Since haiku first crossed Australian borders more than one hundred years ago, it has undergone
a process of translation, interpretation and transformation. This study examines aspects of
haiku’s cultural transmission and evolution in Australia from a genre oriented to the early
Japanese models, to one which is informed by a growing international haiku community and an
emerging local sensibility. This study will examine the origins of Australian haiku by evaluating the contribution of
some of its most important translators and educators and assess the legacy of Australia’s early
haiku education on current haiku practices. Haiku is still best known as a three-line poem of
seventeen syllables broken into lines of 5-7-5, however, contemporary haiku largely eschews
this classicist approach and is characterised by a blend of emulation and experimentation. This
study presents and discusses a variety of approaches to writing haiku that have emerged in
Australia over the course of its development.