Month: July 2011

Red Dragonflies Meeting: 18th June 2011

The winter meeting of the Red Dragonflies was held on 18th June at Barbara Fisher’s home in Mosman. Vanessa Proctor led members Dawn Bruce, Cynthia Rowe, Lesley Walter and gracious host, Barbara Fisher, in a productive afternoon.

Bill Tibben, a guest at the meeting, was a wonderful addition to the group. Beverley George sent her apologies.

Vanessa gave each member a delightful booklet of haiku selected from poems written by members and inspired by the Red Dragonflies’ summer ginko at Pearl Beach, December 2010. Many thanks, Vanessa!

Dawn brought up the subject of photo haiku and it was suggested that we might discuss the basics of haiga at the next meeting.

Cynthia Rowe
President, HaikuOz

3rd Yamadera Bashō Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest

There was a strong Australian contribution to the contest this year as highlighted by Professor Oba in his report shown below. Hearty congratulations to Pamela Smith for winning the grand prize in the foreign country section and to Nathalie Buckland for her distinguished work prize. Their poems in English and Japanese can be seen at:

Continue reading “3rd Yamadera Bashō Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest”

Cloudcatchers’ Ginko No.22 (winter)

A dozen Cloudcatchers wore their scarves and woolly hats to the winter ginko at Torakina Park, Brunswick Heads, on Thursday 30 June 2011. This is our favourite site, at the mouth of the Brunswick River, and although it was the tenth time we have held a ginko here, it was our first in winter.

The sky was overcast, and choppy white water rollicked across the treacherous bar. There was a quietness about the beach. The bittou bush, usually buzzing with life, was bee-less. The wattle buds still bulged green. And then the sun came out. The river was spangled once more, and the basalt breakwater sparkled with crystals. An occasional bather braved the chilly water, turning open-armed to the sun, and a single head swam across the bay. Birds in the littoral forest were as noisy as ever, as we read our first drafts in turn around the table. In contrast to the meditative silence of the ginko, this is always a time for involvement and laughter. And then came lunch. Any poet wishing to partake of these delights would be welcomed to join us at the Spring ginko in October.

Contact: quendrythyoung@bigpond.com.

Quendryth Young
Cloudcatchers Coordinator