News

VISITING BASHO by Janet Howie

During the month of April I felt quite close to Basho. I visited Japan in cherry blossomtime with haiku on my mind, experiencing first hand the environment that inspired hiswriting. I also discovered some evidence of Basho in central Honshu.

The highlight of my quest was visiting the Basho Museum near the Sumida River
in Koto City, Central Tokyo, close to Fukugawa where Basho once lived. Although the
explanatory texts in the museum were in Japanese, there was a handout in English that was
helpful.

Continue reading “VISITING BASHO by Janet Howie”

Members Publications – Dawn Bruce

‘Sketching Light’ published by Ginninderra Press 2008

ISBN 978l 74027 4760, 92pp, $20.00
Dawn Bruce’s sustained engagement with Japanese poetic genres informs her free verse too, imbuing it with spare elegance and a keen sense of the immediate. This is disciplined writing that prunes the extraneous and allows us to see the clear images upon which this poet bases her commentary on human experience. Dawn’s love of and commitment to poetry is evident in every line.’- Beverley George

Available from: Dawn Bruce contact through somersetpoets@ozemail.com.au $20 including postage
or Gleebooks Sydney $20 plus postage www.gleebooks.com.au for details
or from Ginnindera Press…see website www.ginninderrapress.com.au

Continue reading “Members Publications – Dawn Bruce”

Cloudcatchers News: June 08, 2008

A Japanese Poetry Competition was conducted recently by the Friendly Street Poets in Adelaide. Sixteen awards were made. Of the eight awards for the categories that were open Australia-wide, four went to members of Cloudcatchers. This group comprises a small gathering of haiku enthusiasts who live and ginko together on the Far North Coast of NSW.

We would like to thank the Friendly Street Poets for offering this
opportunity to compete, and HaikuOz for the notification of the
competition in the first place.

Quendryth Young
Convenor Cloudcatchers

Ginko with Lysenko

Monday 16 June 11 am – 2pm

Melbourne General Cemetery
Cemetery Road, Carlton, Melbourne Australia

Contact information
Phone: 03 9387 4323
Email: myronpoet@hotmail.com

Come for a walk in the beautiful surrounds of the Carlton cemetery and experience the graveyard through the calm, non judgmental eye of a haiku with poet and teacher, Myron Lysenko.

cost: $15.00
Meet at the Main entrance, Cemetery Rd, 11 am sharp
bring some lunch and lots of paper to write on.

walking through
our dead friend’s garden
we turn the torch off

– Myron Lysenko
our old dog
buried in the garden
with all her bones

– Michael de Valle

Hobart– a fine place for writing haiku

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of attending a book launch at the Hobart Bookshop of the ink brushed distance by Lyn Reeves, vice-president of the Australian Haiku Society, manager/owner of Pardalote Press and haiku editor for Famous Reporter. In this book, which features a cover design by Ron Moss, haiku are interspersed with free verse to pleasing effect. The book is published by Walleah Press PO Box 368 North Hobart Tasmania 7002.

I was also delighted to be guest of honour at an enjoyable lunch, hosted by Lyn and Andrew Reeves and to meet haiku poets from the talented Watersmeet Haiku Group, with whom I have corresponded for years, through Yellow Moon and Eucalypt.

Extended meanderings through the amazingly beautiful Botanical Gardens and the lively Salamanca Markets, together the near presence of ocean and mountains, made it obvious why these haiku poets never run out of inspiration.

Beverley George