Lynette Arden

Introduction to Ginko for Writing Haiku – Sydney, 6th August 2025

Red Room Poetry designates August as Poetry Month. On 6th August join the President of the Australian Haiku Society and Gadigal Ginko Convenor, Leanne Mumford, for an introduction to haiku writing by undertaking a ginko – a walk for composing haiku. This workshop event in Sydney is designed for novice haiku poets. It will include some pre-work to help prepare for the ginko and ensuing discussion. In joining this event, you’ll discover that there’s more to contemporary English language haiku than counting syllables.

AHS Winter Solstice Haiga Kukai 2025

A note to poets entering this competition. Please include your name below your haiku. An email address will not be counted as a name. If you make a mistake when entering, please enter your work again, including a note.

Welcome, haiku poets worldwide, to the Australian Haiku Society Winter Solstice Haiga Kukai 2025. The competition starts today, 21 June, in Australia. It will be open for eight days, including today, to allow haiku poets in Australia and abroad to contribute their haiku. The competition will close at 1 am on 29 June ACST (Australian Central Standard Time). To avoid missing out, please ensure you have entered your haiku in good time, as the competition cannot be reopened once it closes automatically. Please read the guidelines carefully.

Prior Announcement: AHS Winter Solstice Kukai 2025

The Australian Haiku Society will hold a Haiga Kukai on 21 June 2025 to mark the Winter Solstice. Poets from Australia and internationally are invited to participate.

Wanda Amos has generously provided a photographic image, which will be displayed on the AHS website starting on 21 June. The competition will be open for eight days, allowing haiku poets in Australia and abroad to contribute their haiku. The competition will close at 1 am on 29 June ACST (Australian Central Standard Time).

Please enter your haiku well before the opportunity finishes to avoid missing out. Once the comments are automatically closed, they cannot be reopened for late entries.

For this competition, poets will be invited to submit one previously unpublished haiku inspired by the image. Wanda will then select the winning haiku, which will be displayed on the AHS website.

Report on the Bindii Meeting, June 1 2025

Julia Wakefield, Subha Goonaratne, Radhika DeSilva, and Lynette Arden met on Sunday, June 1, at 3:00 p.m. via Zoom. Apologies were received from Maeve Archibald, Ewan Rourke, Udara Thambapanni, Stella Damarjati and Maureen Sexton, who sent us some haiku to use in the session. The rest of us had all brought some haiku on the two themes of technology and birds, as arranged at the previous meeting.

Report on the Bindii Meeting April 26 2025

Julia Wakefield, Maeve Archibald, Subha Goonaratne, and Lynette Arden met on Saturday April 26 at 3pm, using Zoom. Apologies were received from Maureen Sexton, Ewan Rourke, Stella Damarjati and Maureen Watson.

Submissions for Echidna Tracks 15 will close at the end of April

This is a reminder that submissions for Echidna Tracks Issue 15 will close at the end of April. We are seeking modern and excellent haiku and senryu that explore all areas of living in contemporary Australia.

Gavin Austin and Marilyn Humbert will be the haiku editors for this issue. We invite your best and previously unpublished haiku/senryu on any topic that stirs your imagination. Australia is a society that comprises many environments, cultures, and lifestyles. We welcome diversity in submissions. Please explore our categories for inspiration. If you choose a seasonal reference, it should be compatible with the publication’s Winter/Spring time frame.

A reminder that submissions will close at the end of April 2025 for Echidna Tracks 15

Call for submissions for Echidna Tracks Issue 15 Winter/Spring 2025

Call for Submissions Echidna Tracks: Issue 15 Winter/Spring 2025

AHS Summer Solstice Haiku String 2024

This String has now closed. Please enjoy the haiku posted in the comments. Thanks to all the poets worldwide who have contributed to this event. The event lasted eight days, from 12.30 am ACDT on 21 December 2024. The String closed at 12.30 am ACDT on 29 December 2024.

The Australian Haiku Society welcomes contributions from haiku poets worldwide to the Summer Solstice Haiku String.

We will be holding the Haiku String on the day of the Southern Hemisphere Summer Solstice, which occurs in Australia this year on Saturday, December ^21st. To accommodate international poets who may wish to participate, the String will remain open for contributions until Sunday, December ^29th, 2024. Contributions may be made on the website during these dates only (not before).

Haiku String – Instructions (please read all the instructions including formatting).

For many Australians summer means a relationship with water or the lack of it. Visits to the seaside or river to relax, swim or surf, precious dam storage, irrigation of crops, fighting bushfires, dealing with floods, and the many other aspects of water are a part of summer.