Friday, December 24, 2010
A Christmas poem by Pris Campbell
Snow Globe
Wiry haired Nick on my left,
the one yet to die in a plane crash,
and John, once-lover,
now friend, on my right,
hold me in our giddy weave
through the snow bombed Boston Commons.
Christmas Eve…
our futures still stretched out ahead of us
on some gypsy’s palm.
We kiss where the sidewalks meet.
Nick’s mouth tastes of weed,
John’s of some sweet sticky punch.
My laugh slices the dark like a laser.
A star loosens; falls.
I wish this night
might become a snow globe
to take home and shake
on some other Christmas Eve.
I want to see us again,
we three on this holy night
high and shivering,
young and invincible,
as we dance to the last tinkling
strains of Liebestraum.
--Pris Campbell
Previously published in Sketchbook Journal, 2007 and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, 2009.
Haiku North America 2011
New Location: Haiku North America to be Held in Rochester, New York, July 27–31, 2011
Organizers of the 2011 Haiku North America conference are pleased to announce that Rochester, New York, will now host the 2011 HNA conference, to be held July 27–31, 2011. The conference will maintain the theme of education in haiku and will take place at the Rochester Institute of Technology, cosponsored by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, by the Postsecondary Educational Network-International funded by the Nippon Foundation of Tokyo, and by the Rochester Area Haiku Group. Led by Jerome Cushman, the local organizing committee also includes Carolyn Dancy, Deb Koen, and Deanna Tiefenthal, with local and long-distance help from Francine Banwarth, Randy Brooks, and others. Anticipated activities include an Erie Canal boat cruise, banquet, regional readings, a memorial reading, anthology, T-shirts, and possible visits to nearby cultural attractions, including the National Museum of Play and a guided tour of historic Mt. Hope Cemetery, the oldest Victorian municipal cemetery in America and burial site of Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglas, and poet Adelaide Crapsey. More details will be provided at www.haikunorthamerica.com and on the HNA Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Haiku-North-America/113127392085466 (please take a look and click Like! if you're a Facebook member). For more information, please contact Jerome Cushman at jercush@aol.com or Michael Dylan Welch at welchm@aol.com. We look forward to seeing you at Haiku North America in Rochester!
Note: Randy Brooks and Millikin University regret that they are not able to host HNA in 2011. We’re grateful for Randy’s initial work in planning HNA for 2011, and also grateful to haiku poets in Rochester, New York, for taking on the conference. Don’t miss it!
Call for Proposals
If you already submitted a proposal for HNA at Millikin University, it will still be considered (no need to resend). If you would like to submit a new proposal, please send it to Michael Dylan Welch at WelchM@aol.com by January 31, 2011. The theme will be education in haiku, but proposals do not have to fit the theme. Proposals can include papers, presentations, panel discussions, readings, workshops, or other activities featuring haiku and related literature (except tanka) in North America. Please provide the following details with your proposal (directly in your email message; no attached files, please):
1. Title (as you would want it to appear in the conference program—make it catchy or provocative if appropriate).
2. A maximum of 50 words describing your presentation (as you would want it to appear in the conference program; please write to attract an audience.
3. Additional descriptions or goals of your presentation (for the benefit of conference organizers), mentioning any planned handouts or activities.
4. Special needs such as digital projection (for PowerPoint presentations), audio, whiteboard, etc.
5. Length of time needed or preferred.
Organizers of the 2011 Haiku North America conference are pleased to announce that Rochester, New York, will now host the 2011 HNA conference, to be held July 27–31, 2011. The conference will maintain the theme of education in haiku and will take place at the Rochester Institute of Technology, cosponsored by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, by the Postsecondary Educational Network-International funded by the Nippon Foundation of Tokyo, and by the Rochester Area Haiku Group. Led by Jerome Cushman, the local organizing committee also includes Carolyn Dancy, Deb Koen, and Deanna Tiefenthal, with local and long-distance help from Francine Banwarth, Randy Brooks, and others. Anticipated activities include an Erie Canal boat cruise, banquet, regional readings, a memorial reading, anthology, T-shirts, and possible visits to nearby cultural attractions, including the National Museum of Play and a guided tour of historic Mt. Hope Cemetery, the oldest Victorian municipal cemetery in America and burial site of Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglas, and poet Adelaide Crapsey. More details will be provided at www.haikunorthamerica.com and on the HNA Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Haiku-North-America/113127392085466 (please take a look and click Like! if you're a Facebook member). For more information, please contact Jerome Cushman at jercush@aol.com or Michael Dylan Welch at welchm@aol.com. We look forward to seeing you at Haiku North America in Rochester!
Note: Randy Brooks and Millikin University regret that they are not able to host HNA in 2011. We’re grateful for Randy’s initial work in planning HNA for 2011, and also grateful to haiku poets in Rochester, New York, for taking on the conference. Don’t miss it!
