Monday updates

Pamela A. Babusci sent this update:

MOONBATHING

A JOURNAL OF WOMEN'S TANKA

EDITOR
Pamela A. Babusci

Moonbathing Issue 6 is now accepting submissions. I have additional copies of Moonbathing issue 5. If you wish to purchase a copy(ies) please e-mail me.

Moonbathing will publish two issues a year: Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Moonbathing will feature only women poets. Send a maximum of 10 tanka per submission period. Submission deadlines:

Spring/Summer: In-hand Deadline:  May 15th spring/summer themes or non-seasonal only

Fall/Winter: In-hand deadline:  Dec. 15th

fall/winter theme or non-seasonal only
No previously published tanka or simultaneous submissions; no tanka that has been posted on-line on a personal website/blog.

SUBMISSION ADDRESSES:

Send your tanka IN THE BODY OF AN E-MAIL to: Pamela A. Babusci:  moongate44(at)gmail(dot)com PLEASE NO ATTACHMENTS. E-mail submissions ONLY.

I hope that all tanka poets who have their work accepted will support Moonbathing by purchasing a copy or a subscription. If Moonbathing is to survive it will need your support and I will be most grateful for it.

DONATIONS MOST WELCOME
DISCLAIMER:

Moonbathing does not assume liability for copyright infringement or failure to acknowledge previously published tanka.

COPIES/SUBSCRIPTIONS:

Subscriptions: $12 for one year (two issues) U.S. and Canada; $6 for single issue. International: $16
(two issues) $8 single issue U.S. dollars; send US cash or international M.O.—payable to Pamela A. Babusci to: Moonbathing Editor
150 Milford Street Apt. 13 Rochester, NY  14615-1810  USA    PLEASE NOTE: I will be moving into a new apt. by the end of May, so, please check with me for my new address before mailing me-thanks!

The Editor of Moonbathing is looking forward to receiving your best tanka. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail Pamela A. Babusci moongate44(at)gmail(dot)com

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Babusci, Editor of Moonbathing

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M. Kei sent this update:

Keibooks Announces Atlas Poetica 11 : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka

Press Release – For Immediate Release – Please post to all appropriate venues

15 March 2012 – Perryville, Maryland, USA

Today Keibooks releases Atlas Poetica 11, the latest issue of the highly regarded journal. Atlas Poetica continues its tradition of focussing upon a topic of particular interest in the field of tanka, kyoka, and gogyoshi poetry in English. This issue emphasizes responsive tanka--sequences written by two or more authors in a 'call and response' fashion. Includes a nonfiction article by Dr. Carmella Braniger, several examples of responsive tanka, and a review of a collection of responsive tanka. As always, it publishes individual tanka, kyoka, and gogyoshi, tanka prose and sequences, book reviews, announcements, and other items of interest.

Contributors to ATPO 11 include:

Alexis Rotella, André Surridge, Autumn Noelle Hall, Bob Lucky, Brendan Slater, Brigid Fayers, Bruce D. Reed, Bruce England, Carmella Braniger, Charles Tarlton, Christina Nguyen, Claire Everett, David Edwards, Dawn Bruce, Eric Greinke, Gary LeBel, Gary Severance, Genie Nakano, Ignatius Fay, Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah, James Won, Jenny Ward Angyal, Johannes S. H. Bjerg, John Daleiden, Kath Abela Wilson, Laura Maffei, Leslie Ihde, Lisa Tibbs, Lorne Henry, Lucas Stenland,Luminita Suse, M. Kei, Margaret L. Grace, Magdalena Dale, Marilyn Hazelton, Marilyn Humbert, Mary Hind, Mel Goldberg, Melissa Allen, Mike Montreuil, Mira N. Mataric, Nancy Ellis Taylor, Natalie Perfetti, Neal Whitman, Oprica Padeanu, Owen Bullock, Patricia Prime, Peggy Castro, Pravat Kumar Padhy, Raquel Bailey, Randy Brooks, Rodney Williams, S. M. Abeles, Sherry Steiner, Sonam Chhoki, Steven Carter, T. J. Edge, Taro Aizu, Terry Ingram, Tessa J. Wooldridge, Tish Davis, Tracy Davidson, William Cullen, Jr.

Purchase direct from the printer at: <https://www.createspace.com/3776889>

or at Amazon.com or your favorite online retailer.

Keibooks
P O Box 516
Perryville, MD 21903

AtlasPoetica.org

--
M. Kei
Editor, Atlas Poetica
A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka

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Donna with Haiku Chronicles sent this update:

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=c8a43a56321fd4f4f97df3f7d&id=8a95cfe9ee&e=1307b4d6a5

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Richard Krawiec sent this update:

Thought you might like to have this link to the Frank Stasio show The State of Things, which featured a chilling monologue by Jeff Alguire, an argument scene between a mother and adult daughter featuring Jessicia Hieroniums and Christine Rogers, and discussion of my play Creeds by director Paul Paliyenko.

http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/Creeds.mp3/view?searchterm=creeds

The first two nights the audiences have been great, and the cast outstanding.  Ticket sales are good but I'm sure there will be walk-ups available every night.(It is March Madness time)  If you can, go on a Friday or Saturday, when Anya Russian opens the show with a stunning Dance Overture. It only runs through April 1, Thursday through Sunday, at Common Ground Theater in Durham.

--
Come see my controversial play, CREEDS, March 22 - April 1
Common Ground Theater, Durham
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/224259

Check out my websites!

http://www.press53.com/BioRichardKrawiec.html
http://www.rkeditor.com/
http://jacarpress.com/index.html

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Michael Dylan Welch sent this update:

U.S. Postage Stamp with Tanka Translation Released March 24

Michael Dylan Welch is pleased to announce that he and Emiko Miyashita have a waka (tanka) translation appearing on the back of a U.S. postage stamp, in an edition of 15,000,000 copies, that will be released on March 24, 2012. You can read more about the stamp at the United States Postal Service website (https://store.usps.com/store/browse/uspsProductDetailMultiSkuDropDown.jsp?productId=S_468240&categoryId=promo_CherryBlossomCentennial). The translation, shared below, is from their 2008 artbook, 100 Poets: Passions of the Imperial Court (https://sites.google.com/site/graceguts/translations/hyakunin-isshu) (Tokyo: PIE Books). This “forever” stamp celebrates the 100th anniversary of the cherry trees in Washington, D.C.

