About Johnnie
Johnnie Johnson Hafernik is a poet, linguist, author, and editor who grew up in Luling, Texas. As a child, she loved being outdoors in nature, reading, listening and making music, and playing with language —all loves she’s never lost. Her interests and experiences led her to a career as a professor of linguistics at the University of San Francisco and to writing short-form Japanese poetry. Around 2008, two good friends from graduate school (Constance O’Keefe and Isako Imamura) introduced her to haiku by traditional Japanese poets—Bashō, Buson, Issa, and Shiki, and set her upon her haiku path. Her poetry has been published in numerous journals and anthologies including Frogpond, Mariposa, Modern Haiku, and The San Francisco Haiku Anthology: Volume Two (2024). Her collaborative haiga with artist Dorothy (Dody) M. Messerschmitt as well as her haiku and tanka have been recognized in contests. An active member of several poetry organizations, she has served as editor of Geppo, the haiku work-study journal of Yuki Teikei Haiku Society (YTHS) since fall 2019. In 2022, she was honored as a YTHS dōjin, a leading member of and resource for the Society.
Books
Recently Published
In the Shade of a Sycamore: Family Stories, Poems, and Recipes transports readers to a small town in Central Texas in the 1950s and 60s. Guide, Johnnie Johnson Hafernik, is a keen observer who draws from her experiences and memories to provide linguistic portraits of the women she grew up with, especially her mother and three grandmothers. These and other ancestors are presented through stories, poems, recipes, photographs, and genealogical information. This book is an attentive and loving tribute to the power of female family as well as a lovely portrayal of a bygone era.
Recently Published
Johnnie Johnson Hafernik, editor
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Yuki Teiki Haiku Society (YTHS) in 2025, Johnnie Johnson Hafernik led a project to assemble a collection of haiku from Geppo, the YTHS quarterly members-only haiku work-study journal from its first issue in 1978 through 2024. The anthology consists of 331 haiku by 136 poets and 16 pieces of art by 16 artists—all haiku and artwork had appeared in an issue of Geppo. Each of the 331 haiku was a top vote-getter in the journal’s kukai. Since the journal’s first issue, the kukai has been a prominent feature where members’ submitted haiku are numbered and presented anonymously and readers vote for their favorites. The anthology contains the “winning” haiku from each issue.
A Collaborative Book of Haiga
Haiga is a traditional Japanese art form that combines text and image, with each complementing the other. This collection of English-language haiga combines haiku of poet Johnnie Johnson Hafernik and paintings of artist Dorothy M. Messerschmitt (Dody), all of which are watercolor with the exception of one acrylic.
Review
“A collaborative book of twenty-six haiga. The book has done a good job giving each haiga space to breathe, and the quality of the paper allows the artist’s colors room. It is unknown who worked form what, whether poet from the artwork or the artist from the poem, but the result is comfortable space between the written and the visual, so while referents can be found between the two, neither explains the other. An enjoyable collaboration between two friends.”
—PM (Modern Haiku 54:3, 2023)
About Dody
Dorothy (Dody) M. Messerschmitt is a professor emerita of education at the University of San Francisco. After retiring from her academic career, she began to study art, attending classes and workshops around the country as well as in San Francisco. However, she considers herself primarily self-taught. She enjoys the medium of watercolor because its unpredictability is challenging. Water seeks its own level. She has had three one-artist shows at the University of California Faculty Club in Berkeley.
Poems
a few moments
in the shade of a sycamore
she shells peas
In the Shade of a Sycamore
mid-morning chatter
in a local coffee shop
a barista
teaches me to sign
"thank you"
Honorable Mention, Haiku
Poets of Northern California
Poetry Contest, 2024
cattails journal, October 2024
Other Work
Academic Publications
Co-author of three books and numerous co-authored and single-authored articles. For more information visit her LinkedIn site.
The Shig Project
A project begun in 1999 to promote peace and cross-cultural understanding by telling the story of Professor Shigeo (Shig) Imamura's story. The project includes two books: Shig: The True Story of An American Kamikaze, A Memoir by Shigeo Imamura (edited by Isako Imamura, Constance O'Keefe, Stephanie Vandrick, and Johnnie Johnson Hafernik) and A Thousand Stitches: a novel by Constance O'Keefe (edited by Johnnie Johnson Hafernik). For more information visit The Shig Project website.
Mariposa 27, Autumn/Winter 2012