Sunday updates

 A Hundred Gourds

A Hundred Gourds now has a temporary webpage where you will find the basic submission guidelines and information.

There is also an opt-in facility for those who would like to receive news and updates.

http://ahundredgourds.haikuhut.com/

We welcome your submissions of haiku, tanka, haibun, haiga and articles/ essays relevant to the haikai genre for the March 2012 issue until the submissions closing date of December 15th, 2011.

Though the url for the inaugural issue in December will change slightly, the site will remain available via this link as well.

A big thank-you to Mike Rehling, who is generously hosting A Hundred Gourds.

- Lorin Ford, haiku editor
 for the editorial team
A Hundred Gourds

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Journal of Renga & Renku 

Many thanks to all who entered this year's JRR Renku Contest. In total we received 52 poems from 29 sabaki (lead poets) in 11 countries on four continents, which I believe is a record number of entries for any non-Japanese renku contest. Our judge, the renowned renku poet and editor Eiko Yachimoto, is now reading the entries. The winning poem will be published, together with a detailed critique, in the next issue of Journal of Renga & Renku, to appear at the end of 2011. All entries will be considered as content for inclusion in the journal.

The editors
Journal of Renga & Renku
http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/

Follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/journal.of.renga.renku

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Ed Baker sent the following URL:

http://poemsandpoetics.blogspot.com/2011/10/ed-baker-three-excerpts-from-stone-girl.html

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J. Zimmerman sent this:

Wild Violets

The just-published Wild Violets (the 2011 Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Annual Haiku Anthology) is a labor of love, full of haiku, haibun, and essays about modern haiku practice: a great gift book.

It showcases selected haiku by 57 poets (including Kevin Goldstein-Jackson, Christopher Herold, Deborah P. Kolodji, Patricia J. Machmiller, Michael McClintock, Patricia Prime, Billie Wilson, and Teruo Yamagata) from the USA, Europe, New Zealand, and Japan.

Ten informative essays explore the practice of haiku in a wide sense, suggesting ways that readers might add to their haiku toolkit. The first three essays concern our core tools:

    "Kigo: A Poetic Device in English Too" by Patricia J. Machmiller;
    the saijiki, as in Anne M. Homan's "The Task of Writing a Sajiki;" and
    the ginko, adapted to the "Urban Ginko" by Deborah P. Kolodji.

Other essays include "Haiku with Very Few Verbs" by Jerry Ball, "Haiku … Zen—What's the Diff?" by Christopher Herold, and "Gendai Haiku: Why Should We Care?" by Patrick Gallagher.

Selected micro-haibun are for nine of the poets.

The anthology's title is from a haiku by Patricia J. Machmiller:


   the little child
   wanting only to be held—
   wild violets

Edited and introduced by Jerry Ball and J. Zimmerman, the anthology's poems and text are enhanced by Ann Bendixen's powerful yet elegant art. Judith Morrison Schallberger designed the anthology and Harry Lafnear designed the cover.

Wild Violets is available pre-paid by check made out to Yuki Teikei Haiku Society (YTHS) of $12 plus p&p ($5 USA; $10 for Canada, Mexico, or Europe; $12.00 for Asia, Australia, and New Zealand). Include your mailing address with your payment to: YTHS Treasurer, 6116 Dunn Avenue, San Jose, CA 95123, USA.

Printed at Patson's Press, Sunnyvale (September 2011) Wild Violets is 70 pages plus folding inserts; 6" x 9". Glossy art covers; perfect bound. ISBN 978-0-9745404-9-8.

Our editors' introduction can be read at:
http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/haiku/anthology.yuki.teikei.htm#2011

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Roberta Beary's The Unworn Necklace was recently reviewed on Basho's Road.

The Unworn Necklace is available at Amazon.com.

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Penny Harter sent this:

I was invited by the Unitarian Church to give the morning message on August 21st. My topic was using writing, specifically poetry, to move from loss and grief into healing and light. I spoke of my several journeys  through loss and grief (divorce, death of my parents, and loss of my husband) and incorporated a number of my poems. My talk was about 1/2 hour long, and they posted it on their web site. To see it, please go to:

http://www.uucsjs.org/sermons.html and scroll down to August 21st.

I'm moved to post this today because today, October 11th, is the third anniversary of my husband Bill Higginson's death.It was a privilege to share my journey with the congregation. I offer another message on November 21st, this one on honoring the planet. I'll share poetry that focuses on the natural world----poems that witness what we've done to harm the Earth, and poems that celebrate its beauties and gifts. I'll post a link to that one too if they video it.

[I've also embedded Penny's video here.]

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Let's close this update with a little flute music this beautiful Sunday morning: