A request from John Stevenson and a reminder from an'ya

This just in from John Stevenson:

I'm going to be attending Haiku North America in Ottawa in August and I've volunteered to help with the memorial reading. While I am aware of many of those who have passed away since the last HNA gathering, in Winston-Salem, I'm wondering if I could ask your blog visitors to send me names (and perhaps a few favorite poems, or lines of remembrance) of anyone they know or know of whose loss, occurring in the past two years, has left parts of the haiku community with memories that might be shared with the wider group. If so, I'd love to hear from them (ithacan@earthlink.net).

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And this message from an'ya:

Now that it is almost July, just a quick reminder to have your submissions for our autumn/winter issue of moonset to us no later than 1 August. Please see the official website (URL) below for full details on how to submit haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, and haiga to the appropriate editors. Old-timers and Newbies equally welcome.

Also please send any articles to an'ya and any news to Sasa; email contest entries, and/or dream-ku to peterB;. email addresses also listed at the website.

Thank you ever so much to a generous few, we are about 40% to our goal of becoming non-profit . . . also please update your subscription asap if need be so we can make certain that you receive our next issue . . .

love ya', an'ya
http://www.moonset-newspaper.com

Saša Važić - Three Questions

Saša Važić is a freelance journalist, astrologer, translator, writer of prose and poetry, essays, book reviews. Author of over 1000 articles on various topics which appeared in newspapers and journals, member of the editorial board of Haiku Novine, Niš, Serbia, Balkan Advisor and News Editor for moonset the Newspaper (Oregon, USA), and member of the World Haiku Club, her haiku have been included in over ten national and international haiku anthologies and in a number of national and international haiku magazines. They have been translated into English, Japanese, Chinese, Macedonian, Slovenian, Croatian, German, Czech, Bulgarian, Russian, Polish, Dutch, Norwegian, French, Italian, Hungarian and Romanian. She is the recipient of a number of awards and commendations in contests held in her country, in Japan (Water, Lake and Sea; Suruga Baika; Basho Festival; Ito en; Mainichi), Germany, Croatia, Bulgaria, Canada, the USA and France. Largely, through her translation efforts she has brought English language haiku poetry, articles and books to Balkan readers and vice versa. Važić is the editor of the bilingual Haiku Reality. She is the author of an e-book of haiku poetry entitled muddy shoes candy heart, edited by Anita Virgil and published by Peaks Press, USA.

She also writes tanka and creates haiga, some of which have been published at the World Haiku Association’s website and at Kuniharu Shimizu’s website See Haiga Here, as well as in Contemporary Haibun published by the Red Moon Press, USA.

She has translated more than 20 books of haiku poetry by Serbian and some foreign authors (into English), as well as David G Lanoue’s novels Haiku Guy and Laughing Buddha into Serbian.

Her many longer poems and short stories as well as some literary articles and book reviews have also been published in a number of journals, in her country and abroad.

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1) Why do you write haiku?

I was forced to do that. How? You can read my answer at Simply Haiku (Summer 2005, vol 3 no 2. I). Robert Wilson interviewed me. I still agree with what I said:

RW: What is haiku to you, and why have you chosen it to express your soul?

SV: I must say that I've been spending very much of my time reading and writing about haiku, writing my own haiku, translating other poets' haiku and a whole lot of haiku for their books as well as articles on haiku for Serbian and some other Balkan haiku journals, and that I still don't feel it as an integral part of myself. Actually, it may not be a part of myself, but of nature, and should remain there. You take by glance, leave and go, but it is still there where it has always been, where it is and I hope will be. So, it seems that I have not chosen haiku but that I’ve been chosen by it. Or is it not by God or just by my parents and theirs . . .?

It appears easy to write . . . just three lines, two or one . . . that number of syllables or not . . . and difficult to express that what is essential, to hide yourself behind words, to show the meaning of every single particle within the universe of which it is a part, of which the universe is a part. A light breeze coming from the universe which stirs a curtain behind which a man is sitting contemplating in his solitude, in seeming emptiness, which makes him cast his glance in its direction . . . We are not alone. Every single thing and every single man is with us every moment. And we are with every single thing and every single being.

