The Art of Zuihitsu: Chaotic Writing
Saturday, May 23, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm · Carnegie Learning Centre
This ancient Japanese form lets you “follow the brush” of your thoughts, meandering through loosely connected ideas. Nonfiction, musings, confessions. Poetry, and other miscellaneous elements—all these forms can be used and combined to create a spontaneous, layered text. We’ll look at a few examples, including an excerpt from The Pillow Book, one of the oldest books written by a woman, but mostly we will have fun writing our own zuihitsu.
Facilitator: Isabella Mori
ISABELLA MORI
Isabella Mori is the founder of Muriel’s Journey Poetry Prize, Canada’s most unusual poetry prize, which carries an emphasis on DTES poets. They are the author of three books of and about poetry, including A bagful of haiku—87 imperfections. Believe Me, a book about mental health and addiction, was released in 2025. Their poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have been widely published, including in the award-winning sci-fi/fantasy anthology Through The Portal. They are particularly interested in Japanese forms such as haikus, haibun, and zuihitsu. Isabella lives on the unceded, traditional and ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh.