Month: February 2009

Bower Birds

Bowerbird Tanka Workshop 22 February 2009

The third Bowerbird Tanka workshop was held on Sunday 22nd February, 2009 at Pearl Beach, NSW.
Workshop leaders Beverley George, Amelia Fielden and Kathy Kituai supported a full house of tanka enthusiasts in workshopping participant prepared poems. All present were encouraged and entertained by the wide range of poetry submissions, the expert feedback from the leaders and mutual appreciation of workshop members. What a joy to have so many creative minds together in one room at this tanka think-tank.
Kathy Kituai shared some of her writing secrets, then led the group in a creative session designed to court the muse. We were invited to engage with and reflect upon the creative process. I came away with a renewed sense of the pleasure of writing.
The lunchtime kukai on the theme paperbark was won by Carolyn Alfonzetti. The afternoon took the form of small group sessions to write renga on the theme 2008 was the year. During the day many books changed hands and many connections were made. Once again we owe Beverley George a sincere vote of thanks for organising and throwing open her home for this lively and congenial tanka workshop.
Julie Thorndyke

February 21, 2009

Saša Važić reviews Jack Fruit Moon by Robert D. Wilson

Jack Fruit Moon by Robert D. Wilson; published by Modern English Tanka Press, Baltimore, Maryland 21236, USA;  pp. 204; ISBN 978-0-9817691-4-1; preface by Dr. Steven D. Carter; forward by Sanford Goldstein.
You’ve known me for years, better than anyone else. That’s what Robert says. And I stop to think…. Never seen that man. Does he even exist? Could be as I used to get a coltrane’s e-mails with a bulk of haiku, tanka, haibun… almost every day for some two or three years… I did not even have time to take a breath, to calm down my feelings. It was almost unbearable. The e-mail man never asked how I felt nor such a banal question as is: do you like my poems? I used to call him shadowman….a man from the shadow during those days. He had nothing against each other… So, we agreed. I know him.

almost 60
this gnarled tree reminds
me of an old
man riding a bicycle
in his underwear

Continue reading “February 21, 2009”

WHAT IS HAIKU? – Week 12

Carmel Summers (Pennant Hills, NSW)

“A concise poem, based on a sensual observation of the natural
world, that bridges the gap between nature and human understanding,
behaviour, feelings and thoughts.”
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Karen Coller (Baronia, Vic)

“Haiku is wonder in a heartbeat; a moment to say ‘yes’ to life.
Haiku is brightness in a raindrop; a wing beat of thought
on the cheek and in the heart. Haiku pens a precious, funny
or insightful moment for us.”
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Mandy Langenhorst (Brisbane, Qld)

‘a connection with nature expressed as briefly as the synaptic
flash that registered it.’
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Greg Piko (Yass, ACT)

(1) ‘A haiku is a brief poem that evokes an insight into our
world and its peoples through the association of images.’
(2) …the following comment, attributed to Marcel Duchamp, is
especially relevant to haiku:
‘It is not what you see that is art, art is the gap.’

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Alexander Ask (Beaumont, SA)

‘Haiku is a unique perception of nature captured in a simple
verse.’

WHAT IS HAIKU? – Week 11

Helen Davison (Alstonville, NSW)

‘Haiku are concise poems, without poetic contrivances,
capturing a moment in the present. Set in nature, they
express a universal sensory fact.’
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Bett Angel-Stawarz (Barmera, SA)

“A haiku is a short poem about the real world that prompts the
reader to make discoveries that enrich their lives”.
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Leigh Rees (Brunswick Heads, NSW)

‘… implementing a fine-edged scalpel to shape poetic
responses into a simple sculpture that touches a universal
chord in the hearts of listeners/readers.’
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Rupert Summerson (Canberra, ACT)

‘Seventeen syllables / Japanese season poem / Captures the
essence’
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David McMurray (Kagoshima City, Japan)

‘An immensely powerful though intrinsically limited instrument,
like the Australian didgeridoo, haiku finds enormous beauty within
severe constraints.’

An interview with Lyn Reeves

Interview with Lyn Reeves on ABC 7ZR

In her afternoon program Siobhan Maiden interviewed Lyn Reeves who read some haiku and talked about how to write them. Siobhan wanted to encourage listeners to text a haiku to their lovers this Valentine’s day. She suggested that haiku would be a wonderful way for people to express their responses to the Victorian bushfires.

Read the full interview here:

Interview with Lyn Reeves

WHAT IS HAIKU? – Week 10

peterb (Moonset publisher) opines

“Haiku are sensual awarenesses of man, his natural perceptions; Simply recorded (hopefully denouncing influences of the contemporary worlds’ surround) and offered up for others to review, enjoy, and ponder. Thus, challenging each, to create their “own” awareness … their “own” haiku.

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Nathalie Buckland (Nimbin, NSW)

‘Haiku is a moment in time, sketched in a few words, shaped by the sensory experiences and emotions of the writer.’

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Agnieszka Niemira (Toowong, Qld) endorses John Bird’s: ‘A haiku is a brief poem, built on sensory images from the environment. It evokes an insight into our world and its peoples.’ and Agnieszka adds:
‘Haiku is an epiphany put into (very few) words.’

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Gavin Austin ( Elizabeth Bay, NSW)

‘… the snapshot of a moment from life.’

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Carol Negiar (Chajin -The House of Japanese Green Tea, Paris, France)

“A short poem with 3 lines, which in Japanese corresponds to 5, 7 and 5
syllables, but can stray from that in languages other than Japanese.
Description of a unique moment.a surprise ending. no rhymes. an evoked
season.”