The 2009 Shiki Special Kukai in memory of William J. Higginson

This just in from Robert Bauer:

Invitation for submissions to The 2009 Shiki Special Kukai in memory of William J. Higginson! Dear Haiku Friends, The Shiki Team of Japan, who organize Shiki Haikusphere site http://shiki.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/ The Ehime Culture Foundation which sponsors the Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Awards, http://www.ecf.or.jp/ and The Shiki Monthly Kukai Team, http://www.haikuworld.org are pleased to announce The 2009 Shiki Special Kukai in memory of William J. Higginson! We invite you to participate by composing and sending in your haiku, enjoy reading the entries, and participate in the voting. We sincerely hope the procedure works well. Please understand that the Shiki special kukai team is implementing the procedure in order to maintain the high standards of the contest and to avoid a work overload. Please pay special attention to the dates. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Contest Procedure 1-1　Toku (Special Kukai) Haiku poets should submit their entries from Thursday, January 1, 2009 to Thursday, January 15, 2009 To: st-kukai@haikuworld.org Subject: Toku Submission - The theme is "color" and names of color, for example red, black, blue, etc. (Masaoka Shiki loved the color red very much.) - Each haiku must contain at least one color. Here are two sample haiku: natsuarashi kijo no hakushi tobitsukusu summer storm white paper on the desk all flies away Masaoka Shiki translated by Kim Komurasaki Without a thought the neighbor's backyard turns green William J. Higginson Ten Years Collected Haiku Volume I, Here Press, 1987 - Entries are limited to three haiku per person. If two or more entrants share an email address, be sure to include the author's name and physical address with each haiku.* - Previously unpublished (and un-posted to Internet) haiku only. 1-2 Entries will be judged for acceptance by the following rules: (1) Call for Submissions Submissions will be accepted from January 1st through January 15th. All submission must include poet's name and physical address.* Please use the plain text feature of your email program and make sure all entries are aligned to the left. Please, each haiku must state a color. Entries are limited to three haiku per person. Please send all unpublished, un-posted submissions to: st-kukai@haikuworld.org Please address the Subject line: Toku Submission (2) Call for Votes Haiku entries will be sent to all kukai participants via email for judging after January 17th, but names will not be included with the haiku sent at this time. We sincerely urge all participating poets to vote. Voting will be held from January 17th through January 24th. If you have not received confirmation within 24 hours of voting, please resend your votes. Voting guidelines will be defined within the call for votes. To: st-kukai@haikuworld.org Subject: Toku Votes (3) Kukai Results! The kukai winners will be announced on February 14 at The Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Awards ceremony presented by The Ehime Culture Foundation in Matsuyama, Japan. The final results and names of kukai participants will be available on both the Shiki Haikusphere and Haikuworld after the contest winner is announced. 2. The Prize The Shiki special kukai team will welcome the winner of the kukai to Matsuyama, Japan. The winner will be presented with a round trip ticket to Matsuyama from the airport nearest to him or her. (The upper limit is 1,800 US$. This present to the winner is valid for one year from the announcement of the result.) In addition there are some prizes to excellent works. The Shiki special team will send traditional industrial art objects of Ehime to the 5 top-placing haiku. 3. Other Information: Concerning copyright laws; we will assume that your participation in the contest indicates your agreement to your entries being reprinted. Your privacy is extremely important to us. Shiki Haikusphere and Haikuworld.org will not collect any identifying information about visitors to our website. We maintain control of any names, mailing addresses, or email addresses submitted by Toku entrants and will not share mailing addresses or email addresses with any other entity. 4. Inquiries: Please send your inquiries by email to <st-kukai@haikuworld.org> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- We look forward to meeting you in Matsuyama, Japan! - The Shiki Special Kukai Team -