Greetings from the President
Dear Members,
It has been another prosperous year for Australian haiku and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all poets for their poetry, company, comradeship and countless other contributions throughout the year. Australian haiku continues to grow thanks to your efforts both here and in the globalised haiku arena. It has been a joy to read your poems here, there and everywhere.
The Australian Haiku Society has enjoyed another busy year, which has seen the number of subscribers grow to almost 1000 poets for the first time. Once again, the AHS hosted several events across the year to promote haiku in Australia, including the popular annual solstice haiku strings & kukais, which always create a lot of interest. This year we added a special event to celebrate International Haiku Poetry Day on 17th April, hosting a national haiku reading, which involved many haiku groups across the country. We look forward doing this again next year, as it is an excellent opportunity for haiku poets across the country to come together for a day to share haiku and consolidate connections.
Probably one of the true joys of this year was reading all the reports from haiku groups around the country, who were finally able to meet face-to-face after two years of Covid-enforced separation. Zoom, for all its benefits, is just not the same.
Finally, we end the year with the exciting prospect of launching the Fourth Australian Haiku Anthology in 2023, along with the announcement of the winners in the Second John Bird Dreaming Award for Haiku.
It has been a joy to be on a haiku journey with you all and I wish you all a happy and safe holiday season.
Yours in Haiku,
Rob Scott
President, AHS.
Recognition for members
Several members have received well-deserved recognition of their work in recent months. Congratulations to these leading poets.
Our Garden Anthology
The Haiku Foundation has published an anthology of poems by its volunteers as a mark of gratitude for their vital contributions to the Foundation’s work. Our Garden includes a poem each from the following Australians:
Lorin Ford
Simon Hanson
Marietta McGregor
Ron C. Moss
Gregory Piko
Lyn Reeves
Rob Scott
Recently, Gregory Piko mentioned Our Garden on his blog, where he showcased Lorin Ford’s contribution, as well as five more of her outstanding poems.
Haiku as poetry of resistance
In an interview on Melbourne radio station 3CR, on the Spoken Word poetry and performance program on 27th October 2022, presenter Tina Giannoukos spoke with Myron Lysenko about the possibilities of haiku as a poetry of resistance. Myron has written more than a hundred haiku against the war in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. Myron shared many examples in the interview, spreading understanding of haiku in the community. Listen online to the interview with Myron.
A New Resonance 12
Simon Hanson is one of the 17 poets featured in the Red Moon anthology A New Resonance 12. Each new edition collects the work of a new group of distinguished haiku poets. Inclusion in this collection recognises Simon as among the leaders of literary haiku around the world.
Tasmanian Literary Awards shortlist
Field of Stars, a book by Lyn Reeves, has made it onto the shortlist for the Tim Thorne Prize for Poetry in the Tasmanian Literary Awards, with winners to be announced on 15th December.
Gatherings and Groups
Haiku Down Under 2022
The first ever joint Australian and New Zealand haiku gathering was held via Zoom over the weekend of 7th-9th October. Over 200 participants from more than 15 countries registered, with the largest contingents from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada and United States of America. Attendances at sessions ranged from around 40 to more than 80. Presenters were drawn from New Zealand, Australia and beyond, offering a mixture of live presentations, workshops, video presentations, panel discussion and writing prompts. Judging from various reports (groups: Bindii, Fringe Myrtles, Haiku at the Oaks and Sandra Simpson), the event was well-received by many.
The organisers are grateful to all the presenters and participants who helped make Haiku Down Under 2022 such a success.
An anthology is currently being produced as a tangible celebration of the weekend. Many participants indicated that they wished to stay connected and a few even put up their hands for helping organise another Haiku Down Under. In coming months there will be more news about the anthology and a second conference.
Group meetings
Haiku groups have been meeting for spring around the country. You can catch up on the latest happenings in some of our regional groups via the links below.
September meetings
Portarlington Haiku Society (Victoria)
Illawong Haiku Group (New South Wales)
White Pebbles Haiku Group (New South Wales)
October meetings
Haiku @ the Oaks (Australian Capital Territory)
Fringe Myrtles (Victoria)
Bindii Japanese Genre Poetry group (South Australia)
Coming soon – AHS 2022 Summer Solstice Haiga Kukai
In celebration of the 2022 summer solstice, the Australian Haiku Society will be holding another Haiga Kukai. The images for the Seasonal and Non-Seasonal categories will be released on 23rd December.
Australian Haiku Society 