Cor van den Heuvel (born March 6 1931) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
haikuHaiku in English is a development of the Japanese haiku poetic form in the English language.Contemporary haiku are written in many languages, but most poets outside of Japan are concentrated in the English-speaking countries....
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
,
editorEditing is the process of selecting and preparing language, images, sound, video, or film through processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications in various media...
, commentator and
archivistAn archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
.
He was born in
Biddeford, MaineBiddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the largest city in the county, and is the 6th largest in the State. It is the most southerly incorporated city in the State of Maine and the principal commercial center of York County. The population was 20,942 at the 2000 census....
, and grew up in
MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
and
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of...
. He lives in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
with his wife Leonia Leigh Larrecq.
He first discovered haiku in 1958 at a poetry reading in San Francisco. He returned to the East Coast the following year and continued composing haiku. He became the house poet of a
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
coffee house, reading haiku and other poetry to jazz musical accompaniment.
Cor van den Heuvel (born March 6 1931) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
haikuHaiku in English is a development of the Japanese haiku poetic form in the English language.Contemporary haiku are written in many languages, but most poets outside of Japan are concentrated in the English-speaking countries....
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
,
editorEditing is the process of selecting and preparing language, images, sound, video, or film through processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications in various media...
, commentator and
archivistAn archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
.
Biography
He was born in
Biddeford, MaineBiddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the largest city in the county, and is the 6th largest in the State. It is the most southerly incorporated city in the State of Maine and the principal commercial center of York County. The population was 20,942 at the 2000 census....
, and grew up in
MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
and
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of...
. He lives in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
with his wife Leonia Leigh Larrecq.
He first discovered haiku in 1958 at a poetry reading in San Francisco. He returned to the East Coast the following year and continued composing haiku. He became the house poet of a
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
coffee house, reading haiku and other poetry to jazz musical accompaniment. By 1961 he was reading haiku at a
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
coffeehouse. In 1971 he joined the
Haiku Society of AmericaThe Haiku Society of America is a non-profit organization composed of haiku poets, editors, critics, publishers and enthusiasts that promotes the composition and appreciation of haiku in English. It was founded in 1968 and sponsors meetings, lectures, workshops, readings and contests...
and became its president in 1978.
Work
He has published at least 12 books of his own haiku, including one on
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
. He is best known as the editor of the three editions of
The Haiku Anthology; the original Haiku Anthology published in 1974 by Doubleday, the second edition published in 1986 by Simon & Schuster, and the third edition published in 1999 by Norton.
Honors
The Haiku Society of America has given him three Merit Book Awards for his haiku. He has been the honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives at the
California State LibraryThe California State Library collects, preserves, generates anddisseminates a wide array of information. It was founded in 1850 bythe California State Legislature...
at Sacramento for the 1999-2000 season. He also served as
NewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly newsmagazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine’s poetry editor until he retired in 1988. He was the United States representative to the 1990 International Haiku Symposium in Matsuyama. At the World Haiku Festival held in London and Oxford in 2000, he received a World Haiku Achievement Award. In 2002, he was awarded The Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Prize in Matsuyama, for his writing and editing of haiku books.
Van den Heuvel has been described in The Alsop Review as "an intelligent and unflagging spokesperson for haiku".
Sources