Renku Renku , or , is a Japanese form of popular collaborative linked verse poetry. It is a development of the older Japanese poetic tradition of "ushin" renga, or orthodox collaborative linked verse. At renku gatherings participating poets take turns providing alternating verses of 17 and 14 morae. Initially "haikai no renga" distinguished itself through vulgarity and coarseness of wit, before growing into a legitimate artistic tradition, and eventually giving birth to the haiku form of Japanese poetry. The term "renku" gained currency after 1904, when Kyoshi Takahama started to use it. The oldest known collection of haikai linked verse appears
Haiku in English Turtle Light Press. In the UK, the British Haiku Society publishes "Blithe Spirit", and the World Haiku Club publishes "The World Haiku Review". Another leading haiku magazine in the UK is "Presence" (formerly "Haiku Presence"), which was edited for many years by Martin Lucas (1962-2014). In Ireland, twenty issues of "Haiku Spirit" edited by Jim Norton were published between 1995 and 2000. "Shamrock", the online journal of the Irish Haiku Society edited by Anatoly Kudryavitsky, has been publishing international haiku in English since 2007. In Australia, twenty issues of "Yellow Moon", a literary magazine for writers of haiku and other