ひさかたのひかりのどけき春の日にしづ心なく花の散るらん
hisakata no hikari nodokeki harunohi ni shizugokoro naku hana no chiruran

紀友則

Ki no Tomonori (c.850–c.904)

the light filling the air
is so mild this spring day
only the cherry blossoms
keep falling in haste—
why is that so?

Translated by Emiko Miyashita and Michael Dylan Welch

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Ray Rasmussen  sent this update:

Contemporary Haibun Online 8:1 April 2012 -> Celebrating its 8th Year

http://contemporaryhaibunonline.com/

Haibun Today 6:1 March 2012 -> A New Look and New Editorial Staff

http://haibuntoday.com/

A Hundred Gourds 1:2 March 2012 -> AHG A Second Solid Issue

http://ahundredgourds.com

Notes from the Gean  3:4 March 2011 -> Read it Like a Book!

http://notesfromthegean.com/

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Sasa Vazic sent this update:

Hi Curtis,

May I kindly ask you to publish this announcement?

DON'T FORGET TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK TO HAIKU REALITY. THANK YOU !

http://haikureality.webs.com/indexeng.htm

Sasa Vazic, Editor

Thank you and best wishes,
Sasa

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And finally:

The Frugal Poets will sample two recipes sent by contributors to The Frugal Poet: Recipes and Poems for Lean Times anthology/cookbook today. Even though we have an October 31, 2012 deadline, Susan and intend to sample every recipe so please don't delay. The sooner you contribute, the quicker we can cook. Please send a poem, a personal history of the recipe (what it means to you) and a recipe.

Complete guidelines are available at the following URL:

http://www.frugalpoet.com/p/call-for-submissions.html

Monday updates

A new issue of Notes from the Gean is available. Colin Stewart Jones sent this:

Hi Curtis,

Could you please post this for your readers? I have included User Instructions for those who are unfamiliar with the flip format.

NftG 3:4 is on the stands

http://notesfromthegean.com/

There are too many great works to mention individually but thank you all for your contributions and support.

The new flip format works on all browsers and platforms and devices. We have an interactive table of contents and full search facility. Readers also have the option to print, download, or add annotations

Enjoy!

Colin Stewart Jones
Editor-in-Chief
Notes from the Gean

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Charlotte Digregorio sent this:

Hello, Haikuists,

Attached is the press release for Haikufest to be held Saturday, April 28, in Skokie, IL. We hope a lot of haikuists/aspiring haikuists will join us!

Members (family and friends) can RSVP to me. The public will RSVP to the Library.

We have ten readers so far, and I'd really like to nail down a definite number soon.

I think three more readers will be plenty, and I'll cut it off at that.

Generally, each reader can read three published haiku (or haiku accepted for publication) in a haiku journal/haiku anthology. If you have had more than three haiku published or accepted for publication, please read no more than four haiku. Remember, HSA members only.

 If you have any questions about this requirement, please contact me.

Also, readers should introduce themselves and briefly state how they discovered haiku, why they write it, and what inspires them to write (or something else that they feel is relevant).

Please read each haiku slowly and twice, since they are short and we want the audience to grasp them.

Thanks!

Charlotte Digregorio
Midwest Regional Coordinator
Haiku Society of America

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Karina Klesko sent this:

Hello Curtis Dunlap,

Would you be so kind as to place this Haiku announcement on your Tobacco Road Blog:

The Second Showcase Haiku Haijin (SHH) Contest.  The theme is any Spring Kigo.  For complete details see this link:

Second Showcase Haiku Haijin (SHH) Contest

http://poetrywriting.org/SketchbookAnnouncements/Sketchbook_7-1_JanFeb_2012_Announcement_April_20_2012_Sketchbook_SHH_Contest_2.htm

Thank you Curtis

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

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Richard Krawiec sent this:

I'm hoping you can  come see my play CREEDS at Common Ground March 22 - April 1(link below). It's based on the story of Bonnie and Robert Hanssen. He was an Opus Dei Catholic who became a double agent for the Russians.  The cast is killer, led by Lori Mahl(Actors Equity) who made a career for several decades in NYC. She was actually onstage with Carol Channing and Tyne Daly. Also starring Jeff Alguire(Best Actor Award 2011 The Independent).  Even the minor roles are filled with seasoned performers from Playmakers, REP, Burning Coal, and Manbites Dog.

Let me know if you can make it and I can arrange you a friends discount. See the link below

richard
--
Come see my controversial play, CREEDS, March 22 - April 1
Common Ground Theater, Durham
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/224259
--
Check out our website - Poetry contests coming up.

http://www.jacarpress.com/

http://www.rkeditor.com/

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Theresa Williams has a new haibun chapbook entitled The Galaxy to Ourselves. Details are available at the following URL:

http://thegalaxytoourselves.yolasite.com/

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Norman Darlington sent this:

http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/index.php/journal-of-renga-renku/products-page/

JRR2 is live! 278 pages of Poetry, Essays, Translations and Commentaries - that's almost 100 pages more than our last issue - Issue 2 of Journal of Renga & Renku is on sale now. Just $19.95 for the first month before we revert to the cover price of $25.

This issue includes:
— Essays from Chris Drake, H. Mack Horton, John Carley, Jeremy Robinson, Charles Tomlinson, Dylan McGee, Jeffrey Angles and Molly Vallor.

— A solo shisan by Nobuyuki Yuasa marks the anniversary of the devastating tsunami and earthquake that struck Japan one year ago.

— 47 poems including 30 shisan, and the results and judge's commentary of the 2011 JRR renku contest adjudged by Eiko Yachimoto, in which four poems placed, four received Honourable Mentions, and ten more were critiqued/appreciated in part.

— And much, much more...

