Sunday, January 29, 2012

Tomislav Maretić - Three Questions

Tomislav Maretić lives in Zagreb with his wife Ana and four children. He has written haiku for the past 30 years. They have been nationally and internationally published in a number of haiku journals, magazines, anthologies and almanacs, as well as awarded in many international haiku competitions.

Poetry Collections:
The Boat in the Reeds (haiku, 1990)
Alluvium (free verse, 2002)
Butterfly Over the Open Sea (haiku, 2011)



1) Why do you write haiku?

I write haiku because it is the world's shortest poetry form and because I don't have much time for longer poetry. In addition, I find haiku to almost not be poetry at all, but instead touching of reality and poetry in reality. What I like with haiku is that is is poetry in Nature, and not in words.

2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

I'm open to all poetry forms, and I generally and particularly like various styles of imagistic poetry, either rhymed or free verse, as well as poetry by Croatian poets:  A.B. Šimić, Tin Ujević, Viktor Vida and Danijel Dragojević.

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



a child shakes off
the first snow from the swing –
quiet morning    

 (Ito en, 1991)


guests are coming –
are the petals to be swept
away from the paths?

(Sakura Award, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, 2006)


hot tea-pot
on the garden table –
camellias in haze        

(Vladimir Devidé Haiku Awards, runner-up, 2011)



If you are enjoying this series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response - whether it be for haibun, haiku or tanka - to the three little questions that Tomislav answered. You must be a published poet to participate.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Saturday updates

David Harris will read and discuss selections from Sea Trails by Pris Campbell during the live broadcast of Difficult Listening: the Poetry Show on Sunday, January 29, 2012 from 10:00 til noon Central time.  The program can be heard on 107.1 LPFM in the Nashville area, and via the website www.radiofreenashville.org.  Live video (and an archive) of the second hour, which includes poetry segments, should be accessible at http://tinyurl.com/24adsp9. or http://www.ustream.tv/discovery/recorded/all?broadcast=4654694

Here is a YouTube video of Pris reading from Sea Trails.




Richard Krawiec sent this:

World Poetry Day is having a series of events, the first being Feb. 29. I have been asked to co-ordinate something for NC. Founded in Medellin, Columbia, this organization comprises poets and poetry organizations in 131 countries. 210 poetic organizations, including 114 international poetry festivals, and 1,200 poets.

The plan here is easy to implement, can involve limitless number of poets and on-poets, and maximizes bringing poetry to the public.

It's this simple. Select a poem to read, one of yours, or one by some other poet, that in some way touches on the theme of inclusion. At 7am and/or 7pm wherever you happen to be, whatever you happen to be doing, stop what you're doing and read the poem.

After that it's up to you. You can simply put the poem away and continue what you're doing, or engage those around you - at the grocery store, in school, on the bus, talking on the phone, etc. - in a discussion of the poem and why you read it.

I need to collect names of those who wish to participate. So if you want to do this email me at rkwriter@gmail.com Put FEB 29 in the subject line. Thanks.
--
Check out my websites!

http://www.press53.com/BioRichardKrawiec.html

http://www.rkeditor.com/

http://jacarpress.com/index.html



The new issue of Lynx is online and ready for viewing at:

http://www.ahapoetry.com/ahalynx/271hmpg.html

Also available at the AHA Poetry web site is the Bare Bones School of Haiku, 14 lessons by Jane Reichhold on how to write haiku.



Yuki Teikei Haiku Society and Haiku Poets of Northern California will host Fifth Haiku Pacific Rim Conference (HPR) at Asilomar, Pacific Grove, CA.

Dr. Akito Arima, will be a keynote speaker.

I attach HPR flier. Thanks to generousity of Poetry Center San Jose, donation is tax deductable.

As you can read in the attachment and HPR website (http://haikupacificrim2012.wordpress.com), Dr. Arima is well-known physicist and former Minister of Education in Japan, too.    Since he is fluent in English (he taught physicics at State Univ. of New York at Stony Brook), this could be the once-in-lifetime event for many English-language haiku poets.

