Eavonka Ettinger

1. Basho, Buson, or Issa? (No saying Shiki, even if that's the correct answer.)

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      - Issa.

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2.  Who is one person who has been a mentor to you in the short form community?

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      - While not exactly a mentor, it was discussions with Pippa Phillips via Twitter DMs in 2021(?) who helped drag me out of my old school stuck in my ways ideas about what haiku should be. Without her valuable input, I would never have discovered The Haiku Foundation’s Haiku Dialogue or even started to abandon 5/7/5 and (gasp!) complete sentences.

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3.  Publications, where was your first and your most recent?

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      - I am forever indebted to Patricia McGuire who first published me in March of 2019 on the Poetry Pea Podcast S2E16. The theme was film which is my other obsession. The haiku were both full sentences in three lines 5/7/5. My most recent acceptance was a collaboration with Josiah (aka @lessEthereal) for a haiga with his art and my poem. It will be out any day now in Fresh Out Magazine thanks to editor, Eric Lohman.

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4. Favorite horror movie or book, romance movie or book, writer or film director working in a language you can’t fluently speak?

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        - Interestingly, my first published haiku (see above) was about my favorite filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa. It seems my love of the culture of Japan has a long history!

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5. Favorite jazz, folk, blues singer or musician?

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      - Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell, Bessie Smith, and Neil Young (in the order mentioned above). I prefer music with amazing lyrics and am strongly influenced by folk music from the 60s and 70s.

 

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6. Who's a great haiku or senryu poet whose work speaks to you that you’d like more people to be aware of?

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      - Orrin PreJean. Despite being well known amongst my little haiku community on Twitter, it never fails to amaze me that Orrin is so humble and rarely submitting these days. Every single day, his words inspire me to think of haiku/senryu/tanka in new and exciting ways.

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7. Politically if you had the ability to fix one issue via policy changes what would it be?

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      - It’s all such a shit show right now that narrowing it down to one is nearly impossible, but if we don’t make a radical course correction, climate change will destroy us all.

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8. Describe a pet you treasure/d, your own or someone else’s.

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     - I saw a posting about a sweet-natured 2 year old orange and white tabby who had been found on the side of the highway. I called, he was brought over, and he was in rough shape. My husband and I fell in love immediately and named him Mojo because we figured he needed good mojo just as much as we did. He delights us in every way. We’ve had him 16 months.

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9. What season do you feel you write best or most frequently and why?

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     - I struggle with kigo to be honest, but I am trying to do better. Shout out to Naturalist Weekly and Wales Haiku Journal for weekly prompts on Fridays that have helped me tremendously.

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10. If you could nominate one poem from the last year and its poet for an Individual Touchstone award, who and what would they be?

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      - It's a poem by Orrin PreJean that he hasn't submitted yet. So I am hoping it gets published so I can nominate it!

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11. Who is one historical person whose activism or accomplishments especially inspire you, and why?

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      - I chose to write about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at 16 for a major term paper and though it may feel cliché and naïve to some, 40 years later, I have never stopped believing in his vision and passion for fundamental societal change via non-violent means.

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12. What have you learned about writing poetry you wish you realized earlier?

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      - It's  okay   to   write   horrible   poems  and lots of them if it leads to that incredible moment when through revision everything just clicks together perfectly.

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13. One song you particularly adore?

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      - Case of You by Joni Mitchell is actually my favorite song.

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14. In your poems what bird, plant, or weather pattern has appeared frequently?

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     - I feel I’ve written the most about crows, oranges, hummingbirds, bees, parrots, and butterflies as they are a huge part of where I live.

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15. If you could get a roundtrip plane ticket and accommodations comped to any place, where would you visit?

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      -  Yipes, I want to go to so many places, but if I could only choose one it would be to Florence, Italy which I have dreamed of ever since I saw Room With a View in 1985.

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