Purchase JRR2 here: http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/index.php/journal-of-renga-renku/products-page/

Preview the Table of Contents and Editorial here: http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/index.php/journal-of-renga-renku/preview-issue-2/

Journal of Renga & Renku is listed with the Bibliography of Asian Studies and the MLA International Bibliography

Ralf Bröker - Three Questions

Ralf Bröker was born in Ochtrup, Germany, in 1968. He has worked as a pr-writer in Frankfurt am Main and Dortmund. With his family, he returned to the Münsterland as a journalist and pr-consultant. His first poetic work was published in 1986. He started reading haiku, senyru and haibun in 2007 and began writing them in 2008. Ralf is a member of the German Haiku-Society. His work has appeared in German and English language haiku journals including Sommergras, Chrysanthemum, Sketchbook, Asahi Haikuist Network and The Mainichi Daily News. Ralf's eBook “Seine Blätter” was published in Haiku heute. He is the editor for Haiku from German Tongues, Kukai 2010 and a Facebook-group called haiku-like.

---

1) Why do you write haiku?

Haiku has become the hiking song melody of my life. It helps me watch the world and it carries my mindfulness. Haiku gives me pencil, paper and words to notice my here and now. It enables me to deal with my past and to be curious about the future. In rare moments my haiku are more than I am; it allows other people to get to know me a bit. Of course, I don’t see and can’t find my way most of the day. But I am not afraid: I hope to be a whistling haiku pupil for the rest of my life.


2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

I like to read all kind of lyrical poems. A good poem makes me dream - and sometimes leads me into nightmares. It shows me a world – and examines my inside. Aside from haiku I love haibun. Its prose technique and haiku spirit open a story, a thought, a feeling, so much more to readers.


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

Wonderful? Many? A very few times a wonder has found its way into my words and shines into a reader’s mind. My primary merit was not to disturb …


mist--
the sound of a fast car
becomes light

Mainichi Daily, 1/6/2010



Snowflake in my hand
if I was dead
it would stay

Asahi, 1/15/2010



cherry tree park
everything pink
on the front page

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Haiku Invitational 2011

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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 Ralf answered. You must be a published poet to participate.

One quick update

Norman Darlington forwarded this email from Stephen Gill:

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 16:30 (G.M.T.), repeated SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 23:30 (G.M.T.)


B.B.C. RADIO 4, ‘THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DISASTER ZONE’

In Japan, this becomes March 12 (Mon.), 01:30 and March 18 (Sun.), 08:30. Listen live here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/bbc_radio_fourfm or listen during the week at your own convenient time on the i-player here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/radio . Go to the A-Z strip and see if the programme is there under N for ‘Narrow’ (or type ‘Narrow Road’ in the search box at top right). The 28-minute feature should be available on that site for listening for at least one week; maybe more.

The programme is about a recent visit to Tochigi, Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures in the north of Japan, tracing part of haiku poet Basho’s Oku no Hosomichi route as much as possible, but presenting a contemporary, hopefully somewhat poetic, account of the present situation there. I proposed this feature to the BBC back in April last year, but they took forever to commission it, which meant we had to travel at the coldest time of year. It was tough. Because of time constraints, the producer, Julian May, who escorted me with a microphone through Tohoku (a la ‘Sora’), has been putting the thing together without a bona fide script, although we did manage to agree on a rough running order of many of the takes. I could not write the script before we went, and was given no time to write it afterwards. In fact, I had to present ‘live’ in the field and come up with poems on the spur of the moment! Anyway, I did a lot of research before we left, so some classical Japanese haiku and tanka poems should be in there, too. I also interviewed and translated several contemporary Tohoku poets’ work. Fingers crossed that it works and that the wonderful people we met up there shine, even via their voice-overs! A great deal of material had to be left out, but has been 'archived' for possible future use. The BBC describe the programme thus... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01d26qk .

If you wish to donate money to a group that will use it well, might I suggest It's Not Just Mud http://itsnotjustmud.com/cant-volunteer-donate/ , with whom Julian and I squeezed in a day of work. You can see some photos of the trip on my Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.244391975643866.58666.100002191964463&type=3 .

I hope you enjoy the programme.

Best regards,

Stephen (Tito)

Wednesday updates

Scott Owens sent this update:

Hi, all,

Just a quick reminder that next Tuesday (3/13) is the next Poetry Hickory.  At 4:00, Maureen Sherbondy will lead a workshop on using art as inspiration for writing.  Then at 5:30 we will have Open Mic readings from Bill Mills, Kim Teague, and Patricia Deaton and featured readings from Maureen and Malaika King Albrecht.  Visit www.poetryhickory.com for more detail on our featured writers and Maureen's workshop.  The workshop, by the way, is only $10, and I still have several slots open for anyone interested in participating.

As always, Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse in downtown Hickory will host us, and Main Street Rag will sponsor us.

Looking ahead a bit, in case you haven't heard, at 6:00 on March 20, Taste Full Beans is also hosting a Book Release Party for my new book, For One Who Knows How to Own Land.

Call me (828-234-4266) or email me with questions.

Scott also sent this:

Hey, Curtis,

I hope you can join me for the Book Release Party for my new book, For One Who Knows How to Own Land, at 6:00 on Tuesday, March 20, at Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse in downtown Hickory.  I will bring wine and snacks.  I'll read a little, talk a little, and hopefully sell and sign a few books.  The new one will be $15.

My other books will also be on sale as follows:
Country Roads $20
Something Knows the Moment $10
The Nature of Attraction $5
Paternity $10
The Fractured World $10

Everybody is welcome, so bring friends.

A flier with more details about the new book is attached.

Hope to see you there.

Scott Owens

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

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Billie Wilson sent this:

Hello Haiku Folk,

Just a friendly reminder that the in-hand deadline is fast approaching for The Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Awards for 2012.  I think this year's theme is especially intriguing and look forward to how it will be interpreted by haiku poets in their entries:

"Haiku have three forms or manifestations: the written, which enters the eye; the spoken, which enters the ear; and the essential . . . which enters the heart." [Prompted in part by a passage by Sa'in al-Din ibn Turkah.] (from A Year’s Speculations on Haiku by Robert Spiess and published by Modern Haiku Press, 1995).