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I'll try to explain . . . I first became acquainted with haiku («never heard» then) in 1997 as a program organizer for a Belgrade club. I happened to know a man called Ilija Bratic, a retired professor of philosophy, prose and poetry writer, including haiku, whom I interviewed on some other topics for a local magazine. In that interview he mentioned haiku he had written and afterwards I talked to the club people to invite Belgrade poets from their haiku club, Shiki, for a gathering and presentation of their work.

I can’t admit that I even listened carefully to their haiku, let alone understood what they were all about. When it was over, Ilija told me that I myself should start writing haiku. I refused. I didn't have that feeling for such a short, tender, «meaningless» form. Out of spite (yes, these are the right words), I just tried to find out what it was all about, and having spent hours and hours over typed pieces of a girl (14) who named them haiku (I saved a manuscript she gave me when I interviewed her regarding her first novel), trying to make out what that famous 5-7-5 was and . . . finally found out!

Then I started writing like mad. In a day I produced some 20 pages of what I thought were haiku. What I had written were but very good pieces of something else, Ilija told me, and started showing me haiku by various authors. I was still against it and ready to leave. Then he took down a book from a shelf, a small, bright-covered The Old Pond, and I stopped to take the last glance at what he «intended» to make from me. I stopped, looked, listened (thank you David Lanoue) . . . and felt ashamed:

Oh, Matcushima
Oh, Matcushima
Matcushima...

(This poem was not among Basho's hokku and haiku in that book).

As I said, I don't feel myself to be a poet and rarely read poetry books. Only particular poems, which I then read and reread until I get to know them by heart. Edgar Allan Poe's "Raven," Lord Byron's "Incantation" . . . and of course and first of all those written by Serbian marvelous lyric masters: Vladislav Petkovic´ Dis, Vojislav Ilic´, Jovan Ducic´, Djura Jaksic´, Aleksa Santic´. . . . It's a pity their words cannot be translated into any language and save the feeling they are able to evoke. There is always a danger I would leave out some of many world-class authors, but I must mention our Nobel Prize winner, Ivo Andric´, who wrote «as if he does not touch a paper» as another Serbian writer, Jara Ribnikar, said to me in an interview I had with her. Then my favorite and beloved "The Little Prince." In fact we all learn from everybody, from every single being, no matter whether he/she is a writer or not; from every single plant or animal . . . everything and everybody.

2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

Lyric and mysterious, dark and out of space and time.

3) Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide publication credits.)

None. I am frightened by this question. :) How can I know? I don't write to appraise myself or to be appraised. A need to write? (as there is no other way, save to keep silent) appears of itself...from time to time and that's all.

A number of the poet's haiku are located on the following two web sites:

Page 1 & Page 2

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If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response (whether it be for haiku or tanka) to the three little questions that Saša answered. You must be a published poet in order to participate.

Marc di Saverio will be our guest next week.

Pamela A. Babusci - update

This just in from Pamela A. Babusci:

I wish to thank all of my haiku poet friends for their prayers, healing thoughts & good karma for my neck surgery. Dr. Paul Maurer, neuro-surgeon, did not need to fuse my neck and the operation was a success. I believe all the prayers, healing thoughts, good karma and going to a Healing Mass gave me a miracle. Your kindness and love will not be forgotten.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Love & God Bless! Pamela A. Babusci

Edward Weiss - bird haiku

Edward Weiss is doing something remarkable for haiku. Rather than tell you, perhaps it would be better for you to visit his blog, or watch the video below:


Inspired by Edward's poems, I thought I'd try my hand at creating a video haiku:



Now, if you're experiencing a really, really bad day, stop. Take a deep breath, and read or view a haiku.

Wishing you a beeeaaauuutiful weekend!

Curtis

July 12 - Salon at Musicoal!

On Sunday, July 12, at 7 pm, the Meymandi Theater at the Murphey School, 224 Polk Street, in Raleigh, NC will host a Salon of music, dance and theater.

The evening will feature Fleur de Lisa, a group of four women singers who write and perform all original music, blending elements of art, jazz, classical and folk. At turns, playful, moving, and inspiring, Fleur de Lisa songs feature complex harmonies and rhythms, with lyrics based on poetry from Japan and the United States, including Piedmont Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Greene. For the July 12 show Fleur de Lisa will premiere a song based on the work of NC Poet Laureate Kathryn Stripling Byers. Fleur de Lisa will also unveil a longer suite of songs based on poems by Roberta Beary.

