When the world plunged into quarantine conditions three months ago, writers and artists rejoiced that they would finally have more time to create great art. After all, Shakespeare wrote his masterpiece KingBefore South Africa was colonised by British and Dutch invaders, the Zulus were organised into one of the region's largest and most powerful political units, known as the 'Zulu kingdom' or 'Zulu empire'. Today the king has little political power, but still exerts influence among some Zulus. Lear during an outbreak of plague in 1606.

But poet Liv Torc noticed that the "madness and silence" of empty streets, pandemic news, and absent friends was making it very difficult for writers to concentrate. So, she suggested on her Facebook page that people send her a simple haikuThe Japanese word derives from hokku which literally means "starting verse". Although Matsuo Bash? (1644-1694) is the most famous haiku poet, the form did not become known by that name until the 19th Century. about how they were feeling. "Sustained work is hard," she wrote, "but a haiku [...] - that's manageable. We can all do one of those."

A haiku is three lines with five, seven, and five syllables respectively, expressing an image and a mood. Over 12 weeks, Liv Torc received an incredible 8,000 poems, which she called 'haiflus'. Torc turned them into weekly videos that were watched by over 25,000 people.

Together they take an "emotional snapshot" of lockdown Britain, from the humour and boredom of: "It's now 2:00 am and I'm eating hula hoops who cares anymore" to the sadness of: "Empty carriages it's been Sunday for weeks now no commuters wave."

But can something so short really be considered art? Some of the greatest artistic achievements in history are of staggering scale and awesome genius. Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace is a weighty 1,225 pages long. Gaudi's masterpiece, the Sagrada FamiliaThe architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) began work on his basilica in Barcelona in 1882. Famously saying "my client is not in a hurry", less than a quarter of his building was finished when he died in 1926., is still being built 138 years after construction began. The world's longest epic poem, the MahabharataOne of the key Hindu sacred texts, the Mahabharata runs to 1.8 million words., has over 200,000 verses.

However, in Japan - the home of the haiku - size isn't everything. The great master of the art form, Matsuo Bash?, believed the greatness of a haiku was what it left unsaid. His most famous poem is simply: "The old pond: a frog jumps in,- the sound of the water." Another is: "Quietly, quietly, yellow mountain roses fall - sound of the rapids." They conjure up a vivid beautiful scene and let the imagination explore its hidden depths.

You might not always notice the deeper meaning because you already take it for granted. But think how much you would have to explain to a time-traveller from 2019 to understand: "Popping down the shop, I don't feel safe to breathe, but two for one on beans."

Some may protest: a Japanese haiku is written in decorative calligraphy about cherry blossoms and snowcapped mountains. Not hula hoops and baked beans on Facebook. But, in fact, haiku were originally composed at parties and formed part of longer collaborative poems called haikai no rengaThis popular form of comic poetry was regarded as vulgar and a radical break for stale and older forms of poetry. Only later did it develop into the legitimate art form of the haiku.. They began as playful word games that later developed into high art. In a similar way, we study Shakespeare's plays today but, in 1608, they were crowd-pleasing money-spinners.

Some think the haiku is ideally suited to our instant, impatient age, where anything longer than a 280 character tweet or a 15-second TikTok feels like a major commitment. But Liv Torc also believes they can help our mental health by helping us notice the small moments and enjoy the little pleasures, in a world that feels scary and out of control.

Some say, no, great art must be challenging and complex. It should be something substantial that takes a great amount of time and skill to create. Years of thought may go into a timeless piece of art, and it will leave a lasting impression on the reader or viewer.

Others say, yes, there is power, truth, and beauty in the fewest of words. Unlike a tweet, the haiku has a strict structure that allows the poet to be creative. And finding the right word is not as easy as it looks. Bash? said only a master of haiku could write as many as 10 in a lifetime. Learning what NOT to say - that was the real skill.