—Michael Dylan Welch, Garry Gay, and Paul Miller
Call for Proposals
If you already submitted a proposal for HNA at Millikin University, it will still be considered (no need to resend). If you would like to submit a new proposal, please send it to Michael Dylan Welch at WelchM@aol.com by January 31, 2011. The theme will be education in haiku, but proposals do not have to fit the theme. Proposals can include papers, presentations, panel discussions, readings, workshops, or other activities featuring haiku and related literature (except tanka) in North America. Please provide the following details with your proposal (directly in your email message; no attached files, please):
1. Title (as you would want it to appear in the conference program—make it catchy or provocative if appropriate).
2. A maximum of 50 words describing your presentation (as you would want it to appear in the conference program; please write to attract an audience.
3. Additional descriptions or goals of your presentation (for the benefit of conference organizers), mentioning any planned handouts or activities.
4. Special needs such as digital projection (for PowerPoint presentations), audio, whiteboard, etc.
5. Length of time needed or preferred.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Jennifer Gomoll Popolis - Three Questions
1) Why do you write haiku?
I suspect I've been interested in haiku long before I knew about haiku—or should I say, before I knew haiku wasn't necessarily the 5-7-5 form taught in high school. Many of the poems I loved as a kid, an undergrad, and as a young adult tended toward brevity, clear images, and nature with a hint of human nature. When I cracked open my first Modern Haiku in 2005, I had an 'of course' moment. All the things I love get mixed into those tiny word pots--plants, animals, moons, stars, Zen, footprints, frying pans, pine needles—and come out saying something about the human condition. It's a challenge to come up with a good haiku—one that's both mundane and profound--and I enjoy that.
2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I love a good haibun, though I have yet to write a decent one. Haiga is another world I'd like to explore. Although I've generally turned away from contemporary western poetry, I still have a soft spot for my old heroes: Anne Sexton, T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Robert Frost . . . also just started reading Jane Hirshfield and she's knocking my socks off now.
3) Of the many wonderful haiku you’ve written, what do you consider to be your top three?
Thank you for considering the possibility that anything I have written can be considered 'wonderful.' Here are a few recent ones I enjoyed writing:
Sunday afternoon
end of a dog's leash
whipping through the grass
The Heron's Nest XII:4 (2010)
head shop
a row of buddhas
a row of bongs
Modern Haiku 41:3 (2010)
autumn rain
the bird bath full
and empty
Acorn #24 (2010)
If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response (whether it be for haiku or tanka) to the three little questions that Jennifer answered. You must be a published poet to participate.
Sunday updates - December 19
WORLD HAIKU REVIEW
Re: Call for Submissions for the Next Issue
Dear Kuyu,
The next issue of World Haiku Review (WHR) is planned for January 2011.
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: kalaramesh8@gmail.com AND susumu.takiguchi@btinternet.com Suggested themes: existence, war and winter scene
The only criterion for selection is quality. Please therefore send in your finest works as soon as you can. There is no set deadline but when enough number of good works are received we will announce that and the submission will be closed soon after that. We at this end 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, need not worry abouth this classification. Just send what happens to come out best.
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.
I will mention some indications about our selection below for those who may be interested to know them.
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.
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!
Kengin to all,
Susumu Takiguchi
Managing Editor and Acting Editor-in-Chief, World Haiku Review
Chairman, The World Haiku Club
* * *
INDICATIONS FOR HAIKU SELECTION
THOSE LIKELY TO BE REJECTED
1 Hackneyed, clichés, imitative or derivative;
2 'So what?' haiku;
3 Too short to be good;
4 Made artificially vague (false 'yugen');
5 Gimmicky as opposed to real skills;
6 Bad English;
7 Template-like, or ticking-box-kind factory haiku;
THOSE LIKELY TO BE ACCEPTED
1 New and/or original;
2 Have something to say;
3 Reflecting truths, sincerity and honesty;
4 Coming from your heart and soul;
5 Based on your real and deep experiences;
6 If products of your imagination, true, fine and deep at that;
7 Away from rules & regulations and yet good;
8 Good choice and order of words;
9 Have good rhythm;
10 Pictorial and/or musical feel;
11 Have some sense of humour;
12 Reflecting the grasp of the essence of haiku (a sense of brevity, humour, somewhat detached view or karumi)
*
INDICATIONS FOR SELECTION OF OTHER WORKS
Basically, many things about haiku would apply to them as well. Additionally:
THOSE LIKELY TO BE REJECTED
1 Repeating what others have said many times;
2 Trapped by and subservient to rules and regulations;
3 Uncritical parroting of received views or conventional wisdom;
THOSE LIKELY TO BE ACCEPTED
1 Critical (the more so, the better);
2 Innovative;
3 New contributions to the understanding of haiku;
Ellen Olinger has started a second blog. She writes:
I began a second blog last summer, where I'm posting a few new short holiday/winter poems. And some new photos by Karl this week on the first blog.