Guidelines are at Modern Haiku's website: http://www.modernhaiku.org/spiesscontest2012.html

All the best,
Billie

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Charlotte Digregorio sent this:

Hello, Haikuists:

Please see the attachment, and let me know how many of you plan to attend, including your family/friends, so I can pass this information along to the Library. The Library wants Patrons and The Public to RSVP directly to them, but I will provide them with our numbers.

Thanks.

Charlotte

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Katikati Haiku Contest

Hello,

I would be grateful if you could post/share information about this year’s Katikati Haiku Contest, a contest that is held only every 2 years. All proceeds from the contest go towards the Haiku Pathway project in Katikati, the largest collection of haiku “stones” outside Japan.

For the pathway’s 10th anniversary in 2010, 10 new poem boulders were added to the collection ... plus one more, thanks to a surprise gift from the local council. Members of Katikati Lions are now investigating a project to extend the pathway upstream, which will include new poems added to the outdoor gallery.

Please find a page of information about the contest here:
http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/katikaticontest2012

Many thanks for your help,
Sandra Simpson
secretary, Katikati Haiku Pathway Focus Committee

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Penny Harter sends the following:

I spent this past week as author-in-residence at St. Mary of the Lake School in Medford, NJ. (As you can tell, the woman in the photo below is not of me but of another author who also visited the school.)

You will find a photo, feature article about my and her visits to the school, and a very brief video clip of me teaching haiku (stressing that all 5-7-5 verses are not haiku) to 4th grade at:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/author-in-residence-a-highlight-of-read-across-america-week/article_f6cf06ac-5b6a-506c-b2e8-a046b4102ada.html

I worked with both 4th and 7th grades, and they wrote haiku, haibun (wonderful haibun which I will encourage the 7th graders to submit), and various prose and verse pieces in response to the Hubble Space Telescope photos.
_____________________________

Author-in-residence a highlight of Read Across America week
www.phillyburbs.com

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Rick Black sent this update:

Dear Curtis,

We are pleased to let you and the haiku community know that the winner of the 2012 Turtle Light Press Haiku Chapbook Contest is Graham High's "The Window That Closes."  It was an especially difficult job this year to pick a winner as so many of the manuscripts were of a high caliber. An honorable mention was taken by Duro Jaiye's "There Was a Time."

TLP plans to publish the winning manuscript in Spring/Summer 2013. We are also going to do an e-anthology to highlight some of the wonderful haiku found in so many of the entries and will let you know when it's up. Here's a link to the full announcment: http://www.turtlelightpress.com/2012-tlp-haiku-chapbook-competition-winner/

Many thanks to all of the contestants who entrusted their poems to us and, of course, to you for sharing the news!

Sincerely,

Rick Black and Kwame Dawes
Judges, TLP 2012 Haiku Chapbook Competition

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Susumu Takiguchi sent this:

WHC NEWS 01 March 2012

WORLD HAIKU REVIEW

Re: Call for Submissions for the Next Issue

Dear Kuyu,

The next issue of World Haiku Review (WHR) is planned for Spring 2012 (end March or early April).

As for haiku poems in English or in English translation, send in by e-mail anything you like, traditional or non-traditional on any topic, free or formal style, kigo or muki, up to ten poems which have not been published or are not considered for publication elsewhere to both: kalaramesh8@gmail.com AND susumu.takiguchi@btinternet.com Please use the font "Ariel", size 12 and present your haiku in the simplest and most straightforward format, all starting from the left margin, avoiding fanciful layout and formation. Please do not forget to write your country with your full name. Suggested themes: Life and late winter and/or spring scenes

The only criterion for selection is quality. Please therefore send in your finest works as soon as you can.

For this issue the deadline is Sunday 25 March. So, please hurry. We ourselves will put selected haiku poems in either the Neo-classical, Shintai (or new style) or Vanguard sections according to their characteristics. You, as the writer, therefore need not worry abouth this classification. Just send what happens to come out best and we will do the rest.

As for other works relating to haiku (haibun, articles, essays, haiga or bookreviews on haiku etc.), just send in whatever you think would deserve publication in WHR. Once again, quality is the key.

If you have books which you wish to be reviewed, send a review copy to me.

I will mention some indications about our selection below for those who may be interested to know them. (For detailed explanation, visit the Editorial of WHR August 2011 at: http://sites.google.com/site/worldhaikureview2/whr-august-2011)

We wish to continue to endeavour to present a unique haiku magazine which, while deeply rooted in tradition, is full of new ideas, innovative features or critical views. It will continue to aim at the highest standards and top quality as always.

Kengin to all,

Susumu Takiguchi
Managing Editor and Acting Editor-in-Chief, World Haiku Review
Chairman, The World Haiku Club

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Thursday updates

The new issue of A Hundred Gourds online. Haiku editor, Lorin Ford writes:

A Hundred Gourds 1:2 is now online

Issue 1:2 of A Hundred Gourds: a quarterly journal of haiku, haibun, haiga tanka and renku poetry is now online.

http://ahundredgourds.com

In this issue Ray Rasmussen introduces a feature on ‘The Graphic Haibun of Linda Papanicolaou’. You’ll find AHG’s first renku section, as well as haiku, tanka, haiga and haibun, an essay on the ‘New Junicho’ renku, an interview with Peter Yovu and reviews of three haiku books.

In response to suggestions from our readers and for your ease in locating haiku, tanka and renku poems by author’s name, AHG has now established an index of poets for these sections. This index has also been applied retrospectively to the AHG 1:1 haiku section.

A Hundred Gourds welcomes your submissions to the June Edition, Issue 1:3.

The deadline for all submissions to AHG 1:3 is March 15th.

--
Lorin Ford, haiku editor,
for the Editorial Team
A Hundred Gourds

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The March issue of The Heron's Nest is online:

http://theheronsnest.com/

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Charlotte Digregorio sent this update

Hello, Haikuists:

I have some more details about Haikufest to be held from 2 to 3:30 p.m., Saturday, April 28 at Skokie Public Library, 5215 Oakton St., Skokie, IL.

