Collin Barber lives in Marion, Arkansas, and works at a local hospital in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. He began writing haiku a few years ago, while spending hours on the banks of the Mississippi River reading the works of writers such as Richard Wright and Jack Kerouac.
He maintains a website of poetry at http://collinbarber.com.
1) Why do you write haiku?
I was hooked from the moment I discovered haiku. To me, there is a certain magic to a good one, and perhaps I enjoy the challenge of trying to create this myself.
2) What other poetic forms do your enjoy?
Naturally, I like tanka and haibun, but I also enjoy free verse poetry and sonnets. I must admit, however, that it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to write a free verse poem, because my attempts usually end up taking the shape of a haibun or tanka.
3) Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?
Deciding on my 'top three' was a difficult yet enjoyable challenge. What criteria does one use to do this? I suppose I chose these because I remember the moments so vividly:
autumn morning
I still have the tooth
I lost in my dream
Frogpond XXIX:3, autumn 2006
butterflies . . .
a child's name
set in stone
Modern Haiku 38.3, autumn 2007
honeymoon over my suntan peels
Frogpond XXX:1, winter 2007
Thanks, Curt.
If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response to the three little questions that Collin answered. You must be a published poet in order to participate.
Darrell Byrd will be our guest next week.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Alexis Rotella reading - Part 1
Here is part one of a reading I happened across of the lovely Alexis Rotella.
I'll post part two as soon as it's available.
I'll post part two as soon as it's available.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Publications, young haijin, and an interview
wind flow, the fourth chapbook from the Boston Haiku Society, has just been published featuring twenty-two poets from the Boston and New England region. Included in the perfect bound chapbook are examples of not only haiku and senryu, but haibun, tanka, haiga, and renku as well as a couple of sumi'e by the late Kaji Aso. It has been edited by Raffael de Gruttola, Karen Klein, and Judson Evans and features many new approaches to the poetic art form we love so dearly. Copies are $10. with $2.50 for postage and handling and can be ordered from Raffael de Gruttola, 4 Marshall Road, Natick, MA 01760.
Jack Fruit Moon, haiku and tanka by Robert D. Wilson (published by Modern English Tanka Press) is available from Lulu.com, major booksellers, and the publisher. Complete information and a mail or email order form are available online. Trade paperback price: $16.95 USD. ISBN 978-0-9817691-4-1. 204 pages, 6.00' x 9.00', perfect binding, 60# cream interior paper, black and white interior ink, 100# exterior paper, full-color exterior ink. Read the press release at Magnapoets.
The North Carolina Haiku Society received a special thank you message from Scott, a budding haijin in Mrs. Howell's fourth grade class at Arts Based Elementary School in Winston-Salem. NCHS member, Bob Moyer, has been teaching the students there how to write haiku. Scott and his classmates participated in their first public reading last month. Roberta Beary and Lenard D. Moore also read that night, capped off by a number of a cappella haiku by Fleur-de-Lisa.
It's comforting to know that a seed has been planted and a whole new generation of very talented poets are writing haiku.
Here is an interesting audio interview of Miriam Sagan. Sagan is a versatile writer, penning poems in a variety of styles including haibun, haiku, and tanka.
Jack Fruit Moon, haiku and tanka by Robert D. Wilson (published by Modern English Tanka Press) is available from Lulu.com, major booksellers, and the publisher. Complete information and a mail or email order form are available online. Trade paperback price: $16.95 USD. ISBN 978-0-9817691-4-1. 204 pages, 6.00' x 9.00', perfect binding, 60# cream interior paper, black and white interior ink, 100# exterior paper, full-color exterior ink. Read the press release at Magnapoets.
The North Carolina Haiku Society received a special thank you message from Scott, a budding haijin in Mrs. Howell's fourth grade class at Arts Based Elementary School in Winston-Salem. NCHS member, Bob Moyer, has been teaching the students there how to write haiku. Scott and his classmates participated in their first public reading last month. Roberta Beary and Lenard D. Moore also read that night, capped off by a number of a cappella haiku by Fleur-de-Lisa.
It's comforting to know that a seed has been planted and a whole new generation of very talented poets are writing haiku.Here is an interesting audio interview of Miriam Sagan. Sagan is a versatile writer, penning poems in a variety of styles including haibun, haiku, and tanka.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Publication notes, Lenard D. Moore and the HNA 2007 anthology
The new issue of LYNX: A Journal for Linking Poets is online and ready for viewing.
white lies: Red Moon Anthology 2008 is available from Red Moon Press. David Giacalone posted this message about the anthology on his f/k/a blog.
