So much has happened haikuwise over the last year as poets continue to enrich the world in the particular way they do and we so look forward to your creations of 2018.
‘Another year over and a new one just begun . . .’
Summer Solstice Haiku String
The Summer Solstice has come and gone for us in the Southern Hemisphere. Thank you to all those who contributed and thanks also to those who simply visited the String to enjoy the offerings. It was especially heartening to have poets from around the world join us in contemplating our theme of Peace including our friends from the Northern Hemisphere sharing some of their Winter Solstice haiku of snow and ice – reminding me that we all hurtle around the same star on this little sphere open to an infinite sky . . .
Please feel free to revisit the string here
Groups and Gatherings
A number of our regional groups held their final gathering for 2017 during December. To catch up on these latest reports click on the links below.
Congratulations
Achievement in haiku comes in many forms, including recognition in various contests.
Congratulations to Greg Piko who was awarded a Second place in the 22nd Kusamakura Contest for:
picking mulberries –
your lips more blue
than the lizard’s tongue
and also to Jan Dobb for a Third place in the same contest with:
one slash
of the knife’s cold blade
pink watermelon
To view all awarded haiku visit here
Selections for previous years can be accessed from the home page of the Kusamakura website.
Congratulations to Samantha Sirimanne Hyde for her haiku selected by Toshio Kimura as a Prize Winner in the 19th Haiku International Association (HIA) Haiku Contest with:
moon halo . . .
prayers that grandma
taught me
All the selected haiku for this year as well as to access the archives for previous years click here.
Congratulations to Simon Hanson for First place in annual Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Contest for:
sunrise
all these little fires
in the frost
And congratulations again to Gregory Piko for an Honourable Mention with
river bend the curve of a raven’s cry
All results for this contest as well as selections from past years can be enjoyed here.
Congratulations to Madhuri Pillai for an Honourable mention in the English section of the 6th Japan – Russia Haiku Contest with:
slum hut doorway
from a bottle blooms
a plastic sunflower
For all results see here
And congratulations also to Cynthia Rowe for Third Place in the 2017 World Haiku Contest on the theme; ‘things that fly’ with:
broken butterfly wing
the salt tracks of her tears
To read all selected haiku in this contest click here.
Haiku Musings
We hope you have been enjoying the haiku musings appearing on the website over the last few months and we are happy to say there are more on the way.
During December we posted
A Grain of Sand by Simon Hanson
The Wonder of Haiku by Quendryth Young
Incidentally, this glowing photograph of Quendryth was taken by Jacqui Murray at the Cloudcatchers 40th ginko on February 2016. The group gathered on that day around the same picnic table where the Cloudcatchers held their first ginko organised by John Bird in the summer of 2005 (2nd December).
For your interest you can access all Haiku Musings here
NeverEnding Story
Chen-ou Liu has recently published Butterfly Dream Anthology Vol. lll, 2017 which includes 66 selected haiku that have appeared on his NeverEnding Story: First English-Chinese Haiku and Tanka blog during 2017. A few to appear:
sunny day-
a sudden outbreak
of lawn mowers
Keitha Keyes
summer storm
the windscreen wipers
slice our silence
Jo McInerney
she waves a thin blue scarf becoming sky
Lorin Ford
You might consider submitting haiku and / or tanka to NeverEnding Story with all selected poems translated into Chinese with comments by Chen-ou Liu. For further details visit the website.
Windfall: Australian Haiku
Orders can now be placed for Issue 6, 2018 and will be mailed out to all subscribers by Peter Macrow in very early January. Subscriptions are $15 for two issues: one issue per year for two years. Payment can be made by cash or stamps or by cheques payable to Peter Macrow and can be mailed to:
Peter Macrow
Manager of Blue Giraffe Press
6/16 Osborne Street
Sandy Bay TAS 7005
Windfall 6 showcases the work of 56 accomplished Australian haiku poets.
The submission window is July only
Beverley George
Editor: Windfall: Australian Haiku
beverleygeorge@idx.com.au
Atlas Poetica
Sonam Chhoki has contacted us with an invitation to all our readers to consider submitting tanka to Dream Alchemy, a Special Feature on the Atlas Poetica.
DREAMS HAVE BEEN WIDELY LINKED TO INSPIRATION. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, it is believed that there are six intermediate stages in living and dying. Each of these ‘in-between’ phases is called the bar-do and it is viewed as a powerful stage for awakening and discovering the heart of enlightenment.
Are dreams important to your writing?
Do you use dreams in your writing?
Dream Alchemy will be published as a Special Feature of 25 tanka on the Atlas Poetica website at: http://atlaspoetica.org/. The general guidelines for Atlas Poetica apply. Dream Alchemy will publish summer, 2018.
Please submit five of your best dream-inspired tanka to us. Only one tanka per individual poet will be selected, so please send us your best poems. The poems must be original, previously unpublished and not under consideration by any other journal. Poems posted on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook or personal blogs will be considered.
Send submissions to Sonam Chhoki blacklangur@outlook.com with the subject line: “Submission–Dream Alchemy”. Please send your tanka in the body of the email. Do not send attachments, which will be deleted. Please include a brief (not more than 5 lines) bio-note about your writing.
Submission period: 30th November 2017–31st January 2018
Acceptance or non-acceptance of submissions will be notified as soon as possible after the deadline.
Wishing you all the best for 2018 . . .
Members’ News compiled by Simon Hanson
Australian Haiku Society 