In general, there will be a brief presentation on haiku to begin the program. Following this, we hope there will be wide participation on the part of Haiku Society members reading their work. Next, there will be time for question and answers from the audience directed to individual readers, or to the moderator about haiku, in general.  We will finish the program with an audience haiku contest.  First, Second, and Third Place Winners will receive copies of "Frogpond."

After the program, we will meet at a restaurant within a few blocks of the Library. This, of course, is optional. Non-members are welcome to join us, too. This will be followed by a Ginko walk (nature walk to inspire haiku writing). The Ginko will be held in Vernon Hills,  and Lidia Rozmus has graciously volunteered to lead it. To end the day, we will have coffee at Lidia's home.

As for Haikufest at the Library, so far, these HSA members are scheduled to read: Lidia Rozmus, Amelia Cotter, Mac Greene, John Han, Tom Chockley, Alicia Hilton, Joanne Crofton, and Tomoko Hata.  We hope more people will read, even HSA members outside the Midwest Region who may find themselves in the Chicago area. Any member who has had three or more haiku published or accepted for publication in a haiku journal or in "Ripples" newsletter may read. Please RSVP as soon as possible and let us know if you plan to read. If you have any questions about your eligibility to read, please contact me.

Once we've nailed down how many readers there will be, we will let them know the maximum number of haiku they may read. Those who read should begin by briefly introducing themselves. They may state, for example, why they like to write haiku, what inspires them to write it, or anything they feel is relevant. We have many interesting members from diverse backgrounds, so we will inspire the audience to start writing haiku, I'm sure.

Last year at Haikufest, we had more than 50 people in the audience, unrelated to members. This year, if you bring friends and family, we will get many more.  In our press release to the media and writer's organizations, etc., we will state that attendees may bring a haiku to the program to enter in the contest, or they can write one during the program when they receive inspiration from the readers.

We'd like to have a few volunteers to help sign in people who attend. It's always good to follow up with attendees and put them on our email list. And, we'd also like to have a few volunteers to help judge the audience haiku contest.

Please contact me with questions or to volunteer. Since we are volunteers, we greatly appreciate your help. And, it's a great way to feel part of the HSA community and network with other friendly members.

Thank you so much. We look forward to seeing everyone!

Charlotte Digregorio
Midwest Regional Coordinator
Haiku Society of America

---

Charlotte also passed this along:

Call for Words and Art

A Midnight Snack

Call for words: Poems suitable for late night reading. Poems must be no longer than 56 lines (including lines between stanzas) and no more than 60 characters (including spaces between words) per line. Submit up to three poems by Word attachment to: arlyn@poeticlicenseinc.net.

Call for art: Cover art related to theme. Submit up to three pieces of art by pdf or jpeg, to arlyn@poeticlicenseinc.net.

Regarding line should read: Submission – A Midnight Snack.

E-mail cover letter should include: (1) poet’s or artist’s name as you would like it to appear; (2) e-mail address; (3) street address; (4) title of each poem or piece of artwork submitted; and (5) brief statement of what keeps you awake at night or what you do when you can’t sleep (no x-rating, please).

Poems and artwork must NOT include identifying information such as name, e-mail address, or street address.

Previously published work is fine provided author/artist retains publication rights. Note prior publisher for acknowledgement.

Submission Deadline: May 1, 2012


Notification of Acceptance by August 1, 2012 by e-mail. Poets and artist whose work is selected will receive one contributor’s copy as sole remuneration. Additional copies will be available for purchase.

Submission shall constitute: (1) representation that the submission is original work and that the creator retains publication rights, and (2) agreement that if the work is accepted for publication, (a) Poetic License Press may, in its sole discretion, publish and promote the work in any medium or forum, and (b) the sole remuneration is one contributor’s copy of A Midnight Snack.

Poetic License Press is an affiliate of Poetic License, Inc.


PO Box 279, Glencoe, Il 60022

poticlicenseinc.blogspot.com
poeticlicensepress.blogspot.com
arlyn@poeticlicenseinc.net

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And finally, Tomislav Maretić sent the link below. The deadline is today, March 1st so hurry if you're going to submit:

http://librasia.iafor.org/haiku.html

Sunday updates

Helen Losse has a new book of poems available entitled Mansion of Memory. Please buy a copy. The profits go to Bright Futures Joplin Tornado Fund. The cost is $11 (plus $2 postage). Visit Helen's blog or the Mansion of Memory Facebook page for ordering information. Here is a poem from the book:

In the Days Of the Pinkest Shades Of Clover

We climbed the lookout tower,
hugged a branch of the Mulberry Tree,
ate purple berries,
sat barefoot stringing beads

on a blanket in the yard
under watchful nose of Mrs. Ross’s
maid, then dripped chocolaty
pudding pops, cooled our-
selves in the water from the hose
or the wading pool,
where Michael leaned to swim—

knit together, purled to a daisy chain,
living our days in the pinkest shades of clover—

so that later roaming the hills
near the Cabin next to Spring River,
we clambered over
sloping limestone rocks and
small, blue cedars, and we knew

why Mummy said, “One can, all can”
is the only fair way, among siblings.

---

Scott Owens has a new book of poems entitled For One Who Knows How to Own Land. Scott writes:


Future Cycle Press has just released my new book of poems, For One Who Knows How to Own Land.  These 98 pages of poetry focus on the experience of growing up in the disappearing rural South.  They include some of my favorite oldest poems as well as a lot of new ones.  I am including a brief description of the book as well as comments from Ron Rash, Tim Peeler, John Lane, and  below.  You can order copies from me or on Amazon.  There will be a book launch on March 20 at 6:00 at Taste Full Beans in Hickory, NC, and on March 23 at 7:00 at City Lights Books in Sylva, NC.  I hope you can attend one of those events.

