Consulting Huang Po

Consulting Huang Po is a long narrative prosepoem similar in its format to the medieval prosimetra. Central to the story is the work of 17th century Japanese wordsmith Bashō who often wrote haibun, the Japanese prosepoem. Protagonist James Lee Cunningham teaches a course on the poet's Narrow Road To the Deep North. This course and Asian culture generally provide the background motifs for the story. Cunningham's wife, Mia Sakai, his friends, and university students interact to weave their own way along the cobbled paths and muddy tracks from Corvallis, Oregon, to the Sea of Japan.