Dance solos will be presented by Carol Finley, Artistic Director of Meredith Dance Theater, whose piece "Prelude to the Breakup" is the opening section to a suite she will perform in concert next Fall. Senior Dance Major Matney Murad will dance "Confession from the Bride Room."

Rounding out the evening, Director Johannah Maynard, BFA Tisch School for the Arts, will lead some of Raleigh's finest actors and actresses in performing favorite monologues.

The July 12 show is part of the Musicoal Series presented by Burning Coal Theater. Tickets are available only at the door, and cost $10, $5 for students and Seniors.

For more information call 919-810-2863, 834-4001, or email haikusongs@gmail.com

Poem - Wheel Jammin'

Ann K. Schwader - Three Questions

Ann K. Schwader is a Wyoming native relocated to suburban Colorado. Her haiku have appeared in Modern Haiku, Heron’s Nest, bottle rockets, Frogpond, Roadrunner, WHR, Simply Haiku, Mainichi Daily News, one cycle of DailyHaiku, and the Red Moon anthology big sky.

She is also a widely published speculative poet and writer of dark fiction, with multiple Honorable Mentions in Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror. Her poetry chapbooks include Werewoman (Nocturnal Publications 1990), The Worms Remember (Hive Press 2001), Architectures of Night (Dark Regions Press 2003), and In the Yaddith Time (Mythos Books 2007).

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1) Why do you write haiku?

I’m both a formalist (most of the time) and a science fiction poet. Haiku appeals to both of these interests: it’s a strict yet evolving form which offers insights into a culture very unlike my own. Writing haiku demands a completely different mindset than writing Western verse forms; I think it improves my writing of both.

I also appreciate the way that haiku allows me to write poetry more frequently. I love the experience of writing a poem, but can’t always organize my life well enough to devote hours to a longer poem in progress. The impulse to write haiku can be answered much more quickly, and moments can be preserved before they evaporate in the day’s concerns.

2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

I work in several of the standard Western forms, but my lifelong favorite is the sonnet. Like a haiku, a sonnet is a concise, evolving verse form spawned by a specific culture (or set of cultures), yet infinitely variable. Those fourteen lines can be packed with meaning until they explode.

I’ve also begun writing haibun as an alternative to prose poetry, and I think I prefer it. There’s a bit more structure to a haibun, though at the same time there’s more actual poetry involved. My haibun so far have all been speculative – science, science fiction, or dark – and a fair number have found homes in small press magazines in print or online. They haven’t been in the traditional “personal journal” style, but some editors seem to appreciate this way of telling a brief story.

3) Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?



white breath
nothing between it
and the moon


(1st place, Shiki Monthly Kukai, Free Format Jan. 07)




deep winter
the sun is only
another star


(Frogpond, Vol. XXX No. 2)




razored through
to the void
raven


(Scorpion Prize winner for Issue VII: 3, Roadrunner)

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If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response (whether it be for haiku or tanka) to the three little questions that Ann answered. You must be a published poet in order to participate.

Sasa Vazic will be our guest next week.

A message from Angelee Deodhar

Dear All,

Please forgive the common mail. I am writing from Chandigarh.

My husband, Dr. Deodhar, had an external fixation operation of the left knee on Tuesday, 16th June at Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. His operating surgeon was Dr. Rajgopal.

He received 5 bottles of blood and was kept in the Intensive Care Unit till last night when he was transferred to the room...Room 105. He is on intravenous antibiotics.

His left leg has now become straight, as there is no knee joint, and the bones of the leg have been fused together. The external fixators will remain in place for 3 months, at the end of which they will be removed.

It has been a very long, painful, tedious, and frustrating three and a half years since his first bilateral knee surgery. I am grateful to all of you for your kind messages of support and for your prayers, which have given us the strength to carry on.

Right now his brother, Vasu, is looking after him in the hospital. We hope we can bring him to Chandigarh in a week's time.