For One Who Knows How to Own Land
Copyright 2012 Scott Owens
Published by FutureCycle Press
Mineral Bluff, Georgia
ISBN:  978-0-9839985-3-2

I grew up in two worlds: my father’s parents’ world of brick homes, city streets, shopping, and playgrounds; and my mother’s parents’ world of dirt roads, livestock, growing our own food, and endless woods.  That second world was undeniably harder than the first.  The work was dirtier, and there was more of it.  The homes had fewer luxuries: no cable, no AC, never more than one bathroom.  Even death was different. In town, death was a polished event that took place elsewhere, hospitals, nursing homes, slaughter houses, funeral parlors.  On the farm, animals were killed every week, and most people died at home, and their bodies stayed there until they were buried.

Somehow, however, that second world still seemed much more alive, much more real and vital.  Despite that vitality, I was aware that most people knew almost nothing about that second world.  It was then, and is increasingly now, an undiscovered country where life and death exist side by side with a natural intensity missing from the artificial world of the city.

This book, dedicated to my grandfather (one who knew how to own land), is a record of my undiscovered country and the people who lived there.

Landscape and memory are seamlessly merged in this excellent volume. Like all the best writers of place, Scott Owens finds the heart's universal concerns in his vivid rendering of piedmont Carolina.
--Ron Rash, author of Raising the Dead

There's not a speck of sentimentality in the rural poetic Americana framed by Scott Owens in FOR ONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO OWN LAND. There are dead crows, red dirt earth, barking dogs, burning coal, fox traps, and flooding rivers. These stories matter. The poems all rattle and sing. This is a jolt of strong coffee for a watery time.
--John Lane, author of The Woods Stretched for Miles: Contemporary Nature Writing from the South

In For One Who Knows How to Own Land, poet, Scott Owens creates with a mature voice, childhood reminiscences of pastoral summers in the red dirt rural Piedmont of upstate South Carolina.  This, his most affecting collection to date, is a remarkable sensory journey that registers narrative moments along the entire emotional scale from harsh to tender, from the threatening to the anodyne.  Through the magical nature of memory, these poems of mystery and loss prove again and again that “The boy who left this country/never stopped hearing its names/echo in his ear.”
 --Tim Peeler, author of Checking Out

“Why should this be home?” Scott Owens asks us in “Homeplace,” his question as much about leaving as going back. We walk his train tracks and ridges as if they were our own, as though home were “something you held tight before you, /your back bending against its going away.”  In this both visceral and meditative rendering of place, decay and rebirth are part of the same landscape. I applaud the skill that directs us down a path of experience and familiarity to “stone steps/ that dead-end in mid-air.” His poetry is wise in knowing the weight of its own footsteps.
-- Linda Annas Ferguson, author of Dirt Sandwich


Read more about For One Who Knows How to Own Land on Scott's Musings Blog.

---

Charlotte Digregorio sent this update:

Hello Haikuists,

Some of you might be interested in the announcement below.

Dear Charlotte,

I am a friend of Charlie Rossiter's and he has referred me to your organization.

I am the President for the National Association for Poetry Therapy and I would like to invite you and your membership to attend our national conference, "Writing the Winds of Change," to be held in Chicago April 26-29, 2012.  We have an extraordinary opening ceremony, featuring local musicians and poets well-known throughout Chicago, as well as, the internationally known key-note poet/educator/essayist and publisher, Haki Madhubuti.  We have a variety of workshops which integrate poetry, journaling and the expressive arts in the arenas of mental health, self-growth, wellness and education.

If you would like more information about our conference and registration process, please refer to our web-page at www.poetrytherapy.org.

Should you have any questions in regard to our organization or our conference, please do not hesitate to contact me.  I do look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Catherine Conway, President
The National Association for Poetry Therapy
P - 630-220-8682
www.poetrytherapy.org

---

Ellen Compton sent this update:

Good Morning Curtis,

Here's a note I hope you can include with your announcements and updates.

Cheers, and thanks,
Ellen

Volunteer at 100th D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival

The Haiku Society of America will have a booth at the upcoming 100th National Cherry Blossom Street Festival and is looking for folks to help out. It could be a great time to visit the nation’s capital, enjoy the cherry blossoms, socialize with fellow haiku poets and tell a broader audience about haiku.

The festival, which will be held on Saturday, April 14, rain or shine, runs from 11 – 6 p.m. You are welcome to sign up for an hour or longer. In particular, we could use help with set up and break down before/after the official festival times.

If you love haiku, have always wanted to see Washington DC's cherry blossoms, like working with people, and want to pitch in, please get in touch with Rick Black: rick@turtlelightpress.com or call him at
703-241-4127 for more details. Hope to see you there!

---

A new issue of Haibun Today is available which includes Penny Harter's haibun, "The Great Blue."

http://haibuntoday.com

Also, Penny's essay "Writing From the Present, Past, and Future," is the featured essay in the "Revelations: Unedited" feature in Frogpond: the Journal of the Haiku Society of America, pp. 28-44. The essay covers writing haiku, haibun, and free verse.

---

Sasa Vazic sent the Fujisan Haiku Results.

---

M. Kei sent this:

Lulu.com, the old printer for Keibooks, is offering 30% off Heron Sea by M. Kei and other Keibooks backlist titles, such as Catzilla, and previous issues of Atlas Poetica. This offer is good through February.

---

Ed Baker sent this update:

just a moment ago I saw that Barney Rosset had died !
a Major, Major 'player' in my life.
neat happening a few years ago  he picked this piece to go into his review:
      http://www.evergreenreview.com/120/ed-baker.html

here is the Post's obituary :

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=barney-rosset&pid=156046238

hang in, Ed

---

Haiku Death Match: No Words Barred

Join Press 53 and Piedmont S.L.A.M. for “Haiku Death Match: No Words Barred” on Tuesday, February 28, 7 p.m., at the Community Arts Cafe, Fourth & Spruce in downtown Winston-Salem. This special adults-only event is open to anyone 18 and over who wants to sling Haiku like an assassin. $3 cover and prizes for our winners. For more information, call Kevin at 336-770-5353.

---

Colin Stewart Jones sent this:

Dear Readers and Friends,

NFTG has recently undergone a process of streamlining and simplification of its website. You can now access either the flip magazine or the static information pages separately by clicking on the relevant cherry on the entry page.

