Month: November 2008

The Irish Haiku Society Haiku Competition 2008 Results

The Irish Haiku Society is proud to announce the results of the first ever IHS International Haiku Competition. 177 haiku by poets from twelve countries (Ireland, UK, Northern Ireland, USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Austria, Germany, Portugal, Romania and Serbia) were submitted to this year’s competition. Half of the submitted poems were from the island of Ireland. This year’s competition was adjudicated by Anthony Anatoly Kudryavitsky, and it was judged blindly. It had been previously announced that an entrant may win more than one prize, which, actually, happened. The following is the list of prize-winning and highly commended haiku.

1st Prize

John Barlow (UK) receives the first prize of Euro 150 for the following haiku:
mountain stillness
an empty chrysalis
fills with sunlight

2nd Prize

The 2nd Prize of Euro 50 also goes to John Barlow (UK) for the following haiku:
summer morning
every other post
has its crow

3rd Prize

Ernest J Berry (New Zealand) receives the third prize of Euro 30 for the following haiku:
early frost
the fragrance of pine
on fire

Continue reading “The Irish Haiku Society Haiku Competition 2008 Results”

What is Haiku – Week 2

Dhugal Lindsay (Yokosuka, Japan) believes English language haiku should aspire to be:

“Short poem of rhythmical structure, usually between 7 and 17 syllables in length. It contains a reference to a seasonal or otherwise natural entity, is concrete, and illuminates some aspect of the existence of one or more of the elements or entities within the poem.”

Dhugal and John Bird collaborated for this short description:

“A haiku is a brief poem, built on sensory images from the environment. It evokes an insight into Our world and The world.”

Cynthia Ludlow (Brisbane, Qld)

“Haiku are small nature poems that I don’t understand but know to be true.”

What is Haiku? – Week 1

What is Haiku?

Today we begin a weekly display of members’ responses to the question:
What is haiku? Our hope is that by sharing our responses (definitions,
descriptions, comments, or quotations of wise words by others) we will
achieve a broader and more sympathetic understanding of this poetry we
love.

Quendryth Young (Alstonville, NSW)

‘A haiku is a short poem of traditional Japanese origin which
captures the essence of a moment, finds the extraordinary in the
ordinary, and links nature to human nature.’

Kevin Sharpe (Blue Mountains, NSW) responds:

‘haiku, senryu : of the moment’

Nicholas Barwell (Perth, WA) endorses Harold Stewarts’s definition:

“Haiku try to express what Japanese call Mono No Aware, the
ah!ness of things: a feeling for natural loveliness tinged with a
sadness at its transience.”

Thanks to Quendryth, Kevin and Nicholas for sharing these.
Can you answer THE question in less than forty words.? Then please tell
John Bird at  link removed He is is editing this feature for us.

8 November 2008 Ginko

SA Haiku Group: Ginko Report

The SA Haiku Group met on Saturday 8 November 2008 for a ginko, at the Himeji Garden on South Terrace, Adelaide, with nine haiku poets attending on a windswept and showery morning.

The garden, opened in 1985, was built to symbolize bonds of friendship with Himeji, Sister City of Adelaide and to help the people of Adelaide understand Japanese culture. It blends two classic Japanese styles: the ‘senzui ‘(lake and mountain garden) and the ‘kare senzui’ (dry garden) and contains features which are of profound religious significance to the Japanese people.

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Defining haiku

In 2007 the Australian Haiku Society committee requested John Bird to advise the Society on haiku definition(s) and to try to formulate one that we could adopt, officially, as meaningful for our members and helpful to those new to the genre.

John reports that he has considered many descriptions and definitions of haiku by overseas writers and now wants to understand how Australian poets, at all levels of experience, think about haiku.

He hopes to include some examples of the latter in his published report and would like to share a subset of these on the Australian Haiku Society [HaikuOz] site, if this is agreed to by their authors. If you would like your views to remain anonymous, please say so at the time you submit them. This will be respected.

Haiku are elusive to define. But in attempting to describe them we may come to understand them better. Please don’t feel intimidated that your definition must be academic, or even wise. It’s simply what you think haiku are about that counts. Please send John your personal definition of haiku, whether long-standing or written for this exercise, at: link removed

Please try to restrict your thoughts to 40 words, preferably no more than 25. If you have adopted a published definition written by somebody else, please include all details.

Below are two personal definitions of haiku. You are warmly invited to share yours.

Beverley George
President
Australian Haiku Society
www.haikuoz.org

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Cloudcatchers Haiku Workshop – a report

Cloudcatchers Haiku Workshop

Sunshine and a light breeze made a perfect day for the Cloudcatchers Haiku Workshop, held in the CWA hall in Ballina, on Sunday 26 October. Eleven poets assembled at 10 am from as far away as Brisbane and Nimbin, with the group comprising both beginners and members of the local ginko group ‘cloudcatchers’. Quendryth Young tutored the workshop, which was supported by a comprehensive booklet of notes and examples. An introductory talk included a respectful outline of the ancient Japanese origin of the genre, followed by discussion of various definitions suggested for the form.

Continue reading “Cloudcatchers Haiku Workshop – a report”