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Seegan Mabesoone

まぶそん せいがん

Mabesoone Seegan

Pen Names: Seegan Mabesoone（Haiku pen-name used in his haiku activities）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1968-09-22 （Tarn, France）
Nationality
France
Languages
Japanese, French
Residence History
Raised in Normandy, France → Nagano City, Japan (resident since c.1996) → Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia (long-term stay)

Career

Occupations
haiku poet, novelist, comparative literature scholar, essayist, translator, university adjunct lecturer
Active Years
1990-
Affiliations
Modern Haiku Association, Museum of Modern Japanese Poetry and Poetics (council member), Nagano Franco-Japanese Association (founding member / advisor)
Memberships
Member of the Modern Haiku Association, Council member, Museum of Modern Japanese Poetry and Poetics
Influenced By
Kobayashi Issa, Tōta Kaneko, Paul Verlaine, Philippe Descola

Education

University of Paris
Department of Japanese Literature (graduate studies)
Country: France
Studied Japanese literature; participated in student exchange program
Waseda University Graduate School of Education
Doctoral program (Japanese literature / comparative literature)
Degree: 博士（学術）
Year of Graduation: 2004
Country: Japan
Supervisor: Minoru Horikiri. Doctoral thesis later published as a monograph (2005)

Awards

Modern Haiku Association Prize
2024
Work: Queen Mab's Cave
Organization: Modern Haiku Association
Result: 受賞
Sō Sakon Haiku Grand Prize (Setsuran-sha Haiku Prize)
2003
Work: Ku-shu Sora Aosugite (collection)
Organization: Setsuransha (Sō Sakon Haiku Grand Prize)
Result: 受賞
NHK 'Haiku Kingdom' Grand Prize
2000
Work: Poem: "Stars fly — Japan bans burial?"
Organization: NHK
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Queen Mab's Cave

2023 haiku collection 192 pages

A haiku collection born from his COVID-19 experience and stay in the Marquesas, presenting the new rhythm '5-7-3'. Includes no-season (muski) haiku and animistic themes.

animismno-season haiku5-7-3 (Mukukku) rhythmnature and Jomon motifs
Translations
  • Selected haiku translated into English
  • French-Japanese bilingual edition available

Jomon Taiga

2024 haiku collection (5-7-3 series) 160 pages

A series focused on Jomon culture in the Chikuma River basin, using the 5-7-3 form to present many 'pure' (muku) haiku.

Jomon cultureregionalitymuku (pure) haiku
Translations
  • Some content translated into French

Dreamtime (Jukurrpa)

2025 haiku collection (includes poetic essays) 200 pages

A work themed on Dreamtime; includes experiments with 'quantum haiku' and new poetic forms. Published simultaneously in Japanese and French.

Aboriginal Dreamtimequantum haikuprimordial time
Translations
  • French-Japanese bilingual edition (Pippa Éditions)

The Distant Marquesas Islands

2021 haiku collection and novel (mixed form) 240 pages

A hybrid haiku collection and novel based on experiences in the Marquesas; develops an animistic, no-season worldview.

island lifeanimismsea and nature
Translations
  • French-Japanese bilingual edition available

Bibliography

  • Sora Aosugite (Haiku collection), San-getsuan Publishing, 2002
  • Ten'nyo-bushi (Haiku collection), San-getsuan Publishing, 2004
  • Arabian Night Tales (Haiku collection), San-getsuan Publishing, 2005
  • The Distant Marquesas Islands, Hon'ami Shoten, 2021
  • Queen Mab's Cave, Hon'ami Shoten, 2023
  • Jomon Taiga, Hon'ami Shoten, 2024
  • Dreamtime (Jukurrpa), Hon'ami Shoten, 2025
  • Haikai as Poetry, Poetry as Haikai — Issa, Claudel, International Haiku, Nagata Shobo, 2005 (doctoral thesis)

Translations by Author

  • Haïkus gravés dans la pierre (French translation/catalogue of Issa's haiku monuments), Satobun Publishing, 2003
  • Journal des derniers jours de mon père (French translation of Issa's text), Pippa Éditions, 2014

Translations of Works

  • Dreamtime (Le Temps du Rêve), French-Japanese bilingual edition, Pippa Éditions, 2025
  • Haïkus aux Marquises (Marquesas haiku), trilingual edition (JP/French/Marquesan), Pippa Éditions, 2019

Style & Themes

Literary Style
animistic expressionno-season haiku (without seasonal words)frequent use of alliteration (initial rhyme)experimentation with a new 5-7-3 rhythm
Recurring Motifs
Jomon culture / clay figurinesnature of the Marquesas IslandsChikuma River basinanti-nuclear and anti-war themesmuku (purity / innocence)

Health

  • COVID-19 (infection and long COVID)
    2020 - 継続的に後遺症あり
    Infection and long-term aftereffects influenced his creative output and contributed to the themes of the collection 'Queen Mab's Cave'

Legacy

As a French-born poet composing haiku in Japanese, he gained attention for combining phonetic richness with an animistic perspective. His proposal of the 5-7-3 rhythm and exploration of no-season haiku have stimulated discussion in contemporary haiku circles.

Museums

  • Ori no Haiku-kan (Cage Haiku House) Koanso, Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture (near Mugonkan) Opened in 2018

Academic Societies

  • Modern Haiku Association
  • Museum of Modern Japanese Poetry and Poetics

Archives

  • National Diet Library (holdings)
  • Museum of Modern Japanese Poetry and Poetics (archive materials)

In Popular Culture

  • Appearances on regional media such as TV Shinshu's 'Yugata Get!'
  • Modern Haiku Association videos and lectures (YouTube)

Quotes

  • The 5-7-5 is too orderly. The 5-7-3 creates a spiral sense of time.
    Source: Afterword of 'Queen Mab's Cave' / interviews (2023)

Trivia

  • Real name: Laurent Mabesoone.
  • Served as an international exchange staff for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
  • Acted as executive secretary for the erection of the 'Monument to the Persecuted Haiku Poets' in 2018 and opened the 'Ori no Haiku-kan' the same year.
  • Became a judge for the international section of the Mainichi Haiku Awards from 2019.
  • Contracted COVID-19 on Hiva Oa in 2020 and has experienced long COVID.