Month: February 2019

An Introduction to Haiku: Workshop by Julia Wakefield

Bindii Japanese Genre Poetry Group Presents

An introduction to Haiku

bird imagehaiku
what are they
why we write them

Saturday 6 April, from 12.30 – 2.30 pm
Box Factory
59 Regent St,
Adelaide

Cost: $8

The haiku is an ancient Japanese poetry form, but it is as relevant today as it has always been. Western poets have adopted and adapted the form to suit contemporary tastes, and the fact that the form continues to evolve in Japan is, paradoxically, entirely in keeping with tradition.

Bindii member Julia Wakefield will give a brief introduction to the combined complexity and simplicity of the haiku form. After a short break, there will be a series of group exercises that focus on composing haiku.

Refreshments provided.

To book, contact Julia at Julia.wakefield@gmail.com or call 0433975590

Word file: info for haiku workshop 2019 (003)

PDF file: info for haiku workshop 2019

 

 

Haiku @ The Oaks, Canberra

Tuesday 19 February 2019

The January heatwave had caused us to abandon our plans for last month. Consequently, we were more than ready to meet at The Oaks this week on a mere 32-degree day. How relative the temperature has become this summer!

We were all there — Glenys Ferguson, Hazel Hall, Kathy Kituai, Marietta McGregor, Gregory Piko and Jan Dobb. Also present was a mob of magpies whose own conversations competed with the chatter at our table. Ah, how good to get together again for our first cuppa of the year! Continue reading “Haiku @ The Oaks, Canberra”

Cloudcatcher Summer Ginko # 52

Pop Denison Park, Ballina
Thursday, 31 January 2019

When reading any haiku journal, either on-line or hard cover, you will probably find that over 50% use sight as the featured sense. And yet we have five senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. This phenomenon was explored at the summer ginko of the Cloudcatcher group on the Far North Coast of NSW, at Pop Denison Park on the banks of Shaw’s Bay at the estuary of the Richmond River, in Ballina. Continue reading “Cloudcatcher Summer Ginko # 52”

Bindii Japanese Genre Poetry Group Meeting 2 February 2019

Our first meeting for 2019 had two attendees: Lynette Arden and Maeve Archibald.
The activity chosen by Lynette proved very successful in stimulating ideas for writing haiku.
We took it in turn to choose a Haiku at random from the book haiku mind by Patricia Donegan.
Each haiku was written up on the board and we discussed it.
We read the commentary on the poem from the book and considered what it was that we got from the poem.
We then used the haiku as a spur for our own writing, taking whatever it had evoked as our guide.
This varied between themes, styles, subject matter, and or emotional impact.
We discussed and commentated on each other’s work.  Each of us were able to produce 2-3 haiku poems that we found quite satisfying.

The chief value in this exercise was the variety of different haiku gave a variety of stimuli, perhaps providing a new field from which we could each draw.

Maeve Archibald

 

Members’ News, January 2019

Dear Australian Haiku Society Members,

Welcome back to our website for 2019. We trust that you have had a restful holiday season. Many areas in Australia have just experienced the hottest December and January on record and the bushfire season is continuing to be especially fierce. Some parts of the country are still afflicted with drought while others are suffering due to flooding. We hope that all our members, both in Australia and around the world, are safe. During these increasingly uncertain times poetry, and haiku in particular, can help us interpret and express our experiences and share them with others. We have an exciting year ahead of us at the AHS so please take part in our online and local events. This year, more than ever, we look forward to furthering our mission of promoting the enjoyment of haiku within Australia and beyond its shores.

Vanessa Proctor
President, Australian Haiku Society

 

Continue reading “Members’ News, January 2019”

White Pebbles Haiku Group Summer Meeting

December 8th 2018

Six members of the White Pebbles Haiku Group attended our summer meeting. We brought with us a pre-distributed work sheet for some prepared haiku relevant to the season, and on which to write new observations on our unhurried ginko around the garden.

We then came together at a round table in a quiet room to workshop our haiku. By request Kent kindly brought two very appealing haiga that members absent last meeting hadn’t seen. Very inspiring and perhaps other members will create something similar in due course.

We discussed Echidna Tracks 2: Landscapes currently featured on the Echidna Tracks website and were pleased to note that a number of members’ work already has been published there with more to come during January and February. We also spoke of possible new projects our group might explore.

Beverley George
Convenor
White Pebbles Haiku Group