides, solitary river excursions, culinary escapades and off-the-wall humor. It is also a cultural and political journey, one that eventually throws light on our survival options in a troubled world.

Author Hometown: EL RITO, NM USA



About the author: John Brandi has been faithful to the craft of poetry, painting, journaling, and gardening for most of his life. He is an ardent traveler, giving readings of his poetry and exhibiting his visual art at home and abroad. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry, he has been invited to lecture on the practice of haiku in Ottawa, Canada, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Los Angeles, California, and Chandigarh, India. John Brandi's archives (1963-1999) are in the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Complete collections of his books and broadsides may be found at: the University of California, the University at Buffalo, Brown University, and the Chavez History Library, Santa Fe NM.