We know you are all with us in thought and prayer. I will keep you informed,

With loving prayers for you and your loved ones,

angelee

Lenard D. Moore reading

Onslow County Public Library in partnership with Harriotte B. Smith Library (Camp Lejeune) host distinguished poet, Lenard D. Moore, for an evening of poetry

Onslow County Public Library in conjunction with Harriotte B Smith Library (Camp Lejeune) and the North Carolina Center for the Book, will host an evening of poetry with 2007-2009 Eastern North Carolina Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet, Lenard D. Moore and local student poets, Patsy Lain and Donna M Graham, as part of the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poets Series. The poetry reading will take place during Poetry Open Mic for Adults on Thursday, June 25 at 6:30 pm at the Harriotte B Smith Library aboard Camp Lejeune.

The goal of the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series (GCDPS) is to support the mission of the North Carolina Poetry Society (NCPS) in fostering the reading, writing, and enjoyment of poetry across North Carolina with particular emphasis on outreach, student involvement, and mentorship.

Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet, Lenard D. Moore is the Founder and Executive Director of Carolina African American Writers’ Collective and Co-founder of Washington Street Writers Group. He is Director of the Mount Olive College Literary Festival and faculty advisor to the Mount Olive College Literary Journal, Trojan Voices. His poems, essays and reviews have appeared in over 350 publications, such as Agni, Callaloo, African American Review, Midwest Quarterly, North Dakota Quarterly, Obsidian III and Poetry Canada Review. His poetry appeared in over forty anthologies, including Gathering Ground (University of Michigan Press, 2006); The Haiku Anthology (Norton, 1999); Trouble the Water: 250 Years of African American Poetry (Mentor Books, 1997); Spirit and Flame: An anthology of African American Poetry (Syracuse University Press, 1997); Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac (Kodansha International Ltd., 1996); and The Garden Thrives: Twentieth Century African American Poetry (HarperCollins, 1996) among others. His poetry has been translated into several languages. He is the author of The Open Eye (NC Haiku Society Press, 1985), Forever Home (St. Andrews College Press, 1992), and Desert Storm: A Brief History (Los Hombres Press, 1993). Moore has taught workshops, served on literary panels, and given hundreds of readings at schools, festivals, colleges and universities, including National Black Arts Festival, Zora Neale Hurston Festival, People’s Poetry Gathering, Walt Whitman Cultural Arts Center (Camden, New Jersey) and The Library of Congress. He has also been featured on several radio and television programs, including the TBS Documentary “Spirit of the Ark” and “Voice of America.” He is recipient of the Museum of Haiku Literature Award (1983, 1994 and 2003), 1992 First Prize Winner in Traditional Style Haiku sponsored by Mainichi Daily News (Tokyo, JAPAN), 1992 Third Prize Harold G. Henderson Award (Haiku Society of America), Indies Arts Award (1996), Margaret Walker Creative Writing Award (1997), Tar Heel of the Week Award (1998), Alumni Achievement Award (2000), and Sam Ragan Fine Arts Award (2006). He also was a Finalist in the 1987-88 Japan Air Lines Haiku Contest in which more than 40,000 entries were received. His poem “summer moon—“ was selected First Runner-up for The Heron’s Nest Award (June 2001). He is a Cave Canem Fellow (1998-2000). He is Executive Chairman of the NC Haiku Society. He has taught at NC State University (Raleigh), NC A&T State University (Greensboro), and Enloe High School. Former Writer-in-Residence for United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County, he currently is an Assistant Professor of English at Mount Olive College. He also is a former adjunct professor at Shaw University. He has lived in South Carolina, Virginia, California, and Germany. An avid reader and listener of music, he writes about family, jazz, identity, and global issues. Mr. Moore earned his M.A. degree in English/African American Literature from NC A&T State University, and his B.A. degree with honors (Magna Cum Laude) from Shaw University. He is working on two poetry collections, a novel, short stories, a play, and literary criticism. Mr. Moore mentors several other poets and writers.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 910.455.7350, ext. 242.

Submitted by:

Marie-Jose Solomua, Marketing Coordinator
Onslow County Public Library
58 Doris Avenue East, Jacksonville, NC 28540
Marie_Jose_Solomua@onslowcountync.gov


Contact: Philip Cherry III
Onslow County Public Library Director
910-455-7350
Philip_Cherry@onslowcountync.gov

CHO & Robert (Bob) Moyer

The summer issue of contemporary haibun online is available at the following URL:

http://contemporaryhaibunonline.com/

There are many fine prose pieces with poems in this issue, from some of the leading practitioners of the haibun art form in the world today.

