Welcome
Welcome to the Call of the Page website. We run international online courses, workshops and events with an emphasis on minimal words, and the Japanese forms haiku, senryu, tanka and haibun. If you're looking for a course we hope you enjoy exploring the tabs above.
We also offer one-to-one tutorials/mentorship with Alan Summers and publish the poetry magazine The Pan Haiku Review. Further details on each of these can be found below. And finally, we also run creative literacy and literature projects using the power of words.
If you would like to receive occasional email newsletters from us, you can subscribe at Newsletter Sign-Up.
Online courses
Early 2025 Course Bookings Now Open
Thank you for your support.
Our popular longstanding beginners course, Introducing...Haiku will be starting again on 7th January 2025. This course is now open for booking here: Introducing...Haiku. It is suitable for complete beginners (at haiku, or at creative writing), but at the same time stimulating enough to introduce haiku as a new form to those who are already writing poetry or prose, or even as a refresher for experienced haiku writers.
Intermediate Haiku is our longest running course and will be starting again on 16th January 2025. It is suitable for those with some experience of either creative writing or haiku already. This course is now open for booking here: Intermediate Haiku.
THE SHAPE OF HAIBUN - 1 space left on the January course! FULLY BOOKED Thank you for support and
interest.
Our very popular newest course, The Shape of Haibun, now has one place available on the early 2025 run, starting on 9th January
2025. This course is suitable for students who would like
experience in writing haibun/tanka prose or haiku/tanka; and also for experienced Flash Fiction writers who would like to extend their writing to encompass poetry. For more information and booking please go to: The Shape of Haibun.
If you would like to go on the waiting list for future dates of any of our courses, please email Alison at courses@callofthepage.org.
One-to-one Tuition with Alan Summers
Alan Summers is available for one-to-ones via Skype or Zoom or through written feedback. To pay and book sessions, go to the Special Payments page. Or to find out more, go to the One-to-one Tuition page. Thank you!
Alan has been involved in haikai literature (haiku; senryu; haibun; renku/renga; haiga and shahai), and tanka, since 1993. He is a
Pushcart Prize nominated poet for both haiku and haibun, as well as Best Small Fictions nominated for haibun. He is also a multiple Touchstone Award nominated
poet, and winner.
Alan is a former President of the United Haiku & Tanka Society (2017 to 2021), and previously General Secretary of the
British Haiku Society (1998-2000), and Editor Emeritus for the multi-award-winning Red Moon Anthologies (Red Moon Press, USA) for best haikai literature (2000-2005).
He has been a former roving Embassy of Japan ‘Japan-UK 150’ poet-in-residence, published/supported by the BBC Poetry Season website at that time celebrating 150
years of diplomatic relations between Japan and the United Kingdom (2008-2009).
Alan also found himself filmed by NHK Television (Japan) for “Europe meets Japan - Alan's Haiku Journey” and published in Japanese newspapers:
“Astonishingly moving haiku”
Yomiuri Shimbun (Japanese newspaper 2002)
He is the author of various collections and pamphlets:
Does Fish-God Know (YTBN Press 2012)
Moonlighting (British Haiku Society Intimations Pamphlet Series 1996)
Sundog Haiku Journal: an Australian Year (Sunfast Press 1997)
The In-Between Season (With Words Pamphlet Series 2012)
Comfort of Crows (Alan Summers & Hifsa Ashraf) Velvet Dusk Publishing (2019)
Glint pub. Proletaria politics philosophy phenomena (February 2020)
Forbidden Syllables (Bones Library May 2020)
Pan Haiku Review
PHR Issue 4
It's all about haibun (and tanka prose) this time!
The fourth issue will be released in early December 2024
All poets will be emailed when it comes out followed by appearing on the website.
PHR Issue 5
Do get ready for all haibun (and tanka prose) edition Part Two, (PHR5) in the Summer of next year 2025!
Submission window: May 3rd to May 11th
9 days, two weekends!
maximum one piece
Which can be up to 1,500 words
submitted within the body of the email itself.
Pan Haiku Review does not accept simultaneous submissions.
Previously unpublished work only.
IMPORTANT:
I want to read haibun and tanka prose that excites me, because it goes a bit beyond what is usually written. It should leave THE DOOR AJAR to the world, and work with tension. Tension can be included
via storytelling, topic, twists, interesting combinations of genre etc.
Please think about titles:
What title might look intriguing enough in the contents section,
or index, to tempt the reader to pay a visit to your piece first
The Pan Haiku Review Summer issue 3 (August 2024) which also has haibun etc...
is now available to download - PHR Review
“I think Pan Haiku Review is really energising the haiku/haibun scene” - Sheila Barksdale
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