Merry Christmas, Ellen
Ellen Olinger
Poems from Oostburg, Wisconsin
http://ellenolinger.wordpress.com
Poems Inspired by the Psalms and Nature
http://elingrace.wordpress.com
Djurdja Vukelic-Rozic
Dear Curtis,
Here is a gift for your visitors, Stjepan Rozic's haiku collection Song of a Nightingale.
Wishing you Happy Holidays,
Djurdja and Stjepan
We’re happy to say that, despite Norman having been snowed in and virtually incommunicado for some weeks now, we’re still on track with Issue 1 being available for purchase if not at year’s end, then early in 2011. Purchase and pricing details will be available on our website by then too.
We’ll be finalizing page design and the proofreading stages of the manuscript when Norman’s internet connection has been restored and after that, contributors/sabaki can expect to receive a pdf of their section of the content for a last look-over.
The journal will run to some 150 large-size pages of renku articles and poetry and the list of contributors is roughly that number too. The listing is available for view on the DR website here:
http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/index.php/titles/journal-of-renga-renku-list-of-contributors/
We’re also offering all contributors a few lines of page space to introduce themselves to JRR readers if they’d like to. Our invitation is copied below should you not have received yours yet – we’d love to hear from (and about) you.
*
Invitation
Dear contributor, please help us create a vibrant and interesting bio page for JRR. In 50 – 100 words, tell us who you are, where you live and what attracts you to renga/renku. Bios should preferably not be in the first person and please, not be a list of prior publications – too much fiddly formatting. We’ll load them as they arrive, into the outline on our website here:
http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/index.php/titles/journal-of-renga-renku-list-of-contributors/
so you will be able to check back after a few days to proof read your entry. Please reply within 7 days to rengarenku@gmail.com (rengarenku @ gmail.com) and sabaki, please pass this on to the renju in your poem so we can get their information too.
Moira Richards
Norman Darlington
--
Journal of Renga & Renku
http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/
Re: Call for Submissions for the Next Issue
Dear Kuyu,
The next issue of World Haiku Review (WHR) is planned for January 2011.
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: kalaramesh8@gmail.com AND susumu.takiguchi@btinternet.com Suggested themes: existence, war and winter scene
The only criterion for selection is quality. Please therefore send in your finest works as soon as you can. There is no set deadline but when enough number of good works are received we will announce that and the submission will be closed soon after that. We at this end 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, need not worry abouth this classification. Just send what happens to come out best.
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.
I will mention some indications about our selection below for those who may be interested to know them.
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.
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!
Kengin to all,
Susumu Takiguchi
Managing Editor and Acting Editor-in-Chief, World Haiku Review
Chairman, The World Haiku Club
* * *
INDICATIONS FOR HAIKU SELECTION
THOSE LIKELY TO BE REJECTED
1 Hackneyed, clichés, imitative or derivative;
2 'So what?' haiku;
3 Too short to be good;
4 Made artificially vague (false 'yugen');
5 Gimmicky as opposed to real skills;
6 Bad English;
7 Template-like, or ticking-box-kind factory haiku;
THOSE LIKELY TO BE ACCEPTED
1 New and/or original;
2 Have something to say;
3 Reflecting truths, sincerity and honesty;
4 Coming from your heart and soul;
5 Based on your real and deep experiences;
6 If products of your imagination, true, fine and deep at that;
7 Away from rules & regulations and yet good;
8 Good choice and order of words;
9 Have good rhythm;
10 Pictorial and/or musical feel;
11 Have some sense of humour;
12 Reflecting the grasp of the essence of haiku (a sense of brevity, humour, somewhat detached view or karumi)
*
INDICATIONS FOR SELECTION OF OTHER WORKS
Basically, many things about haiku would apply to them as well. Additionally:
THOSE LIKELY TO BE REJECTED
1 Repeating what others have said many times;
2 Trapped by and subservient to rules and regulations;
3 Uncritical parroting of received views or conventional wisdom;
THOSE LIKELY TO BE ACCEPTED
1 Critical (the more so, the better);
2 Innovative;
3 New contributions to the understanding of haiku;
Ellen Olinger has started a second blog. She writes:
I began a second blog last summer, where I'm posting a few new short holiday/winter poems. And some new photos by Karl this week on the first blog.
Merry Christmas, Ellen
Ellen Olinger
Poems from Oostburg, Wisconsin
http://ellenolinger.wordpress.com
Poems Inspired by the Psalms and Nature
http://elingrace.wordpress.com
Djurdja Vukelic-Rozic
sent this:
Dear Curtis,
Here is a gift for your visitors, Stjepan Rozic's haiku collection Song of a Nightingale.