Lenard D. Moore had a beautiful poem published recently in The News & Observer. The poem is entitled Letterpoem, November 4, 2008.
I received my copy of Dandelion Wind today, an anthology of poems commemorating the 2007 Haiku North America conference held in Winston-Salem, NC last August. The anthology was edited by Michael Dylan Welch and Lenard D. Moore and contains several beautiful illustrations by Kate MacQueen. Here are a few poems:
deepening autumn
the strawman's smile
tightens
--Carlos Colon
losing myself
in purple heat
...hydrangea blossoms
--Roberta Beary
wrought-iron lamppost
tangled in ivy
evening light
--L. Teresa Church
teakettle whistle
on the way to the stove
she touches his knee
--Bob Moyer
The anthology also includes a poignant haiku by the late Bill Higginson:
after the Leonids
a falling leaf sets
the grassblade quivering
--William J. Higginson
white lies: Red Moon Anthology 2008 is available from Red Moon Press. David Giacalone posted this message about the anthology on his f/k/a blog.
Lenard D. Moore had a beautiful poem published recently in The News & Observer. The poem is entitled Letterpoem, November 4, 2008.
I received my copy of Dandelion Wind today, an anthology of poems commemorating the 2007 Haiku North America conference held in Winston-Salem, NC last August. The anthology was edited by Michael Dylan Welch and Lenard D. Moore and contains several beautiful illustrations by Kate MacQueen. Here are a few poems:
deepening autumn
the strawman's smile
tightens
--Carlos Colon
losing myself
in purple heat
...hydrangea blossoms
--Roberta Beary
wrought-iron lamppost
tangled in ivy
evening light
--L. Teresa Church
teakettle whistle
on the way to the stove
she touches his knee
--Bob Moyer
The anthology also includes a poignant haiku by the late Bill Higginson:
after the Leonids
a falling leaf sets
the grassblade quivering
--William J. Higginson
Sunday, January 25, 2009
John McDonald - Three Questions
John McDonald is a retired stonemason living in Edinburgh, Scotland. He came to haiku in the mid-nineties, falling in love with the genre. He writes:
"I write my haiku in Scots, one of the two languages native to Scotland (the other being the Celtic rooted Gaelic). I had two publications released last year, The Throu-Gaun Chiel and Tuim Tin Tassie and another set for release in 2009."
John maintains a blog at http://zenspeug.blogspot.com/.
1) Why do you write haiku?
I don't wish to sound mystical but I don't write them as much as they find me. I will go out walking seeking some inspiration and something will impinge itself on my retina or in my subconsciousness and will not let me alone until I sit with it and a haiku is born - maybe there and then or maybe years later. The world wants to be heard and I think that's where we haijin come in - a space for that still small voice.
2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I love all poetic forms, but only write haiku. I am terrifically excited by gendai haiku and any similar contemporary form although, when writing, it depends on what is required: the subject may simply want a simple statement, but when it wants an expression in surrealist terms I am thrilled.
3) Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?
Like all writers I find this difficult as every poem is like a child and having favourites is difficult, but I think the best idea is to pick three that others have enjoyed.
Award winner 10th Annual Suruga Baika Literary Festival:
skreich o day —
licht muives athort
the boo o the aipple
dawn —
light moves across
the curve of the apple
(published in The Throu-Gaun Chiel)
Museum of Literature Award: Blithe Spirit:
laicher an laicher
the daffins' heids
i the weet
lower and lower
the daffodils' heads
in the rain
(published in The Throu-Gaun Chiel)
winner Haiku Ireland Kukai 1:
a skein o geese —
het
on the howe's haunle
a skein of geese —
warmth
on the hoe's handle
(published in The Throu-Gaun Chiel)
Thanks again Curtis. As a life-long fan of country blues and New Orleans jazz, it's been a thrill to have been allowed to stroll down Tobacco Road
aye John
If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response to the three little questions that John answered. You must be a published poet in order to participate.
Collin Barber will be our guest next week.
"I write my haiku in Scots, one of the two languages native to Scotland (the other being the Celtic rooted Gaelic). I had two publications released last year, The Throu-Gaun Chiel and Tuim Tin Tassie and another set for release in 2009."
John maintains a blog at http://zenspeug.blogspot.com/.
1) Why do you write haiku?
I don't wish to sound mystical but I don't write them as much as they find me. I will go out walking seeking some inspiration and something will impinge itself on my retina or in my subconsciousness and will not let me alone until I sit with it and a haiku is born - maybe there and then or maybe years later. The world wants to be heard and I think that's where we haijin come in - a space for that still small voice.
