Butterfly Dream: Call for Submissions

Haiku poets are invited to send their best published haiku (please provide publication credits) or new work and a bio sketch (50 words max.) with the subject heading “Published or Unpublished Haiku, Your Name and Submitted Date” to Chen-ou Liu via email at neverendingstory_haiku(at)yahoo.ca

Send no more than twenty haiku per submission and no simultaneous submissions. Please place your haiku in the body of the email. Selected haiku will also be translated into Chinese.

Deadline: December 31, 2017.

For further details please click here.

The Red Dragonflies’ Christmas meeting and Ginko, 2017. Report by Margaret Mahony.

The Red Dragonflies’ Christmas Meeting and Ginko was held on the 2nd December, 2017 at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, led by Vanessa Proctor. Also attending were Barbara Fisher, Beverley George, Cynthia Rowe, Dawn Bruce, Willem Tibben and two guests Carol Reynolds and Margaret Mahony from Discovery Writers and the newly formed Illawong Haiku Group.

Continue reading “The Red Dragonflies’ Christmas meeting and Ginko, 2017. Report by Margaret Mahony.”

A Grain of Sand: Simon Hanson

cropped and resizedThe Oneness of all things embraces ideas and insights that I cherish. A fan of science and philosophy, I have been irresistibly drawn in recent years to haiku, one of the briefest of all art forms. I admire its attempt to touch on moments of connection in as few words as possible, and those words plain and simple at that. Although, as we know, the subtleties of haiku are elusive, and I am likely to continue along its way as a student for a while yet.

Though in awe of the immensities of space and time, I also love the details and intricacies of nature. The happenings inside tiny spaces never cease to amaze me and I am often struck by the wonder of ordinary things.

over the dunes
moonrise
in a grain of sand

Continue reading “A Grain of Sand: Simon Hanson”

Red Kelpie Haiku Group # 14 December 2017

On Sunday December 3rd the weather . . . specifically the threat of possible heavy rainfall . . . caused us to change our venue from the Botanic Gardens to the more easily accessible Federation Square. Four RKHG group members, Madhuri Pillai, Robyn Cairns, Janet Howie and I, met in the Atrium but held our meeting in a quiet hallway between the bookshop and a gallery: an ideal spot, thanks to Robbie’s explorations. Apologies received from Earl, Marisa and Taka.

Our discussion topic, prepared and led by Madhu, was ‘Senryu’. What is it? What might distinguish EL senryu from EL haiku? Is EL senryu just an inferior sort of haiku? Should we feel insulted if someone refers to our ku as senryu?

sketches from life –
my eraser
leaves smudge marks

(Lorin Ford, Failed Haiku#23, Nov. 2017)

The louring cloud cover on the day of our December meeting seemed to match the grey area in which, nevertheless, EL senryu has not only survived but thrived, often by any other name. Continue reading “Red Kelpie Haiku Group # 14 December 2017”

Bowerbird Tanka Group meeting # 17 November 25, 2017

It was a delight to welcome 14 Bowerbird members to “Wirraminna,” our home in Pearl Beach, on Saturday 25th 2017. Present were Dy Andreasen, Carolyn Eldridge-Alfonzetti, Beverley George, Margaret (ML) Grace, Gail Hennessy, Marilyn Humbert, Julianne Jameson, Karen Lieversz, Kent Robinson, Catherine Smith, Michael Thorley, Julie Thorndyke, Jo Tregellis and Beatrice Yell.

After a brief welcome and the chance to enjoy a cuppa following the long drives involved in getting here, our workshop opened with appraisals of favourite tanka written by someone whom the presenter had never met.

Continue reading “Bowerbird Tanka Group meeting # 17 November 25, 2017”