Chamber Poets #87
Saturday 15 April 1pm—4pm
Woodend RSL, 32 Anslow Street, Woodend, Victoria
Entry $10/$5
Featuring:
FRINGE MYRTLES HAIKU GROUP
BLACK FOREST SMOKE
OPEN SECTION
After the success of last month’s public celebration of International Women’s Day featuring the famous Castlemaine writer Cate Kennedy, the April Chamber Poets event will celebrate International Haiku Day by featuring the work of Melbourne haiku group Fringe Myrtles. Fringe Myrtles, formed in October 2019 consists of some of the best published haiku poets in Victoria and is led by the president of the Australian Haiku Society, Rob Scott.
The group is an assortment of haiku poets and enthusiasts who enjoy going outside with notebooks to write their poetry in scenic surroundings. They value collaboration, respect, friendship, and inclusiveness. Their mission is to create a supportive haiku community where all members can grow as writers, and also, they like to share their collective understanding of the various ways haiku can be written.
Fringe Myrtles held online meetings from April 2020 due to the social distancing regulations associated with the Coronavirus. The theme of the first online meeting was to write haiku about the impact of Covid-19. The majority of the haiku read at this meeting had a focus on what was missing during lockdown. Subsequent meetings via Zoom featured famous overseas and interstate guests including American Michael Dylan Welch, Tasmanian practitioners Lyn Reeves and Ron C Moss, and prominent members of various other Australian haiku groups, including Paperbark from Western Australia.
Fringe Myrtles have conducted haiku workshops and public readings at various libraries, and twice at events held at The Melbourne Immigration Museum. This will be the second time they will feature at the Chamber Poets spoken word event in Woodend in celebration of International Haiku Day. House band, Black Forest Smoke, will also entertain the audience by presenting haiku set to music, including their poignant composition titled Anzac Day. As the event precedes Anzac Day, writers and musicians are also encouraged to read their spoken word pieces (not necessarily haiku) or sing songs to commemorate those who suffer during and after wars.
Australian Haiku Society 