2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I love all poetic forms, but only write haiku. I am terrifically excited by gendai haiku and any similar contemporary form although, when writing, it depends on what is required: the subject may simply want a simple statement, but when it wants an expression in surrealist terms I am thrilled.
3) Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?
Like all writers I find this difficult as every poem is like a child and having favourites is difficult, but I think the best idea is to pick three that others have enjoyed.
Award winner 10th Annual Suruga Baika Literary Festival:
skreich o day —
licht muives athort
the boo o the aipple
dawn —
light moves across
the curve of the apple
(published in The Throu-Gaun Chiel)
Museum of Literature Award: Blithe Spirit:
laicher an laicher
the daffins' heids
i the weet
lower and lower
the daffodils' heads
in the rain
(published in The Throu-Gaun Chiel)
winner Haiku Ireland Kukai 1:
a skein o geese —
het
on the howe's haunle
a skein of geese —
warmth
on the hoe's handle
(published in The Throu-Gaun Chiel)
Thanks again Curtis. As a life-long fan of country blues and New Orleans jazz, it's been a thrill to have been allowed to stroll down Tobacco Road
aye John
If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response to the three little questions that John answered. You must be a published poet in order to participate.
Collin Barber will be our guest next week.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Basho, Coorte, Bly, and Burns
Norbert Blei, proprietor of Basho's Road, posted an intriguing excerpt from Art is: The Audacity of Still Life, an article by Benjamin Moser published in the February 2009 issue of Harpers Magazine. There is an interesting comparison in the works of still-life artist Adriaen Coorte and poet Matsuo Basho.
Parts of the Old North State experienced the season's first significant snowfall last Tuesday, blanketing areas with an almost "still-life" yet moving quality best described in a poem that appeared in today's offering of The Writer's Almanac:
I'll close with an interesting article published in the Christian Science Monitor entitled Scotland turns to 18th-century poet for economic stimulus.
Parts of the Old North State experienced the season's first significant snowfall last Tuesday, blanketing areas with an almost "still-life" yet moving quality best described in a poem that appeared in today's offering of The Writer's Almanac:
Snowfall In The Afternoon
by Robert Bly
I
The grass is half-covered with snow.
It was the sort of snowfall that starts in late afternoon,
And now the little houses of the grass are growing
dark.
II
If I could reach down, near the earth,
I could take handfuls of darkness!
A darkness that was always there, which we never
noticed.
III
As the snow grows heavier, the cornstalks fade farther
away,
And the barn moves nearer to the house.
The barn moves all alone in the growing storm.
IV
The barn is full of corn, and moving toward us now,
Like a hulk blown toward us in a storm at sea;
All the sailors on deck have been blind for many
years.
"Snowfall In The Afternoon" by Robert Bly, from Eating the Honey of Words: New and Selected Poems. © Harper Flamingo, 1999.
The grass is half-covered with snow.
It was the sort of snowfall that starts in late afternoon,
And now the little houses of the grass are growing
dark.
II
If I could reach down, near the earth,
I could take handfuls of darkness!
A darkness that was always there, which we never
noticed.
III
As the snow grows heavier, the cornstalks fade farther
away,
And the barn moves nearer to the house.
The barn moves all alone in the growing storm.
IV
The barn is full of corn, and moving toward us now,
Like a hulk blown toward us in a storm at sea;
All the sailors on deck have been blind for many
years.
"Snowfall In The Afternoon" by Robert Bly, from Eating the Honey of Words: New and Selected Poems. © Harper Flamingo, 1999.
I'll close with an interesting article published in the Christian Science Monitor entitled Scotland turns to 18th-century poet for economic stimulus.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Poetry while you do your laundry
Here's an interesting video clip, proof that poetry readings can occur anywhere.
Haiku, Senryu, Tanka, and Rengay contest
2009 San Francisco International Competition
Haiku, Senryu, Tanka and Rengay
Sponsored by:
Haiku Poets of Northern California
Deadlines for
Haiku, Senryu, and Tanka: In hand, October 31, 2009
Deadlines for
Rengay: In hand, November 30, 2009
Details
All entries must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. There is no limit to the number of submissions. A first prize of $100 will be awarded in each of the four categories. For the Haiku and Rengay contests, second and third prizes of $50 and $25 will be awarded. Contest results will be announced at the first HPNC meeting in January and in the HPNC Newsletter. Winning poems will be published in the Spring/Summer issue of Mariposa, the membership journal of the HPNC. All rights revert to authors after the contest results are announced. This contest is open to all except the HPNC president and, for their respective categories, the contest coordinators and the judges (who will remain anonymous until after the competition, except rengay contest).
