View source for Paul Reps

{{short description|American poet}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name             = Paul Reps
| image            = Paul Reps.jpg
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1895|09|15}}
| birth_place      = [[Cedar City, Iowa]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1990|07|12|1895|09|15}}
| death_place      = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| nationality      = American
}}
'''Paul Reps''' (September 15, 1895{{snd}}July 12, 1990) was an American artist, poet, and author. He is best known for his unorthodox [[haiku]]-inspired [[poetry]] that was published from 1939 onwards. He is considered one of America's first haiku poets.

In association with his writing, Reps was also a well-received artist. Many of his books have artwork influenced by [[Zen]] Buddhism displayed in association with his writings.

==Life==

Reps had widely traveled and spent a large amount of his time in [[Asia]]. In [[Japan]], his art was widely accepted and he often went there in association with the displays of his artwork in galleries and to reaffirm his [[Buddhist]] understanding.

Reps was well-regarded in Japan. When his 2-month visa expired, he applied for a 1-year commercial visa at the consulate in Japan. They said it would take a month, "no exceptions." He returned 3 days later with the needed papers and agreed to wait the month. But he also included a poem:
{{Poem quote|
Drinking a bowl of
green tea
I stop the war.
}}

The visa officer told him to return the next day. He did and was granted a one year visa with an extension good for 4 years. As Reps commented, "This is what a poem can do for you."

In the later years of his life, Reps made his home on the island of [[Maui]] in [[Hawaii]]. In the two years before his death, he lived at the [[Haven Institute (Gabriola Island, Canada)]] with his friends [[Jock McKeen]] and [[Bennet Wong]] {{Harv |McKeen|Wong|1991|}}.

==Works==
* ''[[Zen Flesh, Zen Bones]]. A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings'' ({{ISBN|0-8048-0644-6}}). This book includes Zen texts, but also the ''[[Vijnana Bhairava Tantra]]''
* ''Unknot The World In You''. His second book, which published through [[Sequoia University]] Press<ref>{{cite web |title=Paul Reps Timeline |url=http://www.paulreps.com/Timeline.aspx |website=PaulReps.com |accessdate=27 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Catalog of Copyright Entries: Books and Pamphlets Including Serials and Contributions to Periodicals. January–June 1951. Third Series. Vol. 5. Part 1A. No. 1 |date=1951 |publisher=The Library of Congress |location=Washington, D.C. |page=260 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2kYhAQAAIAAJ&q=Paul%20Reps%20Unknot%20The%20World%20in%20you&pg=RA3-PA260}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Reps |first1=Paul |title=Unknot The World In You |date=1951 |publisher=Sequoia University Press |location=Hollywood, CA}}</ref>
* ''Zen Telegrams'' ({{ISBN|0-8048-2023-6}})
* ''Letters to a friend: Writings & Drawings, 1939 to 1980'' ({{ISBN|0-938286-01-3}})
* ''Gold Fish Signatures'' ({{ISBN|0-8048-0210-6}})
* ''Square Sun, Square Moon'' ({{ISBN|0-8048-0544-X}})
* ''Sit In: What it is Like'' ({{OCLC|8387693}})
* ''Let Good Fortune Jump on You'' ({{ISBN|0-9620812-7-2}})
* ''Big Bath: Poems'' ({{OCLC|4928654}})
* ''Unwrinkling Plays'' ({{ISBN|0-8048-0607-1}})
* ''Ten Ways to Meditate'' ({{ISBN|0-8348-0163-9}})
* ''Be! New Uses for the Human Instrument'' ({{ISBN|0-8348-0058-6}})
* ''Juicing: Words and Brushwork'' ({{ISBN|0-385-13250-6}})

==References==
*{{Citation
 | last = McKeen
 | first =J.
 | last2 = Wong
 | first2 =B.R.
 | date =Spring 1991
 | title =Paul Reps - A Remembrance
 | periodical =Journal of Humanistic Psychology
 | volume =31
 | issue =2
 | pages =44–48
 | doi =10.1177/0022167891312004
 }}
*{{Citation
 | last=Wong
 | first=B.R.
 | last2 =McKeen
 | first2 =J.
 | publication-date = 1995
 | year =1995
 | title = In and Out Of Our Own Way
 | publication-place =Gabriola Island, BC
 | publisher =PD Publishing
 | page =155
 | isbn =0-9696755-2-6
 }}

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or|wislink=Paul Reps|title=Paul Reps}}
* [http://www.ahapoetry.com/PP1000..htm Paul Reps]
* [http://www.paulreps.net Paul Reps Playshop]
* [https://haven.ca/stay-connected/news/week-4-reps Paul Reps Remembrance]

{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Modern Buddhist writers}}

{{Authority control}}

<references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reps, Paul}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:American male poets]]
[[Category:English-language haiku poets]]
[[Category:American spiritual writers]]
[[Category:Zen Buddhism writers]]
[[Category:American Zen Buddhists]]
[[Category:20th-century American poets]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American Buddhists]]


{{zen-bio-stub}}
{{US-reli-bio-stub}}