A warm, calm morning greeted the gathering of our White Pebbles haiku poets for our autumn ginko on Saturday 9th March 2024. It was an Indian Summer day. The heady air of gardenias was coloured by a shimmer of dragonflies fussing over the lotus pond with its rush of cascading water. Added to this was chatter and laughter of children. Ducks and koi roiled with enthusiasm as many little fingers dropped pellets of food into the pond from the viewing platform.
Continue reading “White Pebbles Haiku Group Autumn Meeting 2024”Category: White Pebbles Haiku Group
White Pebbles Haiku Group Summer Meeting 2024
Due to unforeseen circumstances, with weather threatening safe travel, the White Pebbles summer meeting scheduled for December 9th was deferred to January 13th.
Continue reading “White Pebbles Haiku Group Summer Meeting 2024”White Pebbles Spring Meeting and Ginko 2023
White Pebbles haiku poets gathered at the Edogawa Gardens at the Gosford Regional Gallery and Arts Centre on Saturday morning, 16th September, 2023. Present were Maire Glacken, Marilyn Humbert, Gwen Bitti, Colleen Keating, Beverley George and Kent Robinson, with apologies received from Samantha Sirimanne Hyde and Michael Thorley.
Continue reading “White Pebbles Spring Meeting and Ginko 2023”White Pebbles Winter Ginko at The Gosford / Edogawa Commemorative Gardens
Saturday 10th of June 2023
A superb, sunny winter’s day greeted us at the Edogawa Gardens on Saturday morning.
We gathered for greetings and a cuppa at the cafe adjacent to the Gosford Regional Gallery.
Continue reading “White Pebbles Winter Ginko at The Gosford / Edogawa Commemorative Gardens”White Pebbles Haiku Group Autumn Meeting Report
March 11th 2023
As soon as we met up for this meeting we knew it was going to be a very special one indeed. The sun was gently shining and all the diverse shades of green in the garden were sparkling. Soon we were off for our ginko and silent jotting. Smiles across the ponds and along the pathways.
Continue reading “White Pebbles Haiku Group Autumn Meeting Report”White Pebbles Summer Meeting
10th December 2022
On a lovely summer morning, eight of us gathered again for our White Pebbles meeting. As usual, before starting our ginko, we enjoyed catching up with each other’s news over a hot beverage at the Art Centre’s café. We missed Michael Thorley, who was unable to join us.
Whatever the season, it’s always a pleasure to connect with like-minded poets at the peaceful and vibrant Edogawa Commemorative Garden. A gift to the people of Gosford from Edogawa, its Sister City, the traditional ‘shuyu’ (strolling style) garden fittingly celebrates cultural exchange and friendship.
We each dispersed down winding pathways towards whatever sights, scents and sounds beckoned us – shadows flickering on the raked dry stone bed, a cheeky koi pursuing a duck, dry leaves dangling on spider silk and crazy paving triggering childhood memories of hopscotch.
A half an hour later, we gathered around the table in the downstairs meeting room in the gallery premises. As part of our homework, each person shared a sequence of three haiku and then absorbed thoughtful and considered feedback.
Marilyn Humbert had emailed us a very helpful worksheet with guidelines and examples on writing haibun prior to our meeting. So firstly, each person read out their attempts at creating their own and then exchanged feedback. This was followed by Marilyn’s workshop on the subject, furthering the introduction to haibun that she gave us in March last year. We browsed several publications that welcomed haibun. Marilyn spoke of the essence of haibun: the need to write in the present tense, the hook at the start, its “link and shift” nature, its descriptive prose, avoiding repetition, the poem requiring to connect to the story, yet taking it on a different direction, how to select an apt title etc. We thank Marilyn for her excellent workshop.
Our convenor, Beverley George informed us that our wonderful and highly talented founding member, Gail Hennessy, will be bowing out of White Pebbles. We will miss her very much and hope that she’ll be able to visit us occasionally.
Beverley then gave us an opportunity to talk about members’ recent creative efforts. Colleen Keating spoke of her new book, Olive Muriel Pink – a richly researched and beautifully written poetic journey. I spoke briefly about my debut novel, The Lyrebird’s Cry, a modern tale of self-discovery of a gay man trapped into an arranged marriage. While we ran out of time for more such discussion, our Haiga Picture Poet, Kent Robinson’s splendid work, featured on his new website, must also be mentioned.
Buoyed by our foray into haibun, we will most likely start to experiment with this form, apart from dabbling in haiku joy, until our next meeting in autumn.
Samantha Sirimanne Hyde
White Pebbles Spring Ginko
Saturday 10 September 2022
White Pebbles spring meeting was once again held at the Edogawa Commemorative Japanese Gardens and Regional Gallery, West Gosford. Present were Beverley George (convenor), Marilyn Humbert, Kent Robinson, Michael Thorley, Colleen Keating, Verna Rieschild and Gwen Bitti. First order of business, a casual catch-up over a hot beverage.
Continue reading “White Pebbles Spring Ginko”White Pebbles Winter Meeting
June 2022
On June 11th, seven White Pebbles members met at Gosford/Edogawa Commemorative Gardens for our winter meeting. As always, we caught up for a brief chat over coffee or tea before heading out into the garden at precisely 10:30 to walk in silence and jot what we observed.
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