Haiku, Senryu, and Tanka Submission Guidelines
Type or print each entry on two 3 x 5 cards. In the upper left corner of each card identify its category as Haiku, Senryu, or Tanka. On the back of one card only, print your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address (optional). The entry fee is $1.00 per poem. Send haiku, senryu and tanka submissions, along with entry fee, to HPNC, c/o John Thompson, 4607 Burlington Place, Santa Rosa, CA 95405.
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. The entry fee is $5.00 per rengay. 2009 rengay judge will be Billie Wilson. Send rengay submissions to HPNC, c/o Fay Aoyagi, 930 Pine St. #105, San Francisco CA 94108.
Entry Fees
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)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
A haiku game and a reading
Dave Russo has an interesting post over at the North Carolina Haiku Society's blog about a haiku computer game.
There will be another tea tasting, haiku reading in Winston-Salem. Here are the details:
February 7th, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
PoetTea (a haiku reading and tea tasting)
Golden Flower
612 N. Trade Street
Winston-Salem, NC.
If you are in the area, please drop by. We had a wonderful time at the last reading/tasting.
There will be another tea tasting, haiku reading in Winston-Salem. Here are the details:
February 7th, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
PoetTea (a haiku reading and tea tasting)
Golden Flower
612 N. Trade Street
Winston-Salem, NC.
If you are in the area, please drop by. We had a wonderful time at the last reading/tasting.
A list of contest
Angelee Deodhar sent this list of upcoming contest:
J. Franklin Dew Award
Cash prizes totalling $US100 for a series of 3-4 haiku on a single theme. Winners announced on April 22 and posted to the Poetry Society of Virginia's website.
Closes: Postmarked January 19.
Cost: $US4/poem. No e-mail entries.
Full details from the website (category 12).
Lyman Haiku Award
Cash prizes totalling $US50. Limit 1 poem. Winner will receive a copy of Pinesong, and be invited to read at the North Carolina Poetry Society Awards Day meeting. Winner will be notified in April.
Closes: January 20.
Cost: Free if an NCPS member, otherwise $US3/poem.
Full details from the website.
Kikakuza Haibun Competition
Kikakuza is a group of haikai (linked-verse) poets founded in 2005 in honour of Kikaku (1661-1707), Basho's celebrated disciple. The contest will be judged by Nobuyuki Yuasa and Stephen Henry Gill and results announced in the Kikakuza Bulletin and on its homepage. There is a 30-line limit to entries (and 80 spaces per line!) with at least 1 haiku included.
Closes: January 31.
Cost: Free for those living outside Japan.
Send entries to Kikakuza (c/- Kifuu Futagami) 117-1 Nakogi, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan 257-0024.
For full details see this website.
Anita Sadler Weiss Memorial Haiku Award
Cash prizes totalling $US300. Limit of 15 haiku. Winners will be named in April and poems published in The Dragonfly, newsletter of the Haiku Poets of Central Maryland.
Closes: January 31.
Cost: $US1/poem
Full details from the website. Last year's winners, and judges' comments, here.
Biennial British Haiku Society Haibun Anthology
Entries must be between 100 and 2000 words long, including haiku. Entries on disk (floppy or CD, in Word format) are preferred. It is anticipated that the anthology will be published by Christmas 2009. All those whose work is included will receive 1 copy of the anthology.
Closes: In hand February 1.
Cost: £6/$US12 for a single haibun, £3/$US6 for each additional haibun.
Full details from the website.
Moonset Competition
Separate categories for haiku, senryu, tanka, renku, haibun and haiga. Prizes of subscriptions to moonset. Winners notified by March 1, and results published in the [northern] spring/summer issue.
Closes: In-hand February 1.
Cost: $US2/ poem
For full details see the website where you can pay online and enter by e-mail.
Pinewood Haiku Contest
Cash prizes totalling $US175. Winners will be published in the April issue of Wisteria. Limit of 3. No e-mail entries.
Closes: February 14.
Cost: $US2/poem or 3 poems for $US5.
Full details from the website.
Betty Drevniok Award
Cash prizes totalling $C175. Winners announced in May with top 11 poems published in a Haiku Canada Sheet and distributed with the Haiku Canada Anthology.
Closes: February 14 (postmarked).
