we need a collective noun

9/26/2015

The Local Organizing Committee for HNA 2015 is looking for a good collective noun for a very large group of haiku poets. Suggested collective nouns for the generic category of poets just don't seem to fit: e.g., iambic, rhyme, obscurity (see Wikionary), or even stanza.

Perhaps "a breath of haiku poets" could work for a small gathering, but we are pleased to say that HNA 2015 will not be a small gathering of haiku poets. With the Conference taking place three weeks from now, we have well over 120 registrants.

Thanks to all who are planning to join us in Schenectady at Union College for HNA 2015, and to those who are about to register to join our big bandwagon and celebration of haiku. If you have a suggestion for an appropriately inspired collective noun, please leave a comment to tell us

p.s. As we get closer to mid-October, I might be able to supply our attendees with a somewhat valid weather forecast. At this point, I can't say whether we are likely to have Indian Summer or need to huddle for warmth like the flock of birds in this photo of the steeple and weathercock at St. George's Episcopal Church in the Schenectady Stockade. If you, unlike most of us, start packing early, I have one word for you: layers (not lawyers).

29 Comments

Deborah P Kolodji link

9/26/2015 09:12:54 am

I vote for "a season of haiku poets"

Lynne

9/26/2015 11:00:01 am

A wellspring of Haiku poets an upwelling of Haiku poets..

Joshua Eric Williams

9/26/2015 11:01:31 am

An auspice of poets sounds about right.

David Giacalone link

9/26/2015 11:33:34 am

Thanks for your offerings, Deborah, Lynne and Joshua. It's great to have bloggy interaction again.

I looked up "auspice" to recall its many meanings. I wonder which one you had in mind, Joshua; or maybe all of them?

I just thought of "linkage" and "pivot". My evil twin suggested "a babel of haiku poets", or perhaps "a schism", after I lent him a couple of David Lanoue's "Haiku Wars." Keep those ideas coming.

Joshua Eric Williams

9/26/2015 03:13:49 pm

I meant all of them. :) Also, what about a reflection of haiku poets.

Pamela A. Babusci

9/26/2015 12:37:58 pm

possible collective nouns:

harvesting of haiku poets

autumn the hues of haiku poets

autumn the palette of haiku poets

haiku poets gathering in autumn wind

haiku poets gathering in autumn

autumn wind gathering haiku poets

autumn leaves gathering haiku poets

Joshua Eric Williams

9/26/2015 03:14:39 pm

What about a reflection of haiku poets?

Ritchie Albert

9/27/2015 12:06:01 am

A murder of writers
A pallet of painters
A plume of poets, perhaps

Ritchie Albert

9/27/2015 01:13:29 am

Would a gathering of poets in Schenectady representing the larger realm of poets be a synecdoche?

Deborah P Kolodji link

9/27/2015 01:24:23 am

LOL - Ritchie!

Ron Moss

9/27/2015 01:20:24 am

Some thoughts from me..

a resonance of poets

a juxt of poets

a frenzy of froglets

-Ron C. Moss

Hansha Teki link

9/27/2015 02:39:17 am

an apparition of haiku poets

Deborah P Kolodji link

9/27/2015 07:59:34 am

I love the nod to pound in this one.

Jan Benson

9/27/2015 05:14:32 am

There is always the historically recorded collective ...
an iamb of poets
But since haiku traditionally has three lines perhaps :
a triamb of haijin

David Giacalone link

9/27/2015 08:13:51 am

This is fun, and thought-provoking. Thanks to everyone who has participated. Please keep the ideas coming.

Ritchie, I can't believe that your great suggestion "synecdoche" had not occurred to me, especially given my prolix discussion of the word back in 2008, at f/k/a [http://tinyurl.com/SynecdocheFKA], when the movie "Synecdoche, NY" was released.

A word that can embody either under-inclusion or over-inclusion might indeed be appropriate for a group of poets split between those who think that a genre should have at least a working definition and those who insist there is and should be no definition, or at least none they will speak aloud, put into print, or adhere to. [I say this having pondered recently what I can/should say when asked by the media or laity here in Schenectady just what haiku is.]

So, Jan, I bet your suggestion "triamb" will be considered far too restrictive by some of the icons of haiku.

Ritchie Albert

9/27/2015 09:15:40 am

Although it doesn't have quite the punch of "Thrilla in Manila," it does have a ring to it.

David Giacalone link

9/27/2015 09:38:34 am

Imagine what fun we could have if we were gathering in Tallahassee or Calabash. I'm glad we won't have to be a dearth of haiku poets.

James Rodriguez

9/27/2015 09:31:45 am

a bashing, as in basho.

Brad Bennett

9/27/2015 09:39:15 am

I looked up some plural bird names:
skein (of geese)
siege (of herons)
raft (of ducks)
paddling (of ducks)
charm (of finches)
host (of sparrows)
tidings (of magpies)
or how about a "hai-school" or a "junta-con"

Brad Bennett

9/27/2015 09:41:10 am

That last one should be "juxta-con." Spell-check created the "junta." (I didn't want the conference organizers to get nervous!)

Ritchie Albert

9/27/2015 11:49:59 am

At the risk of looking the idiot, might I suggest that it takes a pillage to pen the penultimate poetic program.

Or maybe a syllabary.

Susan Nelson

9/27/2015 05:28:18 pm

a consideration of haijin

david giacalone link

9/27/2015 06:55:21 pm

Susan, focusing on the single word "haijin" seems to be a helpful strategy. I've been thinking that alliteration may inspire useful connections.

E.g.: highway, hearth, hyphen, chutzpah, huzza, hotbed, horizon, hoopla, honing, hogshead, highbrow, hiatus

By the way, I'm not planning to pick a "winner". We could keep this up straight through the banquet on October 17.

Marietta McGregor

9/29/2015 08:04:29 am

I rather like a quintessence of haijin. Getting to the heart of it all!

Marietta McGregor

9/29/2015 04:29:28 pm

Another thought, from beside a Cambodian lake: a confluence of haiku poets. Many small streams meeting at the river. A conference confluence.

Ritchie Albert

9/29/2015 04:36:26 pm

Whollotta haijinx sounds fun

David Giacalone link

9/29/2015 06:10:10 pm

Welcome to our brain-storming, Margarite. And, hi, again, Ritchie.

It's looking like we need a Humor Category and a Serious Category. Which is the more fitting might not be apparent until the Conference is ending.

Toni Piccini link

10/6/2015 10:17:30 pm

haijin, evergreen leaves

evergreen leaves

the evergreen leaves

the evergreen leaves' days

johnjoe

7/26/2018 01:10:37 pm

Just sent off a 'huddle of haikus' for a friend's birthday! Johnjoe

HAIKU NORTH AMERICA

we need a collective noun

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