The flip magazine now has a module which can enlarge to full screen, add annotations and has a search facility. NFTG is now available on all browsers, Mac or PC and all mobile devices, including i-Pad and Android. We have also updated our static information pages and have a new bespoke form filler for submissions which can be accessed at the top left or very bottom of the Submissions’ Page and you can also get in contact by through the Editors’ Page.

Thank you all for you continued support.

Colin Stewart Jones
Editor-in-Chief
Notes from the Gean

http://notesfromthegean.com/

---

Richard Krawiec sent this:

Hope you can come see my first staged full-length play, CREEDS.  It's inspired by the true story of Bonnie and Robert Hanssen.  Arch conservative, Opus Dei Catholics, sexually bizarre - and Bob was a  double-agent for the Russians, called the greatest spy in U.S. history.

We have an excellent cast including Lori Mahl (Actors Equity) who had a career in NYC, working on the stage with, among others, Carol Channing and Tyne Daly, Jeff Alguire, who won a Best Actor Award from the Independent, and an ensemble cast that has performed on every major stage in the Triangle - from Playmakers, to REP, to Burning Coal, to Common Ground to the Arts Center in Carrboro.

It will be staged March 22 - April 1 at Common Ground Theater in Durham, NC.

http://cgtheatre.com/directions

Here's some more info on the show.  Tickets range from $7 - $15
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/224259

I've had one-acts produced across the U.S. and Canada, but this is my first full length, and it's as exciting as publishing a first novel.

The play is produced by PlayGround, a Theater Co-operative which has been in operation for 2 years.  It's a group of local actresses and actors and NC playwrights who meet once a month to develop scenes by local writers and opportunities for local actors.

If you're interested in supporting PlayGround we are selling a few tickets to the Sunday, April 1, 4 pm cast party. These tickets, which cost $40, will include a free meal, a ticket to your choice of performance (you don't have to go April 1), and a chance to mingle with the cast.

If you want to make a night of it when you come to the play, less than a mile away there are 2 good restaurant choices right on Hillsborough - Bennett Point Grill (quality Southern, no calabash) and Durham House of Pizza (decent pizza and Italian in Sicilian style).  Within 4 miles on HIllsborough you have Chinese, Greek, and fast food.  Only 10 minutes from the theater are Meelo's and Nana's and Parizade, three excellent local choices.

Hope to see you,
richard krawiec

Check out my websites!

http://www.press53.com/BioRichardKrawiec.html
http://www.rkeditor.com/
http://jacarpress.com/index.html

---

And finally, Frugal Poet, Susan Nelson Myers, will have a new recipe and poem to share with you later today.

David Jacobs - Three Questions

David Jacobs was born in London in 1949 and has lived there since.  He has published several collections of mainstream poetry, the most recent of which "The Gardens of Onkel Arnold" (Peterloo) appeared in 2004.   In the last two years he has concentrated exclusively on haiku. His work has appeared in many of the english language haiku journals including Modern Haiku, Acorn, Haiku Presence, Bottle Rockets, Paper Wasp and The Mainichi Daily News.

---

1) Why do you write haiku?

Why not?  It might be something to do with the fascination of what's difficult.  I have an interest in Zen, and it may be that haiku is akin to the unravelling of a koan - not that I have ever unravelled one. I read somewhere that you have to write 100 bad haiku in order to write one good one - I sometimes think you have to write 100 bad drafts in order to arrive at one average one.


2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

I like senryu,  although like many others, I find this barely distinguishable from haiku.  And of mainstream poetry I tend to like specific poems rather than forms. If the poem works it has found its form. Kipling's "If" which is pretty well one sentence, just about says it all.


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

I haven't written any wonderful haiku (yet!),  but I'm still hoping for the one that will survive the next 500 years.  The following will not, but my thanks to the editors who took them up.


bomb shelter -
my old belongings
huddle in the dark

(Heron's Nest vol.13.04 December 2011)


coming ashore
at their own pace -
oarsmen's ripples

(Paper Wasp 17(4) Spring 2011 and "Carving Darkness" (Red Moon Press, February 2012)


new dementia wing
Mum insists
on the guided tour

(Modern Haiku vol 43(1) winter/spring 2012)

---

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 David answered. You must be a published poet to participate.

Saturday Updates

Japanese Arts Fusion 

 Dear Poet Friends and Friends of Poets,

 I would like to share information with you about a Japanese Performing Arts Event with commissioned art installation which I have organized for the Pacific Asia Museum in the Los Angeles CA area, one of only four American institutions to exhibit Pan-Asia arts. The museum has been wonderfully supportive, and will use this event as their "kick off event" for this year's focus on Japanese Arts.

 I wish you all could be there!

 Linda Galloway

Click the image for more information

---

Saša Važić sent this:

Dear haiku friends,


We invite you to participate in our international haiku contest. You can read about it here

http://variantaenglezeasca.blogspot.com/

We would be grateful to you if you will spread the news. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Eduard Tara

---

Kaji Aso Studio Haiku Contest

Greetings:

I'd like to invite you to participate in this year's Kaji Aso Studio Haiku Contest.

You may send as many haiku or senryu as you like at $2 each: type or neatly print your submissions (you may put them all on a single sheet of paper if you wish).  If you send senryu, please mark them as such.  Be sure to include your email address and/or an SASE so that we can notify you of the results!

Our first prize is $250; second $100; third $50; senryu $50.

Please send all entries to:

Kaji Aso Studio

40 Saint Stephen Street

Boston, MA  02115

USA

You can see the winning entries from 2011 and previous years at www.kajiasostudio.com.

All entries must be mailed by APRIL 15, 2012.  All rights revert to the authors after June, 2012 when the winners will be announced. 

The Kaji Aso Studio is a center for the arts in Boston founded by Japanese painter, poet, and musician Kaji Aso to promote a positive, nature-centered philosophy and practice of art.  We have held classes and hosted hundreds of exhibitions, concerts, and readings reading for over thirty years. The Studio is also the home of the Boston Haiku Society, which meets here every third Saturday of the month.

Please join us!

John Ziemba

---

Submissions for the The Frugal Poet: Recipes and Poems for Lean Times anthology are arriving in our inboxes. Susan and I would like to thank everyone who has sent a recipe and poem. We've enjoyed reading your poems and the stories behind each recipe.