Cost: $C5 (in Canada)/ $US5 (outside Canada) for up to 3 haiku.
For a copy of the broadsheet with winning haiku include a business-size SAE and $US1 for postage. Full details from the website.
Ito En Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest
Cash prizes (in yen), green tea products and inclusion in an anthology. Winning haiku will appear on Oi Ocha product packaging from August; results announced in July. Entrants are encouraged to "express themselves freely". Limit of 6 haiku.
Closes: February 28.
Cost: Free. E-mail via the website.
Full details here.
Free XpresSion Haiku Contest
Cash prize for best single haiku of $A100; 1 sheet of 4 haiku is deemed to be 1 entry. Winners published in Free XpresSion. No name or contact details to appear on the poems, only the entry form.
Closes: February 28.
Cost: $A5/ sheet of 4 haiku; $A25/ 6 sheets.
For full details, entry forms and instructions on how to pay entry fee from outside Australia, e-mail editor Peter Pike or write to PO Box 4, West Hoxton, NSW 2171, Australia.
Jack Stamm Haiku Award
Cash prizes totalling $A175 with a competition anthology (1 copy free to each author selected). Results will be published in paper wasp in June, and the anthology in August. Haiku not to have been published on the internet.
Closes: March 1.
Cost: $A10 (from within Australia)/ $A12 (from NZ if paid in Australian currency)/ $US10 for each sheet of 3 haiku.
Full details from this website.
Robert Spiess Memorial Award
Cash prizes totalling $US175 and copies of Bob's books. Limit of 5 haiku on the theme of "speculation". Winning entries will be published in the (northern) summer issue of Modern Haiku and posted on the website.
Closes: In hand March 13.
Cost: $US1/haiku.
Full details from the website.
UkiaHaiku Festival
An annual festival dedicated to haiku in Ukiah, California. There are 2 categories of interest to overseas entrants: Traditional Haiku (5-7-5), and Contemporary Haiku Adult (free form). Limit of 3 poems per entrant per category. Awards will be presented at the April 29 festival.
Closes: March 17 (postmarked).
Cost: Traditonal - free; Contemporary - $US5/haiku or $US10/2-3 haiku.
Full details from the website.
Robert Frost Poetry Festival Haiku Contest
Cash prizes totalling $US175. Limit of 3 poems, 3-line haiku only.
Closes: March 23 (postmarked).
Cost: $US10/3 haiku.
Full details from the website.
True Vine Summer Chapbook Contest
Cash prize of $US20, plus 20 copies of the chapbook. Send 8-12 haiku/senryu on the theme of summer (previously published poems acceptable). The chapbook will be available from June. No e-mail entries.
Closes: March 30.
Cost: Free.
Full details from the website.
Haiku Magazine Contest
Limit of 6 haiku. Results will be published in the (northern) spring/summer issue of Haiku magazine and winners and selected others in an anthology.
Closes: March 31.
Cost: Free.
Full details from this website.
Mildred Kanterman Memorial Merit Book Awards
For excellence in published haiku, translation, and criticism. Cash prizes totalling $US650. A list of winners will be published in Frogpond and the HSA website. Books must have been published in 2008 and clearly must contain a printed 2008 ©. An author or publisher may submit more than one title.
Closes: In hand by March 31.
Cost: Free.
Full details from the website.
Kaji Aso Studio Contest
For haiku, senryua, tanka, haiga and "concise" haibun. Cash prizes totalling $US450, plus the Elizabeth Searle Lamb Memorial Prize of $US50. The top 13 poems will be published in Dasoku.
Closes: April 15 postmarked.
Cost: $US2/ 2 International Reply Coupons per poem. It is also possible to enter by text message.
For full details see the website.
Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar Contest
Cash prizes totalling £300. Twelve haiku will be picked as monthly winners; 40 others will be runners-up. All will be published. Haiku should include a seasonal word or activity. Results announced on June 30.
Closes: April 30.
Cost: £2.50/$US5/haiku; £5/$US10/3 haiku; £10/$US20 up to 10 haiku.
Full details (including advice on seasonal words, how to assign months and to see past winners) from the website.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Darko Plazanin has passed away
Carole Macrury notified me of this very sad news:
Dear Curtis,
This announcement just came in from Tomislav Maretic in Croatia. Darko Plazanin was well known in many countries, including people in our own. Some of us, including myself, participate in the Samobar Haiku Meetings through publication in their yearly anthology.
Tomislav Maretic's words:
Darko Plazanin passed away today.
