Meldrum Park, Ballina
Date: Thursday 11 October 2012
Meldrum Park in Ballina is a new venue for the Cloudcatchers. It is on the shore of North Creek, and was chosen to coincide with low tide. Nine poets trod the sandflats spreading out before us as the water receded.
The Ozku group was delighted to share haiku, tanka and haibun from our anthology with the NSW Society of Women Writers members on Wednesday 17th September at their luncheon meeting in the Dixson Room of the Mitchell Wing of the NSW State Library.
Raking Stones is our first anthology and we dedicated it to the memory of Janice Bostok 1942- 2011, haiku pioneer of Australia.
As leader I introduced the speakers, Joyce Christie, Margaret Conley, Margaret L Grace, (Joanne Watycyn-Jones was absent) and Beatrice Yell, and then talked a little about the formation of our group.
I read a brief outline of the haiku, tanka and haibun forms and then each poet in turn read their selection.
Playing the hamon between each verse I’m sure added to the mood and we owe Bev George a big thank you for that. She brought her own hamon all the way from Pearl Beach and at the close of our presentation talked a little about its origin.
Dawn Bruce
We kicked off our Red Dragonflies’ meeting on Saturday 8th September with a visit to the Sphinx at Bobbin Head, a memorial carved out of natural sandstone by an ailing ex-soldier, William Shirley, as a tribute to his fallen AIF comrades. We then retired to Vanessa Proctor’s home in Pymble, where we spent a wonderfully creative afternoon composing a Junicho renku entitled “Unexpected Rain”.
A drop of champagne added to this very festive group activity, and we have just received the very good news that our renku is to be published in the December issue of A Hundred Gourds! An afternoon of creativity, composition, and congenial companionship was already more than reward enough, so news of an impending publication is truly icing on the cake!
Lesley Walter
The Bindii Group met at the Box Factory for a haibun workshop presented by Belinda Broughton. Belinda distributed notes, which included examples of haibun, and briefly discussed the origins of the form and the requirements for writing haibun, such as issues of style and tense, how many haiku should be included and what topics were suitable.
She pointed out that this is a developing form in English and that a wide variety of styles, lengths and topics are both written and published.
On Saturday 28th July the Red Dragonflies met at Lesley Walter’s home for a very enjoyable and entertaining meeting which was fuelled by Lesley’s delicious chocolate cake with cream and berries. All six members were present.
We discussed haiku we’d written as a result of the preset exercises. Our haiku were on the subject of pens, birds and wool, the latter generating much discussion on sheep and shearing practises and led some of us to reminisce about our farming days. We also workshopped haiku anonymously and discussed context in haiku as well as how far it is possible to push ‘rules’ and expectations of haiku. We resolved to have a renku party at our next meeting in September.
Vanessa Proctor
Thursday August 9th 2012
Ten of us gathered at Torakina Park, one of our favourite meeting places. Sadly Quendryth, who organises and has always introduced these events, was unable to be with us due to illness in her family. She was greatly missed.
We greeted old friends and newer members, chatting in the familiar environment before dispersing with our notebooks into the park.
For our August meeting, Bindii members attended a ginko at the Art Gallery. Some sought inspiration at a special exhibition, while others wandered through the art works, and into the sights and sounds of North Terrace.
This was followed by afternoon tea at the Museum Cafe next door, where we shared our discoveries and musings. Although not all had poetry to share, it was agreed that a ginko provides a focal point for the creative process. As a result, I’m sure many poems have since been written.
Lee Bentley
• Entries must be previously unpublished.
• Adult entries are limited to 5 per entrant and must all be on one A4 paper.
• Student entries are limited to 3 per entrant and must all be on one A4 paper.
• The name of the poet must be included at the bottom of the page.
• A separate contact sheet must have name and contact details.
• The contact sheet must also list the first line of each poem.
• Font size to be at least 22pt. Any style is acceptable.
• Entries will be judged purely on the text.
• Any pictures or decorations must fit on the page with the Haiku.
Entries close Thurs 23 August, 5 pm. Winners listed Mon 3 September.
Australian Haiku Society 