The Winners of the Kikakuza 2009 Haibun Contest are also linked on the front page.

I was fortunate to film one of the poets featured in this issue a couple of months ago. Ethically, I could not publish the poet or his haibun until his excellent piece first appeared in CHO. Now that the summer issue of CHO is live, I'm very pleased to present:

Carmen Sterba - Three Questions

Carmen Sterba lived in Japan as a student, instructor and mother for 31 years. She has one degree in Far Eastern Asian Studies, another in Literature and is now studying at a seminary. Lakewood, WA and Kamakura, Japan are her hometowns. Her three bi-lingual, bi-national and bi-cultural sons are her biggest achievement.

Wim Lovers in the Netherlands published her first chapbook, sunlit jar in 2002, '03 and '05. After returning to the U.S.A. in 2004, Carmen volunteered as Secretary of the Haiku Society of America in 2005-06 and is now serving as the HSA 1st Vice President. Locally, she's a member of Haiku Northwest and the Tacoma Area Literature Enthusiasts.

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1. Why do you write haiku?

It all started with a month's visit to Japan when I was 18 and a cast member of "Up with People." I promised myself to return to Japan when I was a junior in college. In my preparation to study in Japan, I started to collect books on translated haiku because I felt an inherent sensibility that drew me to haiku. At that time, I did not know that there were international haiku poets.

I moved to Japan, majored in Far East Asian Studies and ended up living there for 31 years. I think I learned a lot about the subtleties of haiku by osmosis, and finally in the mid nineties, I started composing haiku and found my niche. In retrospect, I believe that haiku has brought together my two worlds and made me more whole.

2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

Now that I am back in my hometown again, I became involved in a poetry group and poetry readings in the Tacoma area. One of my haibun was just published in an anthology of local poets, "In Tahoma's Shadow." Tahoma is original Native American name for Mt. Rainier.

I write some tanka and love to research the history of the Japanese poetry, so I started writing occasional articles on tanka poets and poetic diaries for the Tanka Society of America's Ribbons in the last two years. However, haiku is my focus and my heart song!

3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?

The choice of one's one haiku is very subjective. My favorites are:



single living —
I allow the tea kettle
a long whistle

The Heron's Nest V:3; Valentine's Awards 2004, Honorable Mention



digital photo
that space between us
now an ocean

A New Resonance 4: Emerging Voices of English-Language Haiku, Red Moon Press, 2005



sunlit jar
the beekeeper's gift
on the doorstep

The Heron's Nest, Vol. III:6, sunlit jar, 2002, '03. '05



Carmen Sterba

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If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response (whether it be for haiku or tanka) to the three little questions that Carmen answered. You must be a published poet in order to participate.

Ann K. Schwader will be our guest next week.

Pamela A. Babusci needs our prayers

Dear Poet Friends,

I am having cervical neck fusion surgery next Tues. June 16th, due to herniations, stenosis and spinal cord compression. I welcome any prayers, healing thoughts and good karma for my surgery and speedy recovery.

Thank you so much!

With A Thankful Heart,

Pamela A. Babusci

Paul O. Williams remembrance page

Gary Warner sent this about a special web page for Paul O. Williams:

Paul was a faithful participant in the Shiki Monthly Kukai at haikuworld.org, sending us poems in fifty-three separate months over the past six years. We've posted a remembrance page, with his vote-fetching kukai entries here:

http://www.haikuworld.org/kukai/paul.o.williams.html

He will be missed by all of us at haikuworld,

Gary, Robert, Jennie, and George

Sad news - Paul O. Williams

I have some very sad news for you today. Paul O. Williams passed away on Tuesday, June 2nd. Please keep the Williams family in your thoughts and prayers. All I know at this time is that he had an aortic dissection.

I had the pleasure of meeting Paul at Haiku North America 2007 in Winston-Salem. We composed a rengay during a workshop conducted by Garry Gay. I had never written in the form and was a little nervous. I mentioned my apprehension to Paul MacNeil who said, "You've got Paul as a partner; you're in good hands." He was right.

Paul O. Williams put my mind at ease and, before the workshop was over, we penned our rengay. I offer it here as a tribute to my partner and friend.