Wishing you Happy Holidays,
Djurdja and Stjepan
Click on the link below to view the results of the
Journal of Renga & Renku update:
We’re happy to say that, despite Norman having been snowed in and virtually incommunicado for some weeks now, we’re still on track with Issue 1 being available for purchase if not at year’s end, then early in 2011. Purchase and pricing details will be available on our website by then too.
We’ll be finalizing page design and the proofreading stages of the manuscript when Norman’s internet connection has been restored and after that, contributors/sabaki can expect to receive a pdf of their section of the content for a last look-over.
The journal will run to some 150 large-size pages of renku articles and poetry and the list of contributors is roughly that number too. The listing is available for view on the DR website here:
http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/index.php/titles/journal-of-renga-renku-list-of-contributors/
We’re also offering all contributors a few lines of page space to introduce themselves to JRR readers if they’d like to. Our invitation is copied below should you not have received yours yet – we’d love to hear from (and about) you.
*
Invitation
Dear contributor, please help us create a vibrant and interesting bio page for JRR. In 50 – 100 words, tell us who you are, where you live and what attracts you to renga/renku. Bios should preferably not be in the first person and please, not be a list of prior publications – too much fiddly formatting. We’ll load them as they arrive, into the outline on our website here:
http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/index.php/titles/journal-of-renga-renku-list-of-contributors/
so you will be able to check back after a few days to proof read your entry. Please reply within 7 days to rengarenku@gmail.com (rengarenku @ gmail.com) and sabaki, please pass this on to the renju in your poem so we can get their information too.
Moira Richards
Norman Darlington
--
Journal of Renga & Renku
http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Poets and Poems - Merrill Ann Gonzales
What a marvelous place to be
where the day falls away
in an easy walk
and the soul rushes over
every rock and weed
in its symphony
under the hawthorn tree!
Merry Christmas
GOD Bless us every one!
Merrill Ann Gonzales...written 12/9/10
where the day falls away
in an easy walk
and the soul rushes over
every rock and weed
in its symphony
under the hawthorn tree!
Merry Christmas
GOD Bless us every one!
Merrill Ann Gonzales...written 12/9/10
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Jim Kacian - Three Questions
1) Why do you write haiku?
god only knows
it's a kind of curse, perhaps for some infelicity in a previous life, whereby i am now enthralled (often in the middle of what otherwise might be a perfectly enjoyable sleep) by the muse and must do her bidding
all i know is that i must continue, else lose it
and i don't wish to lose it . . .
2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
i enjoy pretty much all other poetic forms
a sestina with a toothsome falanghina, for instance, its darkness hidden within a bright surface
a terza rima requires brandy, a sonnet mead, and tanka sake (haiku is so much more shochu)
absinthe for vers libre, vodka for a quatrain, claret for heroic couplet, and for ballad perhaps a humble beer
for epic, something with legs, like a single malt, and i'm happy go to hell with a villanelle and gin
3) Of the many wonderful haiku you’ve written, what do you consider to be your top three?
a completely unfair question
so instead of choosing which amongst my children shall be overlooked, i'd prefer to offer three poems i particularly favor by other poets:
losing its name
a river
enters the sea
—John Sandbach
why go there
when it's here now?
the Cage exhibit
—R. Grey
under the pier,
the sea roars in—
a woman, a man
—Jack Galmitz
thanks for having me, curtis
If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response (whether it be for haiku or tanka) to the three little questions that Jim answered. You must be a published poet to participate.
Sunday updates - December 12
The December issue of Notes from the Gean is online.
Djurdja Vukelic-Rozic sent:
The 2011 Anita Sadler Weiss Memorial Haiku Awards
Announcing the 2011 Anita Sadler Weiss Memorial Haiku Awards, sponsored by the Haiku Poets of Central Maryland and dedicated to the memory of Baltimore-based haiku poet and teacher Anita Sadler Weiss.
Deadline: IN-HAND by JANUARY 31, 2011.
Sponsor: The Haiku Poets of Central Maryland.
Eligibility: Open to the public, ages 18 and up. (The contest coordinators are prohibited from entering.)
Awards: Total of $300.00 in prize money: First Place, $175.00; Second Place, $75.00; Third Place, $50.00. Five ranked Honorable Mentions will also be awarded. (Contest coordinators reserve the right to lower the prize money if an insufficient number of entries is received.)
Entry fee: $1.00 per poem. Poets may enter up to 15 haiku.