A sad day - for Croatian haiku and for all of us who were his friends...
after the storm
a boy wiping the sky
from the tables
Ehime Prefecture first prize
1990 National Cultural Festival
Darko Plazanin
Samobor, Croatia
A longer bio of this remarkable poet is located at:
http://www.worldhaiku.net/poetry/si/d.plaznin/d.plananin.htm
Please join me in extending our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Darko Plazanin.
Dear Curtis,
This announcement just came in from Tomislav Maretic in Croatia. Darko Plazanin was well known in many countries, including people in our own. Some of us, including myself, participate in the Samobar Haiku Meetings through publication in their yearly anthology.
Tomislav Maretic's words:
Darko Plazanin passed away today.
A sad day - for Croatian haiku and for all of us who were his friends...
after the storm
a boy wiping the sky
from the tables
Ehime Prefecture first prize
1990 National Cultural Festival
Darko Plazanin
Samobor, Croatia
A longer bio of this remarkable poet is located at:
http://www.worldhaiku.net/poetry/si/d.plaznin/d.plananin.htm
Please join me in extending our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Darko Plazanin.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Two Publication Notes
Angelika Wienert informed me that the WHC-German Winter Issue 2009 is online. Here are a couple of poems from this issue.
Stumme Wirbel ...
im Schneetreiben
sich selbst verlieren
silent twirls ...
to lose oneself
in the blowing snow
Marion Naumann D`Alnoncourt
im zarten neuschnee
der schlurfende schuhabdruck
vom kranken nachbarn
in delicate snow
the shuffling footmark
of the sick neighbour
Gabriele Brunsch
Browse over to the WHC-German Winter Issue 2009 web site to read the many other fine poems.
On a belated note, Issue 3 of Magnapoets arrived in my mailbox last week. This is the anniversary issue of a journal that includes/accepts haiku, senryu, tanka, longer forms of poetry, and short stories. Here are three poems from this poetry-packed issue:
Mahlerfest
free public library
concert, symphony and
singers, two hours of
Gustav Mahler and a
reception for everyone,
then through sliding
glass doors into bitter
winter weather . . .
moments of
so much more
than this homelessness. . .
-- ayaz daryl nielsen
spring cleaning
we neaten the piles
of junk
-- Liam Wilkinson
after driving for hours
I lie down
holding a pool
of the Atlantic Ocean
in my belly button
--Collin Barber
This issue also features the Pushcart Prize nominations. Subscription and submission information is available at http://www.magnapoets.com
Stumme Wirbel ...
im Schneetreiben
sich selbst verlieren
silent twirls ...
to lose oneself
in the blowing snow
Marion Naumann D`Alnoncourt
im zarten neuschnee
der schlurfende schuhabdruck
vom kranken nachbarn
in delicate snow
the shuffling footmark
of the sick neighbour
Gabriele Brunsch
Browse over to the WHC-German Winter Issue 2009 web site to read the many other fine poems.
On a belated note, Issue 3 of Magnapoets arrived in my mailbox last week. This is the anniversary issue of a journal that includes/accepts haiku, senryu, tanka, longer forms of poetry, and short stories. Here are three poems from this poetry-packed issue:
Mahlerfest
free public library
concert, symphony and
singers, two hours of
Gustav Mahler and a
reception for everyone,
then through sliding
glass doors into bitter
winter weather . . .
moments of
so much more
than this homelessness. . .
-- ayaz daryl nielsen
spring cleaning
we neaten the piles
of junk
-- Liam Wilkinson
after driving for hours
I lie down
holding a pool
of the Atlantic Ocean
in my belly button
--Collin Barber
This issue also features the Pushcart Prize nominations. Subscription and submission information is available at http://www.magnapoets.com
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Marjorie A. Buettner - Three Questions
Marjorie A. Buettner lives and writes in Minnesota. Her new collection of haiku and tanka is entitled Seeing It Now, published by Red Dragonfly Press. Marjorie's most recent journal publication credits are: Contemporary Haibun Online, Modern English Tanka, American Tanka, Simply Haiku, Ribbons, Gusts, Modern Haiku, and Frogpond. Her work has appeared in the following anthologies: Landfall, Ash Moon Anthology, Fire Pearls, Short Masterpieces of the Human Heart, County Roads, and The Tanka Prose Anthology. She also writes book reviews for moonset, Gusts, and Modern Haiku.
1) Why do you write haiku?
In Records of a Travel-Worn Satchel, Basho calls that special something inside which calls us to poetry a "wind-swept spirit." It is a deep calling and it seems I have been carried by this wind all of my life.