Also, if you know a corporation which can be HPR corporate sponsor, please let me know

1) name of the company
2) person in charge and hie/her title
3) postal address

HPR 2012 Committee prepared a separate letter for corporate donors.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

If you would like to know more about the event, please contact me.

Best regards,

Fay Aoyagi
faycom@earthlink.net
   or
fayaoyagi@gmail.com  



Scott Owens sent this:

Here is a flier for the entire 2012 Poetry Hickory schedule.  It should be a great year!  Help spread the news by posting this online or out in the real world wherever it might be seen and appreciated.

Hope to see you at every reading.

Thanks

Scott Owens
www.scottowenspoet.com
www.scottowensmusings.blogspot.com
www.poetryhickory.com
www.wildgoosepoetryreview.com
www.234journal.com
www.poetrycouncilofnc.wordpress.com



Hello All,

This is to remind you that the deadline for submitting your news for the spring issue of Ripples is February 1.  Thank you to the many of you who have already sent things to me.

As always, I hope the regional news updates will focus on the haiku-related events in your area. This is a great way for poets in other regions to get ideas for their haiku gatherings.  High quality photographs are also welcome.  Please include a note identifying those in the picture as well as the name of the photographer.

Other items to send to Ripples include contest submission guidelines, full contest results, conference announcements, new books and other publications, in memoriam notes, and any other news significant to HSA members.

Thank you!

Susan Antolin
Editor, Ripples: Haiku Society of America Newsletter



Robert Lee Brewer (editor of Writer's Digest) recently featured Scott Owens on his My Name Is Not Bob blog. Here is the link:

http://robertleebrewer.blogspot.com/2012/01/bending-rules-or-poet-has-to-be-poet.html



Snapshot Press  sent this:

This is the final call for entries to The Haiku Calendar Competition 2012.

Prizes totaling US$600 are on offer, and 52 haiku will be selected for inclusion in The Haiku Calendar 2013.

Entries may be sent by email or post, and must be emailed or postmarked by Tuesday January 31. Previously published haiku are eligible for entry.

Please see the entry guidelines for details:

http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/contests/thcc/entry_guidelines.htm



And finally, Susan Nelson Myers and I had the pleasure of judging a Poetry Slam in Winston-Salem last Thursday night. I strongly encourage Tobacco Road readers to attend a slam in your area. The creative energy at these readings is inspiring!

Here is a picture of Susan and me with slam master and organizer, Bob Moyer (on the right).


Here is a link to the Piedmont Slam web site.

And here is Taylor Mali reciting one of his poems at a slam event:

Friday, January 20, 2012

Friday updates

A new issue of Prune Juice has been released:Prune Juice Issue 7 Winter 2012


Scott Owens sent this:

POETRY COUNCIL ANNOUNCES ANNUAL WINNERS

The Poetry Council of NC, a self-supporting, all-volunteer nonprofit organization founded in 1949 to foster a deeper appreciation of poetry in the state, has announced the winners of its annual poetry contests.  Judges were permitted to select 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners as well as up to 3 honorable mentions in each contest category, with the exception of the book contest which has no 3rd place winner.  Some judges elected to name fewer winners.

All winners will receive their awards, including cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, at Poetry Day to be held at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory on April 14.  Winning poems will also be published in the Council’s annual awards anthology, Bay Leaves, and winning poets will be invited to read their poems at Poetry Day.  An additional category for Performance Poetry is judged and awarded at Poetry Day.  Information on any of the contests, Poetry Day, and the Poetry Council is available at www.poetrycouncilofnc.wordpress.com

The complete list of category winners and judges is as follows:

Oscar Arnold Young (book contest):
JUDGE: Paul Hostovsky, Medfield, MA & Ron Moran, Simpsonville, SC
  1st      The Swing Girl by Katherine Soniat, Asheville, NC
  2nd     Lie Down with Me by Julie Suk, Charlotte, NC
  HM    Rendering the Bones by Susan M. Lefler, Brevard, NC
  HM    An Innocent in the House of the Dead by Joanna Catherine Scott, Chapel
            Hill, NC