Submission Guidelines: Entries must be the original work of the poet, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. Clearly print or type each individual haiku on three separate 3 x 5-inch white index cards. On the back of ONE CARD ONLY clearly print or type your name, address, and email address (if one is available). Include a No. 10 (business-size) SASE (or SAE plus US$1 for return postage for entries sent from outside the U.S.) for notification. Entry fee MUST accompany submissions. Send fee in U.S. currency or check or money order payable in U.S. dollars to "Haiku Poets of Central Maryland." Entries not following guidelines will be returned or discarded (if no SASE/SAE + $US1 enclosed) Entries without SASE or SAE + return postage will not receive winner notification.
Send entries to: ASW 2010 Awards, c/o Elizabeth Fanto, 51 Gerard Avenue, Timonium, MD 21093 USA. Do NOT email entries.
Notification/publication: Winners' list will be mailed on April 6, 2011, to commemorate Anita Sadler Weiss' birthday. Notification of winning poems will be sent to competition participants and made available to the public for an SASE while supplies last. The winning poems also will be printed in The Dragonfly, the newsletter of the Haiku Poets of Central Maryland. All rights remain with the poets.
Adjudication: The name(s) of the judge(s) will be announced concurrently with the winning haiku.
Scott Owens sent this reminder about Poetry Hickory:
Just a reminder that the next Poetry Hickory is Tuesday, December 14 at 6:30 at Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse. Featured Readers will be Al Maginnes, author of Ghost Alphabet and Film History among others, and Larry Johnson, author of Veins. Maginnes and Johnson are both instructors at Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh.
Open Mic readers will be Helen Losse, Poetry Editor of The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, CVCC Instructor Justin Ganser, and Statesville's Doug MacHargue, whose work has been published recently in The Wild Goose Poetry Review.
Poetry Hickory will be preceded by the NC Writers' Network Writers' Night Out at 5:00. All events are free and open to the public. Poetry Hickory is sponsored by Main Street Rag Publishing Company.
If you would like more information, reply to this email or call Scott Owens at 828-234-4266.
I hope to see you there.
Scott Owens
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Helen Losse - Seriously Dangerous
If buyers want to pay by credit card, they need to call the card number in to 704-573-2516 between 9am and 5pm (Eastern time), M-F and the same price applies for credit card sales over the phone as sales paid for by check. The mailing address for checks is: Main Street Rag, PO Box 690100, Charlotte, NC 28227-7001.
Please remember that ordering in advance does not mean you will receive the book prior to the release date listed on my Author's Page.
In Seriously Dangerous, as in her other work, Helen Losse shuns the commercial world in favor of the natural one and remains stunningly true to herself and her spiritual vision. As she notes in her seminal poem, "Where Light is Going," "It would be easier to speak as others believe,/not to feel the ocean's intentions nor to sense/the pull of the moon." And indeed, the success of Seriously Dangerous is contingent upon Losse's refusal to accept that easy path.
--Tim Peeler, author of Checking Out
Losse is a Winston-Salem poet and Poetry Editor for the online literary magazine The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. Losse's poem, "Four Snapshots of the Sea-Going Boats" won first place for poetry in the 2009 Adult Writing Contest of the Davidson County (NC) Writer's Guild. Her poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and twice for a Best of the Net award, one of which was a finalist. A former English teacher, Losse has a BSE from Missouri Southern State University and a MALS for Wake Forest University, where she wrote her thesis on the redemptive value of unmerited suffering in the life and works of Martin Luther King Jr. Helen's other books include Better With Friends (Rank Stranger Press, 2009) and two chapbooks. Her recent poetry publications and acceptances include The Wild Goose Poetry Review, Main Street Rag, Iodine Poetry Review, Blue Fifth Review, The Pedestal Magazine, ken*again, and L
Haiku Foundation News
Jim Kacian sent this Haiku Foundation update:
Hi All:
Please come visit the new haiku foundation forums and let us hear your voices. We'll roll out a new forum every day this week, and i hope at least one of them will hold interest for you. We begin today with a free discussion area: chime into the topic already posted, or feel free to begin a topic of your own (we'd especially appreciate this latter option). Go to <http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/forum_sm/index.php> and you may register (which allows you to comment) or simply browse as a guest. Thanks for having a look.
Jim Kacian
President
The Haiku Foundation
~ ~ ~
David Grayson sent this:
Hi all,
I wanted to send you a note to let you know that I'm writing a new column for The Haiku Foundation website. Entitled "Religio," the column is devoted to the intersection of haiku and religious tradition. In the column, I will focus on multiple religious traditions, and present a different topic each month for discussion. The first column/discussion is scheduled to go live tomorrow (Thursday) at http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/forum_sm/.
I want to encourage to you to check out the column and post any thoughts and comments you have. The new Haiku Foundation discussion forum is designed to enable people to easily post comments and discuss haiku topics.
Besides my column, two additional ones are launching this week.
Happy haiku!
Best wishes,
David
Publication updates - December 9
The end of semester at work and school has sidelined me for a while. I'm hoping my schedule will be less hectic during the spring semester.
