101 Haiku

Traveling to a new place can change your perspective and your life. Such was the case when American music teacher Vera Kochanowsky took her first trip to Japan and became completely captivated by the novel sights, the unique culture, and the charm of the people. Inspired to begin an intense study of Japanese classical literature after her return home, she immersed herself in the works of Bashō, Buson, Issa, Shiki, and other famous Japanese haiku poets. This led her to begin writing her own haiku, culminating in this collection-101 Haiku, A Journey Through the Seasons, a mosaic-like portrait of a year filled with the shifting colors of life’s experiences: joy and sadness, friendship and solitude, growth and decay.

Author Biography

Vera Kochanowsky has maintained an active career as a choral conductor, harpsichord soloist, chamber musician, and private music teacher in the Washington DC area for more than thirty years. Her interest in writing has been lifelong, but 101 Haiku is her first published poetry collection. Her two previous books were family histories. The first, Lenin, Hitler, and Me, is a retelling of her father Boris Kochanowsky’s account of his escapes from communist Russia and Nazi Germany. Her second book, Anna and Boris: The Love Letters (1944-1946), a translation of her parents’ correspondence in Switzerland during and just after World War II, offers a detailed, personal portrait of both of her parents.