"The Sound of Water: Frogpond at 40"
In his famous letter to James Bull and Don Eulert, editors of the pioneering haiku journal American Haiku, Harold G. Henderson considered the possibility of writing haiku in English. Although derived from the Japanese, English-language haiku, he believed, would be of no lesser quality. Henderson went on to cofound the Haiku Society of America. It is the HSA and its members, more than any other group, that has concerned itself with establishing standards for American—indeed, English-language—haiku.
Frogpond editors have always been in the vanguard in realizing Henderson’s call. They have brought different points of view and (pre)conceptions as they sought to de ne what Frogpond should be and do, for example:
• Unlike independent publications such as American Haiku and Modern Haiku, Frogpond is a membership journal. What constitutes good service to the members? Is Frogpond obliged to publish the work of all dues-paying members? If not, should membership be a consideration for acceptance at all? Perhaps good service means bringing to the members the best work from all sources, foreign and domestic? Should the journal be analyzing classical Japanese- and/or English-language haiku in depth? Or maybe finding and printing the newest experiments?
• Is the HSA membership Frogpond’s only audience? Should it try to find a place for itself on bookshelves and coffee tables alongside mainstream poetry journals? Should issues of Frogpond be available in school libraries, colleges, and other institutions? Should it be sold in bookstores? Is it desirable for Frogpond articles—haiku even—to be indexed among scholarly publications? The goal of making Frogpond the very best haiku journal possible implies applying stringent standards for the selection of haiku, emphasizing quality over quantity.
. . .
