Nationality: Australian.

Married: to Mikiko (nee Nishiyama)

1971: Born in Rockhampton in the State of Queensland, Australia.

1989: Entered the University of Queensland, Brisbane, enrolled in a B.Sc. (Biochemistry)

1991: Enrolled in B.A. at U of Q (Japanese Studies)

1991, March: Exchange student in Japan at Keio University. (Japanese Studies)

1991, November: Joined SUGAWA Yoko's "Fuyoh" (Rose Mallow) haiku group.

1991, November: Joined KATOH Shuson's "Kanrai" (Midwinter Thunder) haiku group.

1992, February: Returned to Australia.

1992: Graduated B.Sc. and B.A.

1993, January: Returned to Japan.

1993, April: Enrolled at the University of Tokyo, Masters Course. (Aquatic Biology)

1993: Joined "Haiku International" haiku group and attended TAGAWA Hiroshi's "Riku" group from time to time. Still active in "Kanrai" and "Fuyoh".

1993, Rainy Season: KATOH Shuuson passes away.

1994: Started attending "Kaitei" haiku workshops under KANEKO Tohta.

1994: Started the Haiku Universe Web Pages.

1995, March: Graduated from University of Tokyo (M. Sc.) and enrolled in Doctoral course.

1995, Spring: Started publishing English haiku and essays in "Fuyoh/Rose Mallow" as Assistant Editor under SUGAWA Yoko. Have now been involved in editing, translating and writing for every edition of Fuyoh/Rose Mallow to the present.

1997, March: Graduated from University of Tokyo (Ph. D.)

1999, Summer: Dived to 6500m in a manned submersible but forgot to make any haiku.

2000, September: Birth of Helena May.

2001, Summer: First haiku collection "Mutsugoro" (The Mudskipper) published on Ocean Day.

2002, Summer: "Mutsugoro" wins the 7th NakaNiida Haiku Award for best haiku collection by a developing poet (first time a non-Japanese has ever won a haiku award competing with other haiku poets composing in Japanese.)

Contributor to the "Shiki Haiku Salon" and "Haiku International" Internet Projects.

Member of "Fuyoh", "Kaitei" and "Haiku International" groups.

"The first Westerner I have come across to make haiku OF SUBSTANCE in the Japanese language." (bold type mine - he knew Jack Stamm and others who made haiku in Japanese)

-KANEKO Tohta, Honorary President of Modern Haiku Association.

All of the following haiku were made in Japanese and subsequently translated into English.

The Japanese originals are almost all in the fixed form of 5,7,5 onji with only few 6,7,5 or 5,7,6 variations.

ponpei-ya kage-kara kage-e tokage hashiru

Pompei:

from scrap of shade to scrap of shade

the lizard runs

-Dhugal

ki-no mado-ni joumyaku-no ao hyouga miyu

at the plane window

the veins on my hand

glacier below

-Dhugal

shiraiki-to hokuto-o nokoshi souru tatsu

leaving behind the Northern Cross,

a puff of frosted breath

and Seoul.

-Dhugal

shiroiki-no shasou-ni (dare)demo nakunarinu

winter's breath

on the train window

i become a nobody

-Dhugal

nai-no kite kan-no kuu yuku ookarasu

an earthquake hits...

huge crow cruising through

the winter air

-Dhugal

oomisoka tamago-no kara-o tsubushi sutsu

New Year's Eve

the eggshell crushed

i throw it away

-Dhugal

haru-no rai mashita-ni shinkaigyo oramu

thunder in spring

below us in the inky darkness somewhere

deep-sea fish

-Dhugal

sukuu te-no kurage-ya seimeisen fukaku

picking up a jellyfish...

my lifeline

clear and deep

-Dhugal

umoreishi-ya hatsuyukisei-no yukidaruma

(In Snow Country)

probably buried

somewhere... a snowman made

with snow from the first fall

-Dhugal

sora sumeri kozue-ni tomaru kingyo ari

crisp and clear blue sky

alighting on a tree branch

a goldfish!!

-Dhugal

take nigiri hone-ni shitataru samusa kana

grasping the bamboo

dripping down into my bones

the cold!!

-Dhugal

hasuike-no senbon-no kuki kiri-o sasu

Lotus Pond

a thousand stems

pierce the mist

- Dhugal

In the decades following the haiku renaissance at the turn of the century, several schools of haiku emerged. One of these schools was the "humanist" school, led by KATOH Shuuson and NAKAMURA Kusatao. This school believes that haiku must be intrinsically subjective as the poet selects objects, or parts of objects, from the myriad that surround them at the time a haiku moment occurs. They also believe that humans are inseparable from nature, being a part of the grand scheme, and as such are a valid topic for haiku. The humanist school searches for truths of human existence using haiku as a medium. This is the school to which I belong.

As I make haiku in Japanese and only subsequently translate them into English most of my published haiku are in Japanese with no English version. Even with those that have English versions the translation is usually tacked on as an afterthought and most probably read that way as well. Apologies.

Acknowledgements

My haiku have appeared in "Fuyoh/Rose Mallow", "Kanrai", "Riku", "Kaitei", "Fumoto", "Sawa", "Ashibi", "Fuukei", "HI", "Gendai Haiku" (Modern Haiku), "NHK Haidan", "Haiku ", "Haidansho", "Haiku Shiki", "Haiku Asahi", "Haiku World" by Bill Higginson, "Global Haiku ― Twenty-five poets worldwide" by George Swede and Randy Brooks, "Modern Haiku", "Acorn", "Famous Reporter", "South by Southeast", "HaikuOz", "Yomiuri Shimbun" newspaper, "Asahi Shimbun" newspaper, in teaching curricula at several educational institutes both in Japan and abroad, and probably in other places as well. They have also appeared on various television programs such as "Haidan" and "Haiku Ohkoku" on NHK. My internet page was introduced in "The Sydney Morning Herald" on November 7, 1995 in an article entitled "Netheads hooked on haiku" by Jon Casimir. Number of haiku published in Japanese journals at a conservative estimate would be around 200 haiku. My haiku collection "Mutsugoro" (The Mudskipper) contains 290 poems. Number of haiku published in English about 100.