For those of you who have not submitted a recipe, please browse over to The Frugal Poet submissions page to read our guidelines.

http://www.frugalpoet.com/p/call-for-submissions.html

---

And finally, I have some sad news:

Hatsue Kawamura passed away on February 11th.  Hatsue Kawamura and Jane Reichhold worked on many important books together including:


Nakajo, Fumiko. Breasts of Snow.
Trans. Hatsue Kawamura and Jane Reichhold. Tokyo:The Japan Times Press, 2004

Baba, Akiko. Heavenly Maiden Tanka.
Trans. Hatsue Kawamura and Jane Reichhold. Gualala CA:AHA Books, 1999

Saito, Fumi, White Letter Poems.
Trans. Hatsue Kawamura and Jane Reichhold. Gualala CA: AHA Books, 1998

Please join me in extending our deepest condolences to the friends and family of Hatsue Kawamura.

H. Gene Murtha - Three Questions (Tanka)

H. Gene Murtha, a naturalist and poet, was born on October 19, 1955 under the sign of Libra in Philadelphia, Pa. He has won or placed high in a number of haikai contest around the world. Gene sponsored and judged the first haiku contest for the inner city children of Camden, NJ., for the Virgilio Group, of which he is an lifetime member. With renku partners Bill (Wm. J.) Higginson and Paul MacNeil, he is co-inventor of the single-words shisan renku entitled, Cobweb. His memberships include the Pennsylvania Poetry Society, Mad Poets Society, The Haiku Society of America, and the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association.

---

1) Why do you write tanka?

Good question Curtis.  I have no idea.  Once I sit down and the ball of my pen hits a piece of paper until the moment my right hand stops, I have know idea what form or genre that I have written.  Normally, I wait for a poem to come to me, then, it is up to the poet gods what form my words unfold.

2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

Spoken word, free form and every Japanese genre.

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

I do not have three favorite poems, every poem that I written is important to me for one reason or another.  I've enclosed more than 3 poems, so you can select whatever poems you wish.


in my pickup
I look thru the rearview
snagged by a pin oak
the same garbage that
Hilary Tann writes about

Hermitage 3:1


brushing off sand
I walk what's left of
the pine dunes
my time here passes by
like the birds overhead

Ribbons 5:2


people change
like the color of
a bunting
I feel at peace
when I'm alone

Rusty Tea Kettle 1:1


Sunday morning
reading the obituaries
calling daddy
the same name
Sylvia Plath does

Rusty Tea Kettle 1:1


I sold everything
except my navajo cross
so precious
this god I hold dear
the same god I gave up

Ribbons 6:1

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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 questions that Gene answered. You must be a published poet to participate.

Sunday updates

New Editors for Modern Haiku

Roberta Beary is the new haibun editor for Modern Haiku. Here's what was written in Modern Haiku:

Sharpe-eyed subscribers who compulsively read our masthead will have noticed a few changes there, notably the addition of Roberta Beary's name. We're delighted to announce that Roberta has agreed to join the editorial staff as haibun editor. She's starting right away and will choose from your work for the summer 2012 issue. Please continue to send your submissions to me, however, at moderhaiku@gmail.com.

Roberta recently had one of her haibun nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Congratulations, Roberta!

Charlie Trumbull also had this announcement:

And finally, I realize that unfortunately all this fun cannot go on forever. I am planning to hand over the reins of Modern Haiku after the summer 2013 issue, which coincides with my 70th birthday. The really good news is that Paul Miller--newly dubbed Modern Haiku associate editor--will pick up these reins and ride this thoroughbred of ours into even wider horizons!

---

DailyHaiku call for submissions for Cycle 13

Dear Readers, Friends, and Past Contributors,

We are thrilled to announce that submissions are open for DailyHaiku's thirteenth publishing cycle!  This represents the start of our seventh year of publishing as an online daily periodical. 

We now invite you to submit some of your best work for consideration. Your submission, if selected, will grant you one of six spots on our roster of Cycle 13 contributors. It will also become your first set of haiku that will appear on the site. At the end of the 6 month publishing period, each contributor will have four weeks of published haiku, and will receive a copy of our yearly print addition that features their work.

If you are interested in becoming a contributor, please read our submission criteria detailed on this webpage:


http://www.dailyhaiku.org/info/#contribute

Feel free to forward this call to any other haiku enthusiasts that may be interested in participating.

Thank you for helping to make DailyHaiku a lively and dynamic environment to showcase contemporary short form poetry!


All the best,

Patrick and Nicole
Editors---DailyHaiku

---

Charlotte Digregorio sent this recap of the February 2012 Critique Meeting Held in Chicago Metro Area

http://tobaccoroadpoet.com/docs/Feb2012recapofhaikumeeting.pdf

---

Charlie Smith sent this link to the 5th Annual Hexapod Haiku Challenge.

http://blog.insectmuseum.org/?p=4027

---

A Light Breakfast
 poems to start your day

Poetic License Press

Come see what all the fuss is about! 

 A Light Breakfast poets read and talk about their work.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

7:00 p.m.

The Book Stall

811 Elm Street, Winnetka, Il

Friday, March 9, 2012

8:00 p.m., followed by open mic

The Art Center

1957 Sheridan Road, Highland Park, IL

Hosted by Highland Park Poetry

and The Art Center

Copies of A Light Breakfast will be available for purchase.  Please also support our gracious hosts with you patronage: The Book Stall, Highland Park Poetry, and The Art Center.

PO Box 279, Glencoe, IL 60022
poeticlicenseinc.blogspot.com

---

And finally, please browse over to The Frugal Poet web site and read the call for submissions page.

http://www.frugalpoet.com/p/call-for-submissions.html

Susan Nelson Myers and I are working on an anthology that will include frugal recipes with poetry.

We look forward to reading your poems and sampling your recipes!

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 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

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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

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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

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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

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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 updates

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

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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

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Djurdja Vukelic-Rozic sent this link:

2nd Vladimir Devide Haiku Award - Open Haiku Competition

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

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

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.