Okay, here are a list of online journals that released new issues this month:
The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature
Haibun Today (December 2010) is now online
The Heron's Nest (and don't forget about the Reader's Choice Awards)
haijinx Issue III-1
Shamrock No 16
Okay, here are a list of online journals that released new issues this month:
The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature
Haibun Today (December 2010) is now online
The Heron's Nest (and don't forget about the Reader's Choice Awards)
haijinx Issue III-1
Shamrock No 16
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Poets and Poems - Priyanka Bhowmick
IN THE SILENT WIND
Swarming up to my spine,
The lusty fingers,
As I walk,
In the silent wind.
Singing the eternal elegies of life,
My mind crumbles with the bygone years,
Played in the tattered strings of seclusion,
Provoking my core with an enormous thrust,
Cracking up my heart with ablaze,
I can hear my blood seethe,
As I walk,
In the silent wind.
The fate of my survival,
The spill of the fiery memoirs,
Tormenting me brutally,
Stabbing my soul second by second,
Tears that streamed down my eyes,
Turned acidic today,
I hear them still bawling,
As I walk,
In the silent wind.
(Published in the Cynic Mag- Aug 2010)
If you would like to participate in this series, send a photo of yourself composing a poem or writing or a picture of a location where you enjoy writing, along with one of your poems (the type/genre of poem doesn't matter). This series will allow us to see the various locations that inspire us or where we go to write.
Wednesday updates - November 3
Penny Harter sends news that she has come through her surgery (for a hysterectomy) very well and is now home recuperating at her daughter's. She thanks everyone for their loving support and prayers during this challenging time. Pathology results indicate that she now is, and will continue to be, just fine.
A new issue of Sketchbook is online:
And here is Dead Mule School of Southern Literature editor, Helen Losse, reading one of her poems:
A new issue of Sketchbook is online:
New poems have been posted on the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature web site:
And here is Dead Mule School of Southern Literature editor, Helen Losse, reading one of her poems:
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Aubrie Cox - Three Questions
1) Why do you write haiku?
I feel like that's like asking, 'Why do you breathe?' I just do it...it happens. I no longer have the time to sit down and write out long journal entries about my days or inner thoughts, but I can always scribble a haiku onto a post-it or type it out on my iPod Touch while walking to class. I compose and edit in my head while driving to and from school. While the Midwest is not the most exciting place to live, it's down to earth with a distinct flavor of humility (politics aside), which makes it ideal for haiku.
Oftentimes once I have figured out the answer or how to do something, I grow bored and move on to tackle the next challenge. Haiku continuously challenges and invigorates me such that I can't imagine my life without it. I value the craft of the illusion of spontaneity, and the exchange between reader and writer, both of which are embodied in haiku. Although compact on the surface, I'm always exploring new depths and resonances. Mum calls haiku my 'bliss,' even though she thinks this also makes me a geek.
2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I used to write longer forms--form and free verse--though these days end up with only bits and pieces of uncompleted work. I have, however, taken interest in photo haiga. My approach to haiku and photography reflect one another, so I enjoy it when I can combine the two and/or collaborate with other poets to combine image and poetry. I love composing rengay and other linked verse with friends that I've taught haiku. On occasion I write tanka, though I wouldn't necessarily say that I enjoy it (as much as haiku). While I crank out a haibun on an even rarer occasion, the combination of poetry and prose in general fascinates me.
3) Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?
I don't know if they can be deemed wonderful, but these are three I particularly enjoy.
harvest moon
rises above the branches
tea's aftertaste
bottle rockets 11.2, February 2010
father-daughter talk
my fishing lure
caught in the moon
tinywords 10.2, July 2010
school desk
one name carved
deeper than the rest
The Heron's Nest 12.2, June 2010
If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response (whether it be for haiku or tanka) to the three little questions that Aubrie answered. You must be a published poet to participate.
Sunday updates - October 31
Hi, Curtis --
Just wanted you and your readers to know that copies of this year's Haiku Society of America members' anthology (which I was asked to edit) have been going fast -- nearly 500 sent out to date -- but I still have a supply available for purchase.
This year's anthology, entitled 'sharing the sun', is built around the theme of biodiversity, in keeping with the U.N.'s designation of 2010 as 'International Year of Biodiversity'. 269 member poets are each represented by a haiku that makes reference to a specific plant or animal. The visual motif for the book is postage stamps from various countries -- with each stamp featuring a plant and/or animal -- that were 'recycled' from the envelopes of members' submissions to this volume. And a special feature of this year's anthology is a 15-page glossary to some of the less familiar references in the poems I published.
Literally dozens of members have emailed me with their praise of this year's anthology. (Some of my favorite excerpts: 'a treasure chest', 'a gem', 'a great work of art', 'a triumph', 'a landmark publication', and 'absolutely spectacular' ...).
