Winter Solstice Haiga Kukai
The Australian Haiku Society Winter Solstice Haiga Kukai for 2019 has come to a close and we sincerely thank all those who took part. A special thank you to Ron Moss who has once again generously given us the benefit of his creative talents in providing us with two images for the Kukai. He is now immersed in the selection process. You can revisit all entries for both the seasonal and non-seasonal categories by clicking on these links.
Call Out for Featured Haiku Commentaries
The Australian Haiku Society is seeking Featured Haiku commentaries on published Australian Haiku. The writer of the commentary may be resident in Australia or anywhere in the world as long as the haiku being commented on has been written by an Australian. We are seeking pieces of up to 300 words to publish on the AHS website. For examples of previously published commentaries please visit the Featured Haiku Archive.
The submission period is open from now until 15th July, 2019. Please seek permission from the writer of the haiku you have chosen to republish their work on the AHS website. Alternatively we may be able to obtain permission from the poet if need be. A condition of acceptance is that writers agree to have their work edited for length and style. Please send your commentary to: Simon Hanson secretaryozhaiku@gmail.com
Include your name, country and the publication details of the featured haiku.
We look forward to receiving your commentaries.
Groups and Gatherings
Many regional groups have held gatherings over wintery June. You can catch up on their latest reports on the links below.
Cloudcatchers (My apologies for this belated posting)
Windfall Submissions
A reminder that submissions are open Australian haiku poets for Windfall Issue 8 throughout July.
Details can be found here
Echidna Tracks
Echidna Tracks Issue 3: Insects, Animals, Birds and Fish is unfolding daily for your enjoyment. Thank you once again to all our contributing poets and readers. You can receive daily notifications of each new posting simply by entering your email and clicking the “Follow Blog Via Email” at the bottom of the Echidna Tracks page.
Lynette Arden
Lyn Reeves
Simon Hanson
Puddock Submissions
PUDDOCK Journal seeks to encourage excellence in haiku and related genres in the three indigenous languages of Scotland: English, Gaelic and Scots and is open to submissions from writers around the world.
You can write on any topic. Scottish themes are also encouraged though we want poetry that resonates everywhere. Whether you are Scottish or not we want Shiki not Shortbread. We are more than tartan and bagpipes though we love that too.
PUDDOCK will be a bi-annual print production and we anticipate costs for each issue to be £5 plus postage and packing. There is no payment to authors but there will be a prize of original artwork for the best poem in each issue. ‘Red Head’ will be the prize for issue 1.
SUBMISSIONS DETAILS
Type PUDDOCK , Your Name in the subject line.
Send up to 10 works in total in English, Gaelic or Scots . All Gaelic and Scots poems must include an English Translation.
Haiku: All forms are acceptable, 1 to 4 lines up to 17 syllables.
Tanka: Traditional or Modern
Haibun: No more than 3 within a submission up to a maximum of 60 lines to be sent in the body of an email.
No Haiku Sequences.
colinstewartjones [at] gmail [dot] com
Submissions close November 1st 2019. All submissions will be replied to and you will be informed of any acceptances up to and after this date.
please share widely
more info can be found here
Colin Stewart Jones
Merle Packham
19.10.1924 – 4.6.2019
Merle Packham, who was an inaugural member of Cloudcatchers in 2005, died at the ages of ninety-four on 4 June 2019. A Celebration of her Life was held in Alstonville NSW on 11 June, and the Cloudcatchers Group was represented by Helen Davison, Jocelyn Day and Quendryth Young.
Merle’s family had attended her cremation in the morning. In the afternoon her friends gathered with the family in a local hall for a “Celebration of the Life … ” As Merle was a Quaker the chairs were placed in a circle, and there were musical contributions from her family, mostly great-grandchildren, some recorded music of Merle herself at the piano (so uplifting), family eulogies and periods of silence. As at a ginko, the silences were so poignant.
The microphone was passed to anybody wishing to speak, and Quendryth Young offered a few words on behalf of Cloudcatchers, relating to Merle’s delight in the writing of haiku and her contribution to Cloudcatchers. Some of Merle’s haiku were read, and it was particularly pleasing to mention the reading of one of her haiku by Beverley George (at that time president of the Australian Haiku Society) at the 3rd Pacific Rim Haiku Conference held at Matsuyama, Japan in 2007.
How fortunate we are to have had Merle as such an inspirational member of Cloudcatchers.
By Quendryth Young
Some of Merle’s haiku
banksia cone –
the open mouth
of nestlings
casuarina
a currawong peering
through fringes
patterned bark
ants criss-cross
between grooves
Merle Packham
Members’ News compiled by Simon Hanson
Australian Haiku Society 