The hay(na)ku is a 21st century poetic form invented by Eileen R. Tabios. It is a six-word tercet with the first line being one word, the second line being two words, and the third line being three words. An example:

… blueness

of sky—

I am breathing

Since its public inauguration, poets around the world have used the form, and published the results in books, anthologies and literary journals. Poets also have created text and visual variations of the form, including the popular “chained hay(na)ku” which strings together more than one tercet as well as the reverse hay(na)ku where the word count is reversed. Ms. Tabios’ variation, “haybun,” combines a single hay(na)ku tercet with prose and is documented in the first book-length haybun, 147 MILLION ORPHANS (MMXI-MML). The name “hay(na)ku” was coined by Vince Gotera (see “The History of the Hay(na)ku”).

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20th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION

In 2023, the hay(na)ku’s 20th anniversary is celebrated on Facebook and The Eulipion Outpost!

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HAY(NA)KU 15, a celebration with exhibits, readings, and new books.

You are invited to the HAY(NA)KU 15 Anthology which commemorates the hay(na)ku’s 15-year anniversary.

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HAY(NA)KU BLOG (including BIBLIOGRAPHY)

HAY(NA)KU VARIATIONS

SINGLE-AUTHOR HAY(NA)KU COLLECTIONS

THE STRIP HAY(NA)KU PROJECT curated by Ernesto Priego
(Meritage Press and Laughing Ouch Cube Productions, 2019)

Sheila E. Murphy: Winner of the Hay(na)ku 2017-2018 Book Contest

Menopausal Hay(na)ku for P-Grubbers, Editor Eileen R. Tabios
(Moria Books’ Locofo Chaps, Chicago, 2017)

THE CHAINED HAY(NA)KU PROJECT, Curated by Ivy Alvarez, John Bloomberg-Rissman, Ernesto Priego and Eileen R. Tabios
(Meritage Press and xPress(ed), San Francisco & St. Helena, CA and Finland, 2012)

THE HAY(NA)KU ANTHOLOGY, VOL. II, Co-Editors Jean Vengua and Mark Young
(Meritage Press and xPress(ed), San Francisco & St. Helena, CA and Finland, 2008)

THE FIRST HAY(NA)KU ANTHOLOGY, Co-Editors Jean Vengua and Mark Young
(Meritage Press and xPress(ed), San Francisco & St. Helena, CA and Finland, 2005)

Puitten uni (Sleep of Trees) by Heikki Lahnaoja (first Finnish hay(na)ku book)
(ntamo, Finland, 2015). An interview at Galatea Resurrects #26, July 2016

As a Magazine cover for Otoliths

Writer’s Digest Poetic Form Challenge: The Hay(na)ku Winner judged by Robert Lee Brewer (2011)

“Beautiful Minds” Video Presents Hay(na)ku Celebration of its Poets and Artists, YouTube, Oct. 2, 2019

konkrete poesie hay(na)ku by Claude Nguyen

A Writing Prompt for National Poetry Month, as recommended by The Daily Advocate columnist Dr. Vivian Blevins, April 3, 2019

Introduced to Kindergarteners at Glenview Elementary (California), May 2019

The Hay(na)ku and the MURDER DEATH RESURRECTION Projects Visit Sonoma State University, 2018. A report on the impact on students also is available HERE.

2nd and 3rd Graders at the Walden Center and School in Berkeley write the hay(na)ku under the guidance of Visiting Poet Melinda Luisa de Jesus. An illustrated report on the May 2018 workshop is HERE.

GARLIC HAY(NA)KU POETRY CONTEST at Canada’s Festival de l’Ail de Ste-Anne Garlic Festival coordinated by Elizabeth Johnston

Review of A Transpacific Poetics by Owen Bullock at Cordite Poetry Review, Oct. 10, 2017

The Hay(na)ku Visits Cebu City, Philippines, August 2017

HAY(NA)KU PAINTINGS by Thomas Fink

The Body Aches [Poems and Hay(na)ku] by Ernesto Priego
(ExpressoDoble, Mexico City, 2005 and A Manzana Mas Press Digital Re-Issue, London, 2008)

THE HAY(NA)KU POSTCARD PROJECT: A Crowdsourced Poetry Project by Ernesto Priego

THE HAY(NA)KU VISITS SERBIA, Mail Art Exhibition curated by Dejan Bogojevic, 2015

HAY(NA)KU During NAPOWRIMO, 2015

Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor Presents Hay(na)ku at “First Friday Celebrates National Poetry Month” (about 1.05 into YouTube video)

On the hay(na)ku “The Politics of Beauty” by Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor, Wing Luke Museum and also available at link to TALKING RACE, Feb. 6, 2013

ALPHABET: Hay(na)ku Drawings with Poem by Rimbaud By Eileen R. Tabios
(Meritage Press, San Francisco & St. Helena, 2007).

SPANISH HAY(NA)KU: “Eileen Tabios (With Rebeka Lembo) / Hay(na)ku Poems in English and Spanish”
POEMELEON: A Journal of Poetry

“El Hay(na)ku: Poesía Filipina Electrónica De Winepoetics a THE FIRST HAY(NA)KU ANTHOLOGY,” a paper by Melissa Luna presented at a Congress in Mexico (2008)

HAY(NA)KU FOR HAITI

HAY(NA)KU REVIEWS

THE HISTORY OF THE HAY(NA)KU By Eileen R. Tabios