Trí Mhionlíne | Three Little Lines

The haiku is the shortest poetic form in the world which originated in Japan in the 17th century, first refined and championed by haiku master Bashō. Haiku poems are usually written in three lines and contain a maximum of seventeen syllables. Irish haiku master Gabriel Rosenstock defines the haiku as ‘seeing what is before you. Taking it all in with many of the senses as possible. Watching. Listening. Feeling…Sensing the wonder of it all and getting it down in three lines’.

Three Little Lines invites audiences of all ages to embark on an artist-led springtime gingko walk in beautiful Dun Laoghaire. Inspired by their surroundings, participants will be guided in composing their own haiku in Irish and English, and will have the opportunity to read their three little lines on the Festival in a Van stage. This event is beginner-friendly and suitable for all ages; we encourage you to come along if you’ve never dipped a toe into poetry before, and to bring your nieces and nephews, your neighbours, and your granny too!

To get creative juices flowing, the afternoon will kick off with performances by two haiku poets accompanied by music. Liam Carson is the author of the acclaimed memoir call mother a lonely field, and his haiku in Irish and English have been published by the Irish Times, Comhar, Poetry Ireland Review, seashores and many other journals. Maeve O’Sullivan is one of Ireland’s leading haiku poets. Her latest haiku collection, Wasp on the Prayer Flag was praised by Catherine Phil McCarthy as follows: ‘These meditative haiku discover magnificence in the everyday. Alert to how birds, plants and insects revel in weather and the seasons, they connect our human world with the cosmos’. Seán MacErlaine is an acclaimed composer and performer who uses woodwinds and electronics, and is described by the Irish Times as ‘one of the most interesting and adventurous musicians of his generation’.

The performance will be followed by a gingko, or haiku walk, in which the audience will be invited to compose their own haiku about what they see on the day. Participants will return to the Festival in a Van stage, where they will have the chance to read their newly composed pieces aloud.

Presented by Festival in a Van and IMRAM with funding from Foras na Gaeilge and DLR Arts Office.

Trí Mhionlíne

Léiriú haiku amuigh faoin aer i nGaeilge agus i mBéarla le ceol agus rannpháirtíocht an phobail ann.

Is é an haiku an fhoirm is lú d'fhoirmeacha filíochta an domhain (i dteannta an tré). Gabhann a chuid fréamhacha siar go dtí an 13ú haois agus bhláthaigh an seánra seo sa tSeapáin in aimsir Basho. De ghnáth, is i bhfoirm trí líne a bhíonn an haiku agus ní théitear de ghnáth thar 17 siolla. 'An rud atá os do chomhair a fheiscint, breith ar nóiméad solasmhar'. Sin is haiku ann, dar le Gabriel Rosenstock.

Beidh beirt fhilí haiku páirteach sa tionscadal Trí Mhionlíne. Údar an leabhair cháiliúil call mother a lonely field, cuimhní cinn, é Liam Carson agus foilsíodh haiku leis i nGaeilge agus i mBéarla i bhfoilseacháin éagsúla, ina measc The Irish Times, Comhar, Poety Ireland Review agus seashores. File haiku bisiúil í Maeve O'Sullivan agus mhol Catherine Phil McCarthy an cnuasach haiku uaithi Wasp on the Prayer Flag mar haiku machnamhacha a aimsíonn niamhracht sa ghnáthshaol, haiku a thugann éanlaith, plandaí agus feithidí faoi deara i gcaitheamh na séasúr, agus a cheanglaíonn an domhan seo againne leis an gcosmas. Cumadóir agus ceoltóir mór le rá é Seán MacErlaine, duine de na ceoltóirí is suimiúla agus is eachtrúla dá ghlúin féin, dar leis an Irish Times.

Tar éis an léirithe, beidh ginko ann, nó siúlóid haiku, agus iarrfar ar an lucht féachana a gcuid haiku féin a chumadh le linn na siúlóide, agus iad a léamh os ard.

Presented by Festival in a Van and IMRAM with funding from Foras na Gaeilge and DLR Arts Office.

Host or Publisher Festival in a Van