Gladys Owings Hughes Heritage (free verse):
JUDGE: Darnell Arnoult, Harrogate, TN
  1st      “Babies Hurtling Several Stories” by Ross White, Durham, NC
  2nd      “Daddy Imagines a Good Death” by JS Absher, Raleigh, NC
  3rd      “The Museum of Broken Things” by Jane Shlensky, Bahama, NC

Charles Shull (traditional poetry):
JUDGE: Paul Bone, Evansville, IN
  1st      “Facts about Early America” by Ross White, Durham, NC (rhyming couplets)
  2nd      “Basic Bad Day” by Peg Russell, Murphy, NC (terza rima)
  3rd      “Featured Reader” by Alice Osborn, Raleigh, NC (sestina)
  HM    “On a Recent Engagement” by Michael A. Moreno, Rockville, MD (sonnet)
  HM    “Water the Lover” by Ellen Summers, Greensboro, NC (sonnet)

James Larkin Pearson (free verse):
JUDGE: Felicia Mitchell, Emory, VA
  1st      “Address to Monarchs” by Ross White, Durham, NC
  2nd      “My Mother’s Lake” by Ann Campanella, Huntersville, NC
  3rd      “What Burns for Light” by Lisa Zerkle, Charlotte, NC
  HM    “Circumventing the Circumference” by Terry Collins, Mount Airy, NC
  HM    “Things Fall Out of My Father” by Robert Moyer, Winston Salem, NC
  HM    “The Lesbians Next Door” by Alice Osborn, Raleigh, NC

Ellen Johnston-Hale (humorous verse):
JUDGE: Gloria Alden, Southington, OH
  1st      “Where Time Does Not Fly” by Susan Spalt, Carrboro, NC
  2nd      “The Voice” by Barbara Brooks, Hillsborough, NC
  3rd      “Arctic” by Lisa Zerkle, Charlotte, NC
  HM    “Black Friday” by Doris Dix Caruso, Burlington, NC
  HM    “Patience” by Jane Shlensky, Bahama, NC
  HM    “I Think They Got It!” by Janet Ireland Trail, Greensboro, NC

Charlotte Young (elementary school):
JUDGE: David Roderick, Greensboro, NC
  1st      “Jupiter” by Sydney Campanella (home-schooled), Huntersville, NC
  2nd      “Light Saves Us” by Paige Morrison (North Forest Pines Elem.), Wake Forest, NC
  3rd      “Blue” by Joellen Callahan (North Forest Pines Elem.), Wake Forest, NC
  HM    “Doves” by Sonja Woolley (Episcopal Day School), Southern Pines, NC
  HM    “Nature Walk” by Lilly Corcoran (Episcopal Day School), Southern Pines, NC

Carol Bessent Hayman (middle school):
JUDGE: David Roderick, Greensboro, NC
  1st      “The Pledge of Sausage” by Devon Stocks (Clarkton School of Discovery), Clarkton, NC
  2nd      “Pumpkin Patch” by Kenneth More [sp?] (Clarkton School of Discovery), Clarkton, NC

Sam Ragan North Carolina Connection (high school):
JUDGE: Natasha Trethewey, Decatur, GA
  1st      "Lesson of the Lark" by Maggie Apple of North Guilford High School
  2nd      Jennifer Comerford of North Guilford High School

Scott Owens
www.scottowenspoet.com
www.scottowensmusings.blogspot.com
www.poetryhickory.com
www.wildgoosepoetryreview.com
www.234journal.com
www.poetrycouncilofnc.wordpress.com



Djurdja Vukelic-Rozic sent this link:




Sasa Vazic sent this link to the Autumn/Winter issue of Simply Haiku:

http://simplyhaiku.theartofhaiku.com/autumnwinter-2011.html



Here is a review of Ed Baker's Stone Girl E-pic.



Gabriel Rosenstock sent this:

Where Light Begins Haiku, the English-language haiku of Gabriel Rosenstock. This volume also
contains the ground-breaking essay, The Universal Spirit of Issa.