Untitled

by: Curtis Dunlap & Paul O. Williams

(Composed on August 18, 2007 at Haiku North America 2007 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.)

river sand sifting
under our feet—
summer begins

election day soon
his district not at all sure

the days grow shorter—
sunlight undulating
under the bridge

deadheading day lilies
each morning
new ones bloom

from hand-to-hand sharing
an ice cream cone

new generation
of fruit flies
in the compost heap


Paul and I corresponded two or three times a month. He was a frequent visitor to Tobacco Road, occasionally offering suggestions. Paul is the reason that you now see a picture of the poet along with Haiku - Three Questions. He enjoyed seeing the people he was reading about.

We will miss you, Paul.

Haiku Guy & Haiku Chronicles

David Lanoue was interviewed by NHK Radio last month. Lanoue, who was in Japan promoting the Japanese translation of his novel, Haiku Guy, speaks about haiku and his haiku novels. The four part interview is linked below:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

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Haiku Chronicles is a new and interesting web site featuring Alan Pizzarelli and Donna Beaver.

Currently, there are two podcast available.

Episode 1: The Lost Tapes

Episode 2: Basho's Frog

Great work Alan and Donna! I look forward to Episode 3!

Neal Whitman - Three Questions

Neal Whitman lives in Pacific Grove, California and is a volunteer docent at the Robinson Jeffers Tor House in Carmel. He is a member of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society of San Jose, the Haiku Poets of Northern California, and the Haiku Society of America. His poems have been published in a dozen journals and he enjoys (gratis only) public recitations of his work, when possible with his wife Elaine who plays the Native American flute. They find combining verse & music brings poetry back to its origins.

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1. Why do you write haiku?

I write haiku because I am a “poetry professor” –– no, not in the sense of being an English professor, which I am not, but as someone who professes his beliefs. First, and foremost, I profess that poetry should and can be part of daily well-balanced diet. Haiku, with its taste of the season, certainly fits my idea of good nutrition. Second, I profess that poetry should be accessible to everyone and anyone. That does not mean dumbing down the written word. A little mystery is a good thing. But, confusion? Not my cup of tea. Oh, I have many other professions, but will stop with just one more: Everyone and anyone can write haiku. After all, experts built the Titanic, an amateur The Ark.

2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

I like other short poetic forms. For example, the fib is based on the sequence of numbers invented by the 12th century mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci. Begin with 0 and 1. Add them and you get 1. Now keep adding the last two numbers: 1 + 1 = 2; 2 + 1 = 3; and so on. The fib uses these for syllable counts per line: 0 (take a breath), 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8. The numbers go on for infinity and magically graph out the design of a sea nautilus, the seeds of a sunflower, the scales of a pinecone. Here is one of mine:


one

crack,

a flaw

no one saw

made my crystal ball

tell me what will be in the past


The Pedestal Magazine, January – March, 2009



3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?



cinnamon toast and tea
in our jim jams
Inauguration Day


New Verse News, March 9, 2009



cold day at the beach
a man casts his line
only twice


Simply Haiku, Summer 2009



abalone shells
in line by size ––
dip my pen in ink


Bear Creek Haiku, Summer 2009

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If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response (whether it be for haiku or tanka) to the three little questions that Neal answered. You must be a published poet in order to participate.

Carmen Sterba will be our guest next week.

A new issue of The Dead Mule

The June issue of The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature is online. This issue features Under Kentucky Skies, a chapbook of poems by Kevin Blankenship. Several works of fiction are also in this issue and, of course, it's always fun to read the Southern Legitimacy Statements.

Here's a short video of one of my poems that appeared in the March 2009 issue of The Dead Mule.

Richard Straw reads a haibun

Richard Straw speaks briefly about haibun then follows with one of his own haibun entitled Desert Places.

PoetTea Reading - Curtis Dunlap

Journal updates

The new issue of Lynx is available at http://www.ahapoetry.com/ahalynx/242hmpg.html

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The new issue of The Heron's Nest is available at http://theheronsnest.com/. Congratulations to Carlos Colón for being awarded the Editor's Choice poem.

Congratulations also to Yu Chang and Chad Lee Robinson for their runner-up poems.

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The premiere issue of Notes from the Gean is available at http://geantree.webs.com/contents.htm. Check out the Special Feature section. The tables have been turned on an inquisitive haijin. :)