Editorial Policy

Haiku Noir is a new variety of the ancient poetic form, haiku. Haiku noirs exist at the farthest end of the spectrum of subject matter, dealing with that which is not generally considered to be proper subject matter for the classical haiku; for example: tragedy, loss, sorrow, depression, madness, terror, horror, anger, macabre humor, anti-heroism, crime, passion, the underworld/subcultures, squalor, eros, science fiction and fantasy.

FORM: We are developing a new kind of haiku, not in the classical form, so the rules are substantially simpler. For our editorial purposes, a "haiku noir" is a tercet (3 line poem) in which the first and third lines are from 1 to 5 syllables while the second line is from 1 to 7 syllables. Thus, the classic 17 syllable form (5-7-5) and the even more popular English forms which use from about 10 to 14 syllables (e.g., 3-4-3, 4-5-2, 4-5-3, 4-5-4, 4-6-3, 4-6-4) are all acceptable. There are no rules with respect to capitalization, punctuation, use of complete sentences, fragments, phrases, or clauses. However, excessive use of marks (e.g., !!!!! and &*#@*&) is definitely frowned upon. There are no prohibitions with respect to metaphor, simile, rhyme, direct address, questioning, etc.. There are no "season words," "cutting," or "juxtaposition" requirements. In summary, the only form imperatives are that the haiku noir must be a tercet with no more than 17 syllables, distributed 5-7-5 or less.

SUBJECT MATTER: The poetic value of haiku noir is in communicating complex and difficult material in the most brief and crystallized poetic form, the haiku of seventeen or fewer syllables. This necessarily entails using the most concrete language in some instances and the most ambiguous and suggestive language in other instances. This is a tremendous poetic challenge and one of the great attractions of writing haiku. Showing the beauty to be found on the dark side, showing how our joy is rooted in sorrow, how our ecstasy is found beyond pain, is another great challenge. The defining purpose of the haiku noir is to create in the reader an emotional response which falls at the darker end of the spectrum of human experience. It is in this that haiku noirs are most different from classical haiku. Keywords which help to define the scope of the subject matter of haiku noirs include: tragedy, loss, sorrow, depression, madness, terror, horror, anger, macabre humor, anti-heroism, crime, passion, the underworld/subcultures, squalor, eros, science fiction and fantasy. On the other hand, there is at this end of the spectrum a great deal of human experience about which we do not want submissions at Haiku Noir, and keywords for those subjects that we don't want include: smut, pornography, scatology, banality, obscenity, hate speech, and anything that is simply disgusting. You may find that haiku noirs make you uneasy, even creep you out or turn you on, but they must not be disgusting or filthy. We repeat: Do NOT submit pornographic haiku. Because this can mean making some contentious value judgements, we emphasize that Haiku Noir reserves absolute editorial discretion in selecting poems for publication in Haiku Noir.

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