May be downloaded freely by your subscribers.

Best,

Gabriel



Susan Antolin sent this:

The Haiku Poets of Northern California have extended the deadline for the San Francisco International Rengay Contest to January 31, 2012.  There is still time to find a partner (or two!) and write some rengay before the deadline.  We look forward to receiving your entries!  The submission guidelines are as follows:

Rengay Submission Guidelines

All rengay must be titled. For two people (Poet A and Poet B) follow this linked format: 3 lines/Poet A, 2 lines/Poet B, 3/A, 3/B, 2/A, 3/B. For three poets (A, B, and C) the format is: 3 lines/A, 2 lines/B, 3 lines/C, 2/A, 3/B, 2/C. Type or print each rengay on three letter-size sheets. Include full authorship information, stanza by stanza, as well as all poets' names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses (optional) on one copy only. On the other two copies, mark stanzas with letters only (poet A, poet B, poet C) to indicate the sequence of authorship. Send rengay submissions to HPNC, c/o Fay Aoyagi, 930 Pine St. #105, San Francisco CA 94108.

The 2011 rengay judge is Renee Owen.

Entry Fee: $5 per rengay

Make checks or money orders payable in U.S. dollars to "Haiku Poets of Northern California (HPNC)." Cash (in U.S. currency) is OK. Enclose a business-size SASE (U.S. first class postage or an IRC) for notification of contest winners. No entries will be returned, with the exception of late submissions, or those received without payment. These will be returned using your SASE; without an SASE these entries will be discarded.

Thank you for participating in this year's contest.

If you have any questions, please contact Fay Aoyagi by e-mail (fayaoyagi@gmail.com)

http://www.hpnc.org



Charlotte Digregorio sent this:

Haikuists:

Just a reminder for those of you who are members: Our "Ripples" newsletter deadline is Feb. 1. If you have published haiku books, won awards, have given haiku lectures, etc., please let Editor Susan Antolin know, susantolin@gmail.com

Also, some of you have already RSVPed for the Saturday, Feb. 11 haiku meeting from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Winnetka (IL) Public Library, 768 Oak St., Winnetka. You might get inspired to  write some winter haiku for the meeting by checking out Michael Dylan Welch's website at
 http://sites.google.com/site/graceguts/haiku-and-senryu/traces-of-snow.

Also, if you are interested, there is National Haiku Writing Month. See http://sites.google.com/site/nahaiwrimo/home. (Most action takes place on an associated Facebook site -- currently with more than 600 active monthly users).

Charlotte Digregorio



Ed Baker sent this:

a set of new photos  -first set of thumb-nails at bottom - on my web-site
if you click the image  it enlarges!

http://edbaker.maikosoft.com/photos_2011/dsc_0641.jpg
the new photos at bottom, here:

http://edbaker.maikosoft.com/

here is that huge (4 ' x 8 ')  image of "She w Snake"
which is new version of what is on cover of 'She Intrudes':

http://edbaker.maikosoft.com/photos_2011/dsc_0633.jpg

there are many more pieces photographed in 3 other rooms not included here.

anyway

sure is a bonus   time-wise & intrusion-wise cutting way back on reading internet "stuff"
& only replying to letters/emails....& reading books .... again.

cheers, Ed



Another message from Scott Owens:

Clayton Joe Young and I have been collaborating on a series of photos and poems which will be on exhibit at the Bethlehem Branch of the Alexander County Library throughout February and March (reception from 5:30 - 7:00 on Feb 2) as part of "The Bethlehem Branch Library Exhibiting Artists Series", sponsored by the Bethlehem Friends of the Library and the Bethlehem Community Development Association.

He has also produced a book featuring the work of that collaboration. And it's beautiful -- thanks in large part to Joe's photos. It is 62 pages long and includes 29 of Joe's photos and 25 of my poems (13 of which are brand spanking new). It is called Country Roads: Travels Through Rural North Carolina. It would make a great gift or collectors' item. And is just a wonderful thing to look at. I, for one, can't stop staring at some of these photos.

It is also expensive (at least by my "poor poet's" standards). Which is why I've only ordered 10 paperbacks and 10 hardcovers to sell. I did get Joe to sign each copy, and I've signed them as well. If you'd like one, I would be glad to mail it out to you (my postage is a lot cheaper than the press's, and the ones you could get from them wouldn't be signed).

Paperbacks are $29.95; Hardcovers are $41.95. Add $4 for shipping and handling. Call me at 828-234-4266 to work out details, or mail a check to Scott Owens, 838 4th Ave. Dr. NW, Hickory, NC 28601, or I can give you paypal info if you want to go that route.

Here is a sample poem just to whet your appetite:

Without Affectation

What would you call it,
this color of the natural world,
brown leaves and dirt,
khaki-almost-blonde straw,
gray trunks of trees,
occasional green of moss and cedar,
all blended under winter's fast-moving,
blue-gray sky --
a muted impressionism --
charcoal, sepia, ochre,
memory, regret, contemplation --
a color your eyes try to filter out.


Or, you can preview the entire book at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2850653.
I hope to see you at the reception, and let me know if I can send you a book beforehand.

Scott Owens
www.scottowenspoet.com
www.scottowensmusings.blogspot.com
www.poetryhickory.com
www.wildgoosepoetryreview.com
www.234journal.com
www.poetrycouncilofnc.wordpress.com



Penny Harter's poem "Because a Volcano Has Erupted in Japan" appears in the just released anthology *Sunrise from Blue Thunder: Japan, Earthquake-Tsunami, March 2011" (c) Pirene's Fountain, 2011. Edited by Ami Kaye.The poems in this anthology honor the people of Japan as they try to rebuild their lives after these two disasters.

Her sonnet "Summer Ice" appears in the new anthology, *The Best of The Barefoot Muse," (c) 2011 Barefoot Muse Press. Edited by Anna M. Evans.

And four of her haiku and a haiku sequence appear in Aubrie Cox's blog anthology *The Language of Dragons*.
http://yaywords.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/the_language_of_dragons.pdf



And finally, my sincerest thanks to all who have started visiting my other blog, The Frugal Poet. Contact me if you have a poem and recipe to share.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Bouwe Brouwer - Three Questions

Bouwe Brouwer was born raised and is still living on reclaimed land in a small town in the Netherlands. He has been writing haiku since August 2008. Besides publications in magazines such as Whirligig, Simply Haiku, Shamrock, Modern Haiku, The Heron's Nest, Chrysanthemum, Blithe Spirit and Vuursteen he also enjoys sharing his haiku by means of small handmade haiku books. Trained as an illustrator/designer he later switched to working as a teacher at a primary school, which he still enjoys very much every day. At the end of this year his first solo book of haiku and haibun will be published by Max Verhart’s small press 't Schrijverke under the title: Messages from the past.



1) Why do you write haiku?

From an early age on I’ve always been interested in arts and creativity. So after high school I went to study fine arts and was trained as an illustrator/designer. But somehow painting, drawing and photography never seemed sufficient enough to express what I wanted to express. In 2008 I discovered haiku through Jack Kerouac’s writing and everything fell into place. Haiku just seems to suit me. I find haiku very challenging. Although restricted by limited space, the possibilities of haiku seem infinite. Not only concerning subject matter but also technique.

2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

I still enjoy reading different kinds of poetry and actually started reading poetry when I was a teenager. But I guess the biggest influence on my writing is music. The songs of musicians like Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Nick Drake, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Nina Simone still influence me to this very day. Besides haiku I enjoy writing rengay. I’ve been writing rengay on and off for almost two years now. Mostly with Marleen Hulst, an excellent Dutch writer. And I started writing haibun at the beginning of 2011. This opened a whole new range of possibilities for me and I find it a great adventure.

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

It’s hard to pick a top three, so I’ll chose three haiku that fit the season.

Christmas tree -
every year a little higher
her paper angel

Caribbean Kigo Kukai #30 - 1st place
Bouwe Brouwer: berichten uit het verleden / messages from te past. 't Schrijverke, Den Bosch (Netherlands) 2011


December fog . . .
taillights fade into
Christmas song

Simply Haiku January 2011
Bouwe Brouwer: berichten uit het verleden / messages from te past. 't Schrijverke, Den Bosch (Netherlands) 2011


dawn—
winter light slides into
my slippers

Polish International Haiku Contest - 3rd place. November 2011
Bouwe Brouwer: berichten uit het verleden / messages from te past. 't Schrijverke, Den Bosch (Netherlands) 2011



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

Monday, January 2, 2012

Monday updates


Now out from Modern Haiku Press.

Haiku 21: an anthology of contemporary English-language haiku
edited by Lee Gurga & Scott Metz
with an introduction by the editors
Perfectbound, 205 pages: over 600 haiku by more than 200 poets
Modern Haiku Press, 2011 (Lincoln, IL)
ISBN: 978-0-974189-45-1
$20 + $3 (shipping) in U.S.; $20 + $6 (shipping) in Canada; $20 + $12 (shipping) all other countries
URL: http://www.modernhaiku.org/mhbooks/Haiku21.html

In forms ranging from monostich to multilayer to interlinear spaces, Haiku 21 reveals a shift in haiku writing in English today. Along with typically haikuesque sensibilities come fleeting remarks, cosmic wonders, whimsies, dissonances, gritty and elegant meldings with nature, veritable koans. An eye-opening collection. —Hiroaki Sato

This is the most important anthology of English-language haiku to be published in decades. If you are curious to discover how this briefest form of literature has evolved in the 21st century into a novel and potent contemporary poetics, open this book! —Richard Gilbert



Here's a haiga video by Donna Beaver, Al Pizzarelli, and Anita Virgil:

 EPISODE 22: HAIGA GALLERY




Aubrie Cox sent this:

Dear friends,

Although many of you have already gotten wind of it via Facebook, I wanted to send out a semi-sort-of-kind-of official notice that the dragon/water/fire poems are now online!

http://yaywords.wordpress.com/projects/the-language-of-dragons/

But more importantly, thank you again for sharing your works with me and everyone else. I hope all of you are blessed with a warm, pleasant, and fruitful year!

Cheers,
Aubrie


Ray Rasmussen sent this:

Hi Curtis,

Please announce the new issue of CHO, just released. I think that you've already announced the December releases of Haibun Today, A Hundred Gourds and Notes from the Gean.

http://contemporaryhaibunonline.com/

And you may wish to consider announcing this haiku genre journal website. I just put together the list. I think that it's relatively complete, but there's also a spot for adding journals.

http://raysweb.net/haiku/pages/publicationvenues.html

Ray Rasmussen



Dear Sketchbook readers and writers:

The Nov/Dec 31, 2011 Issue of Sketchbook is now on-line:
Sketchbook: Vol. 6-6: November/December 31, 2011

Please consider contributing to the Haiku and Haiga New Year’s Festival site.

The November/December 2011 issue of Sketchbook features Poetry and Art from 68 writers living in 18 countries.

The Sketchbook editors send New Year’s Greetings to each of you. Submissions are open for the January / February 2012 Issue. Read the complete submission guidelines.

Sketchbook editors: Karina Klesko and John Daleiden
kk / jd
Poetrywriting.org/Karina Klesko/Director
www.poetrywriting.org: Sketchbook
Karina Klesko, Senior Editor
John Daleiden, Editor/Webmaster



Haiku and Tanka Harvest
Authored by Victor P Gendrano

Selected Haiku and Tanka poems, 2006-2011

A selection of over 200 haiku and tanka poems previously published in various online and print journals as well as book anthologies, written from 2006-2011.

Order Haiku and Tanka Harvest at the following URL:

https://www.createspace.com/3737478



Penny Harter shared this interesting essay entitled More than the Birds, Bees, and Trees: A Closer Look at Writing Haibun by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Poets.org also has a Poetic Forms & Techniques page.



Janak Sapkota sent this preview of his new book entitled Whisper of Pines.

Download the Whisper of Pines preview here.