red river gums—
guardians of stone stories
in dry hollows
Susan Grant
Month: May 2021
Fringe Myrtles Haiku Meeting, May 2021
Finally, after 1 year, 5 months and 17 days (534 days!) the Fringe Myrtles were able to kiss Zoom meetings goodbye and meet toe-to-toe at the glorious Melbourne Botanical Gardens. You could not wipe the smile from our faces as we gathered along with throngs of other sun-seeking Melbournians on a glorious autumn afternoon at the Tea House Terrace, situated opposite the Ornamental Lake. It was like a dream.
Cloudcatchers Autumn Ginko # 61
Thursday 29 April 2021
Virtual ginko
10 am onwards
As a number of our members were experiencing tricky personal situations, our autumn ginko became a ‘virtual’ one. There were ten of us, each maintaining silence in her own home and/or environment on the Far North Coast of NSW, ranging from Murwillumbah in the north to Coffs Harbour in the south, with one member joining us from Avalon in Sydney. Commencing at 10 am, each poet thought of every other participant, and then proceeded to observe and write for at least an hour.
What an incredible bonding the stimulation of haiku images has delivered to us once again, as we savoured the camaraderie of another ginko.
Review of Paperbark Haiku Zoom Meeting
Friday 30th April 2021
11 am Perth,Western Australia time
by Maureen Sexton
Seven people ‘attended’ the zoom meeting. They were Michael Dylan Welch (USA), Rose van Son (WA), Lynette Arden (SA), Liz Nicholls (WA), Wanda Amos (NSW), Madhuri Pillai (Vic) and Maureen Sexton (WA). Each attendee shared the details of their personal ginko, i.e. where they were, what the weather and surrounds was like and three each of the haiku they wrote from that ginko. There was lively and thorough discussion of each haiku with some generous and helpful suggestions offered. This was followed by some interesting and thoughtful discussion on various aspects of writing haiku, such as lineation, experimental writing and what makes a haiku, a haiku. Or in other words, what isn’t a haiku. Thank you Michael Dylan Welch for letting us use his Zoom pro account, so we didn’t have a time limit. Much appreciated.
Here is what each ‘attendee’ has to offer from the meeting:
Members’ News, April 2021
John Bird Dreaming Award for Haiku
The results for the inaugural John Bird Dreaming Award for Haiku have now been posted. Congratulations to the awarded poets; Louise Hopewell, Matthew Paul and Jennifer Sutherland for First, Second and Third Places respectively. Congratulations also to those gaining Honourable Mentions. Our gratitude is extended to all who participated in this most successful event; your contributions are deeply appreciated. Our sincere thanks to our judges; Vanessa Proctor and Michael Dylan Welch for their enthusiastic commitment to the event and for their expert and insightful comments. Our sincere thanks (once again) to Ron C. Moss for creating the certificates and the magnificent paintings accompanying First, Second and Third places. You can revisit the selected haiku and judge’s comments here.
Australian Haiku Society 