Spring Meeting of the Red Dragonflies (akatombo)

The spring meeting of the Red Dragonflies was held on 13th September at Lesley Walter’s home in Summer Hill. Vanessa Proctor led members, Beverley George, Barbara Fisher, Lesley Walter and Cynthia Rowe in a productive afternoon. Dawn Bruce sent her apologies.

Special guest Katherine Samuelowicz, editor of paper wasp and respected haijin, inspired with her talk about time and the sense of place in poetry.

Beverley George briefly outlined the progress of organising Wind over Water, the fourth Haiku Pacific Rim Conference, due to take place 22-25 September 2009 on the NSW Central Coast.

by Cynthia Rowe

Haiku and the Seasons: an exploration

Beverley George

Beverley George is president of the Australian Haiku Society

The entire Japanese poetic tradition is grounded in the observance of the passing of the seasons, and it is quite simply second nature for Japanese to view human emotions through seasonal metaphors. Liza Dalby

The link between seasonal awareness and the writing of Japanese haiku is apparent. What is not so clear and causes much debate is whether this essential aspect of Japanese haiku can be successfully adopted into other cultural sensibilities and linguistic frameworks, including the English language.

In this article I would like to discuss the situation in Japan as I have observed it directly, rather than relying on readily accessible texts such as those by William J Higginson and Donald Keene and the pioneering work of RH Blyth, Harold G Henderson and James W Hackett, with which readers interested in haiku will already be familiar. I would then like to offer some thoughts about the importation of haiku into Australian writing and how it might be more widely understood and better incorporated. Three visits to Japan in the past two years and ten years of studying haiku do not an expert make, and I hope the tone of this paper is discursive and exploratory rather than in any way prescriptive. Writing haiku is a journey, not a destination, and it has many pilgrims.

Read the entire article by Beverley George as a PDF file

seasons

Haiku Workshop

Haiku Workshop Opportunity

A HAIKU WORKSHOP is to be held on Sunday 26 October 2008, in Ballina NSW, organised by the local haiku group, ‘Cloudcatchers’.

The workshop will include guidelines for appreciating and writing haiku, and the opportunity to take part in a ginko (haiku walk). This will be followed by the writing and sharing of haiku, with workshopping of participants’ work. It is aimed at beginners, but established writers, who wish to extend their experience in this genre, are welcome. Those poets who have already written haiku, are invited to present material for sharing and discussion.
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Members Publication – Haiga Moments: Pens & Lens

Announcing the release of Haiga Moments: Pens & Lens, a delightful little volume of photographically illustrated Haiku/Senryu poetry, by photographer Raymond Belcourt and Haiku poet Dr. Ignatius Fay.

The authors’ styles are rooted in a visceral understanding and appreciation of the world around us at its most elemental, most unadorned. Their work reveals deep-rooted fascination with nature and a need to express their observations through their particular art forms. The result is more than a simple linking of photograph to verse. At times poignant, pointed, irreverent, even humorous, these Haiga are always engaging, thoughtprovoking.

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International Award for Quendryth Young

Quendryth Youngʼs collection of haiku, The Whole Body Singing, has received an award from The Haiku Society of America, ‘for excellence in published haiku, translation or criticism’, with second place in the

Mildred Kanterman Memorial Merit Book Awards for 2008.

The book may be obtained from the author at 5 Cedar Court, Alstonville NSW 2477, $17 posted.

International Award for Quendryth Young

Quendryth Youngʼs collection of haiku, The Whole Body Singing, has received an award from The Haiku Society of America, ‘for excellence in published haiku, translation or criticism’, with second place in the Mildred Kanterman Memorial Merit Book Awards for 2008.

The book may be obtained from the author at 5 Cedar Court, Alstonville NSW 2477, $17 posted.