2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I love to write tanka, sijo, haibun and sedoka; each form depends upon the needs of the moment as long as you see, as the Sufi poets say, "with the eyes of the heart".
3) Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?
dark of the moon
the flavor of the hive
in the honey
(Third Place, Kusamakura International Haiku Competition, 2006)
winter rain —
finding that part of silence
which speaks to me
(Honorable Mention, Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award, 2005)
as if we could
change our lives . . .
summer moon
(Honorable Mention, Suruga-Baika 5th Literary Festival Award, 2003)
If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response to the three little questions that Marjorie answered. You must be a published poet in order to participate.
John McDonald will be our guest next week.
1) Why do you write haiku?
In Records of a Travel-Worn Satchel, Basho calls that special something inside which calls us to poetry a "wind-swept spirit." It is a deep calling and it seems I have been carried by this wind all of my life.
2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I love to write tanka, sijo, haibun and sedoka; each form depends upon the needs of the moment as long as you see, as the Sufi poets say, "with the eyes of the heart".
3) Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?
dark of the moon
the flavor of the hive
in the honey
(Third Place, Kusamakura International Haiku Competition, 2006)
winter rain —
finding that part of silence
which speaks to me
(Honorable Mention, Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award, 2005)
as if we could
change our lives . . .
summer moon
(Honorable Mention, Suruga-Baika 5th Literary Festival Award, 2003)
If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response to the three little questions that Marjorie answered. You must be a published poet in order to participate.
John McDonald will be our guest next week.
moonset has a new web address
moonset has launched a new web site. Browse over to http://www.moonset-newspaper.com and check out the new look.
Submission guidelines are located on this page. Subscription information is available on this page.
Submission guidelines are located on this page. Subscription information is available on this page.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Lenard D. Moore recites haiku
Continuing our series of haiku readings, I present to you the current president of the Haiku Society of America, Lenard D. Moore.
I could have shortened the video a little, but Lenard's smile at the end is priceless.
I'd also like to thank Slap Johnson for giving me permission to use the wonderful saxophone riff at the beginning of the reading.
I shot this video with my very portable Flip Camcorder.
I could have shortened the video a little, but Lenard's smile at the end is priceless.
I'd also like to thank Slap Johnson for giving me permission to use the wonderful saxophone riff at the beginning of the reading.
I shot this video with my very portable Flip Camcorder.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Contest, Journal, and Haiku Mastery
Angelee Deodhar sent in this information about The 20th Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest.
A new issue of Sketchbook is online and ready for viewing.
Merrill Gonzales sent a link to this video of editor, poet, and Red Moon Press publisher, Jim Kacian, discussing haiku mastery. Jim's talk is part of a much larger documentary by Tazuo Yamaguchi entitled Haiku: The Art of the Short Poem. The film and book combo is available for purchase at Brooks Books.
Jim Kacian on Haiku Mastery
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Ryokan video & a free verse poem
Don Wentworth, proprietor of the always entertaining and informative Issa's Untidy Hut, has posted an intriguing video that contains a poem by Ryokan. I suppose you could call it a video haibun. The video is at the end of this post.
It's been ninety days since my free verse poem, Wheel Jammin', was published in the Christian Science Monitor. According to the contract I signed, rights revert back to me which means I can publish my poem on my web site or blog.
Wheel Jammin'
tapping bongo rhythms
on our steering wheels,
grooving to saxophone riffs,
jazz,
setting the morning mood,
sun brighter, breeeeeze cooler,
all stoplights green;
for four minutes of radio time,
the lady in my rear-view mirror
isn't a soccer mom in a mini-van
and I'm not lost in an Olds,
no,
we are lovers
of a smoooooth jazz song,
bobbing our heads
like bobblehead dolls,
wheel jammin' and smiling our way
through Hillsborough, North Carolina
--Curtis Dunlap
This poem was inspired by something I witnessed last April while driving to the North Carolina Haiku Society's annual Haiku Holiday. And for those of you curious as to what song was playing, I present via YouTube, the beautiful and lovely Sade:
It's been ninety days since my free verse poem, Wheel Jammin', was published in the Christian Science Monitor. According to the contract I signed, rights revert back to me which means I can publish my poem on my web site or blog.
