Congratulations to SOIS French language teacher, Pierre Turlur on the publication of his book of haiku poetry, entitled Montagnes Flottantes “Floating Mountains”. A scout from one of the largest French publishers, L’Harmattan, found Pierre’s blog, Blue Mountain and fell in love with his poetry. Mr. Turlur writes a “free form” style of haiku that is inspired by moments that occur every day in his life. Although he is well read in the classic haiku poets like Bassho and Issa, his haiku do not conform to the traditional fixed rules and rhythms and he is following the footsteps of Santoka and Shiki. His poetry helps him connect to the vivid, interesting things that others may notice in passing, but do not fully appreciate. For example, his haiku below came from a snowstorm that occurred here at school and watching the students cross the courtyard:
She goes kissing
Pierre, a former professor of literature in French universities, not only teaches at SOIS, but also in the Lycee Français of Kyoto and the evenings at the Institut Francais in central Osaka. On the trains he spends much time traveling between school and his home in Nishinomiya. He uses this time often to observe his surroundings and while many others are escaping reality with the phones, Pierre is writing haiku.
standing at the crossing
cars, fumes and noise
the very flower
He has always had a connection with Japan, studying Zen Buddhist practices from a young age. Pierre is a bit of a renaissance man, not only teaching, but he is also a musician, author and certified Buddhist priest. His wide variety of interests makes his classes interesting for our students.
Mr. Turlur teachers several OIS students and has prepared them successfully for passing the DELF. As an IB World School, we promote the maintenance of mother tongue language and learning other languages. We encourage our students to study French and other languages.