A single copy of the anthology costs $14 in the U.S. and $17 elsewhere, postage included. With each four copies purchased at the regular price, a fifth copy is offered with compliments of the Haiku Society of America. (Although 215 pages in length, the book is very compact and would make a great stocking stuffer!) Before sending payment, those interested should first email me at hsaanthology@gmail.com to confirm availability. In my response I will advise where payment (preferably in the form of a check payable to 'Haiku Society of America') should be sent.
Thanks for passing this along, and for your terrific blog!
Scott Mason
I am writing with a request that you circulate a call for submissions among the members of your local chapter. Thank you very much for posting the following message:
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: For an anthology of haiku, senryu, and tanka on the subject of grief, loss and change, entitled THE TEMPLE BELL STOPS: CONTEMPORARY POEMS OF GRIEF, LOSS AND CHANGE. Prefer unpublished poems, but published poems okay that include full credits. No current deadline and no reimbursement for accepted poems.
Please send submissions to Robert Epstein: worldofdewhaiku@gmail.com.
Just wanted you and your readers to know that copies of this year's Haiku Society of America members' anthology (which I was asked to edit) have been going fast -- nearly 500 sent out to date -- but I still have a supply available for purchase.
This year's anthology, entitled 'sharing the sun', is built around the theme of biodiversity, in keeping with the U.N.'s designation of 2010 as 'International Year of Biodiversity'. 269 member poets are each represented by a haiku that makes reference to a specific plant or animal. The visual motif for the book is postage stamps from various countries -- with each stamp featuring a plant and/or animal -- that were 'recycled' from the envelopes of members' submissions to this volume. And a special feature of this year's anthology is a 15-page glossary to some of the less familiar references in the poems I published.
Literally dozens of members have emailed me with their praise of this year's anthology. (Some of my favorite excerpts: 'a treasure chest', 'a gem', 'a great work of art', 'a triumph', 'a landmark publication', and 'absolutely spectacular' ...).
A single copy of the anthology costs $14 in the U.S. and $17 elsewhere, postage included. With each four copies purchased at the regular price, a fifth copy is offered with compliments of the Haiku Society of America. (Although 215 pages in length, the book is very compact and would make a great stocking stuffer!) Before sending payment, those interested should first email me at hsaanthology@gmail.com to confirm availability. In my response I will advise where payment (preferably in the form of a check payable to 'Haiku Society of America') should be sent.
Thanks for passing this along, and for your terrific blog!
Scott Mason
THE TEMPLE BELL STOPS: CONTEMPORARY POEMS OF GRIEF,
LOSS AND CHANGE
LOSS AND CHANGE
I am writing with a request that you circulate a call for submissions among the members of your local chapter. Thank you very much for posting the following message:
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: For an anthology of haiku, senryu, and tanka on the subject of grief, loss and change, entitled THE TEMPLE BELL STOPS: CONTEMPORARY POEMS OF GRIEF, LOSS AND CHANGE. Prefer unpublished poems, but published poems okay that include full credits. No current deadline and no reimbursement for accepted poems.
Please send submissions to Robert Epstein: worldofdewhaiku@gmail.com.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday updates - October 27
Penny Harter sent the following message:
I am having a hysterectomy on Thursday morning, October 28th. Please send light and prayers for a successful surgery my way. When I'm able, from my daughter's house I'll let Curtis know how I'm doing after surgery. And if you want to be in touch, e-mail me and I'll get back to you via my netbook, while recuperating at my daughter's, after the first foggy couple of days there.
Love,
Penny
We love you too, Penny. The poetry community will inundate you with prayers and healing thoughts.
Here's a message from Scott Metz:
Dear Roadrunner Reader,
Issue X:3 (October 2010) is now up:
http://www.roadrunnerjournal.net/
Featuring:
—The Scorpion Prize #21 by Tom Raworth
—ku
—"Peggy Willis Lyles: A Celebration"
—"Tada Chimako's Haiku" by Hiroaki Sato
&
—Tom Raworth: An Interview
Thanks for reading, and please do pass this email on to others.
Scott Metz
Sasa Vazic sent this sad news about Slavko Sedlar:
It is with great regret that I inform you that the great Serbian poet, Slavko Sedlar, passed away.
http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/resources/poet-details/?IDclient=137
(7 July 1932-24 October 2010)
Merrill Gonzales sent this sad news about H.F. (Tom) Noyes:
Dear Curtis,
vincent tripi called to let me know that he's been advised that H.F.(Tom) Noyes passed away last April. Tom was 92 and loved by many people...he surely loved life. He loved the country of Greece...and the happy accident that led him to live there.
vincent has 25 copies of Tom's last book: still here 110 pages, letterpress. and a stack of what vincent considers Tom's death poem: "Basho's death poem/ my grandson asks/ for mine"...letterpress. vincent can be reached at 413-772-2354.