Wheel Jammin'
tapping bongo rhythms
on our steering wheels,
grooving to saxophone riffs,
jazz,
setting the morning mood,
sun brighter, breeeeeze cooler,
all stoplights green;
for four minutes of radio time,
the lady in my rear-view mirror
isn't a soccer mom in a mini-van
and I'm not lost in an Olds,
no,
we are lovers
of a smoooooth jazz song,
bobbing our heads
like bobblehead dolls,
wheel jammin' and smiling our way
through Hillsborough, North Carolina
--Curtis Dunlap
This poem was inspired by something I witnessed last April while driving to the North Carolina Haiku Society's annual Haiku Holiday. And for those of you curious as to what song was playing, I present via YouTube, the beautiful and lovely Sade:
Monday, January 12, 2009
Honoring Nick Virgilio
This just in from Ellen Compton:
Hello all,
The following letter invites you to an event honoring poet Nick Virgilio in the 20th year after his death. Attached are directions to the site of the event, with a map of campus on which it takes place. Please help to pass the invitation along.
Cheers,
Ellen Compton
Regional Coordinator
HSA Mid-Atlantic
Dear friends,
Nearly twenty years ago, on January 3, 1989, we lost a national treasure with the death of Nick Virgilio -- Camden resident and internationally renowned haiku poet. In the years since his death, the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association, formed to foster his legacy, has learned just how deeply his poetry and persona have influenced school children and poets laureate, other haiku poets and members of his Camden community from neighbors to high ranking elected officials.
We invite you to join with us as we celebrate – in our personal and collective stories and poetry, critical reflections and artists’ interpretations of Virgilio’s haiku – the gift of his life and art to all of us!
Nick first discovered haiku when he found Kenneth Yasuda’s Pepper Pod at the Rutgers Library in 1962. Nick transformed himself from disc jockey and sports broadcaster to an early master within the American haiku movement. In the process, he touched many lives. His voice was heard on NPR, as a regular commentator on Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon in the 1980’s. At home he taught haiku in the schools, volunteered at Sacred Heart Church in Camden and was the poet in residence at the Walt Whitman Poetry Center when it was founded in 1976.
Renowned poet and critic Cor van den Heuvel called him “…one of America’s most loved haiku poets.” Fr. Michael Doyle said: “He was pure flame in a battered city, a spark in a dark place.”
Your participation in this event will help the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association to preserve his legacy for future generations, support teaching haiku in the schools, and further creative projects, including a possible one-man play, based on his life and art.
*Please reserve your place ($10 per person) today by calling (856) 365-0136 after 6PM, or by sending an e-mail to: Nick.Virgilio.Haiku@gmail.com
Warm regards,
Hello all,
The following letter invites you to an event honoring poet Nick Virgilio in the 20th year after his death. Attached are directions to the site of the event, with a map of campus on which it takes place. Please help to pass the invitation along.
Cheers,
Ellen Compton
Regional Coordinator
HSA Mid-Atlantic
Dear friends,
Nearly twenty years ago, on January 3, 1989, we lost a national treasure with the death of Nick Virgilio -- Camden resident and internationally renowned haiku poet. In the years since his death, the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association, formed to foster his legacy, has learned just how deeply his poetry and persona have influenced school children and poets laureate, other haiku poets and members of his Camden community from neighbors to high ranking elected officials.
We invite you to join with us as we celebrate – in our personal and collective stories and poetry, critical reflections and artists’ interpretations of Virgilio’s haiku – the gift of his life and art to all of us!
Sunday January 25th, 2009 from 2PM – 5PM
Rutgers University Campus Center, Camden New Jersey
Tickets are $10, but seating is limited.
Reserve your place now!*
Rutgers University Campus Center, Camden New Jersey
Tickets are $10, but seating is limited.
Reserve your place now!*
Nick first discovered haiku when he found Kenneth Yasuda’s Pepper Pod at the Rutgers Library in 1962. Nick transformed himself from disc jockey and sports broadcaster to an early master within the American haiku movement. In the process, he touched many lives. His voice was heard on NPR, as a regular commentator on Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon in the 1980’s. At home he taught haiku in the schools, volunteered at Sacred Heart Church in Camden and was the poet in residence at the Walt Whitman Poetry Center when it was founded in 1976.
Renowned poet and critic Cor van den Heuvel called him “…one of America’s most loved haiku poets.” Fr. Michael Doyle said: “He was pure flame in a battered city, a spark in a dark place.”
Your participation in this event will help the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association to preserve his legacy for future generations, support teaching haiku in the schools, and further creative projects, including a possible one-man play, based on his life and art.
*Please reserve your place ($10 per person) today by calling (856) 365-0136 after 6PM, or by sending an e-mail to: Nick.Virgilio.Haiku@gmail.com
Warm regards,
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