Here's is a review of still here:
http://www.modernhaiku.org/bookreviews/noyes2002.html
Here are a few haiku by H. F. Noyes:
http://www.terebess.hu/english/usa/noyes.html
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Robert D. Wilson - Three Questions
Wilson lives in the Philippines with his wife, Jinky, and step-son, Carlo. He writes:
"I won't bore you with a list of published poetry credits. You either like my art or you don't."
http://simplyhaiku.wordpress.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/foamfish/TheWonderlandAmusementPark#
Http://thewonderlandamusementpark.blogspot.com
1) Why do you write haiku?
My father, the late Robert Dean Wilson, fell in love with haiku in the mid-fifties, impressed with it's minimalism and ability to use cerebral white space to say in a few words what others say with many words.
Even then, uninfluenced by Blyth, Henderson, Snyder, the Beats, or Yasuda, he saw the need to use less syllables yet adhere to the metrical schemata and kigo that defines true haiku. He did not think there were two kinds of haiku: one with one set of rules, the other with a different set of rules. To my father, haiku was a Japanese poetic genre. I agree with my father, and have stowed away in my desk, which I read through periodically, note cards with some of his handwritten haiku, each card, dated and signed. When I compose haiku and tanka, for me it's a state of meditation. Nothing else exists...
Haiku is suggestive and cannot say all. Those that say all are not haiku. It is the haiku poet's job to write a haiku and the reader's job to interpret the poem according to his own cultural memories, education, experience, biospheric locale, and parental conditioning. Haiku as defined in most American textbooks is misinformed and mis-taught. A haiku is not a nature poem nor a senryu labeled as a haiku. It's a poem that makes use of the said and the unsaid, utilizing highly effective aesthetic tools that cultivate each poem's gist and are, therefore, essential. There are those who argue that the use of said tools are not part of the Western mindset, but the use of these tools have benefitted many of America's finest poets including Amy Lowell, e. e. cummings, Jack Kerouac, James McClure, William Carlos Williams, Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsburg, and Ezra Pound. All of these tools can adapt to an American mindset, whatever the hell the American mindset is due to the diversity of cultures living there.
2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I have a love affair with poetic meter. When I read a poem, it becomes a dance, the meter inhabiting me; my synaptic nerves feeeeeeeeeeeling every beat. I read almost all of Shakespeare's plays by the end of 6th grade. My father would explain each act, have me read, then read to me in a way that rang true and made the act embody the mood Shakespeare was conveying in that particular act. To this day I love to watch live stage performances of Shakespeare's play. My father also introduced me to Edwin Markham's poignant, stirring poetic warning to those who oppress the poor. It has perfect meter and I've performed it publicly several times. My favorite living poet is James McClure whom I've had the privilege of conversing with twice. He's a playwright, actor, and the best damned performing poet on the planet. His readings are usually accompanied by the piano artistry of the Door's former keyboardist, Ray Manzarek. As for the non-living, no one stirs me more than Agusti Bartra and William Blake, both masters of meter who knew the tools of their art, and penned poetry that will linger in my mind forever.
3) Of the many wonderful haiku you have written, what do you consider to be your top three?
I have no favorite. Like the late, great jazz trumpeter, Miles Davis, said regarding his own compositions, it's impossible to have a favorite when one's journey is forever changing. I don't want to be remembered for something past. I inhabit the now, not reiterating the past like once famous rock bands and vocalists. I study and write haiku and tanka daily. When one becomes satisfied with his art, he becomes a stagnant pond, evoking the conceptualization of algae, non-growth, and the lack of a need to create. Like a cubist, thinking in a Nietzsche-Picasso-esque influenced headspace, I believe we need to destroy in order to create. Satisfaction is the antithesis of growth and creative expression. I write my poetry expecting each one to be my best and settle for nothing less. I was exposed to haiku by my father in the late 1950's and my haiku has evolved daily, weekly, monthly, and annually. Life is metamorphic, in continuous change. I accept this and compose: thought and what is combined with the now, a canvas painted symbiotically between what was and is. I'll compose one now on the spot. We'll call that my favorite:
your skin's
just a temple, leper . . .
autumn wind
Here are two others I just wrote:
harvest moon . . .
i chase my dog into
the moon
leaving autumn . . .
a soiled blouse on the
evening news
If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response (whether it be for haiku or tanka) to the three little questions that Robert answered. You must be a published poet to participate.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Poets and Poems - Neal Whitman
Ode to the Monterey Peninsula
We love…
to stand on Lovers Point in the early morning
watching when the waves break
how water droplets rise to form fleeting rainbows.
to walk by Hawk Tower in the early evening
imagining Robinson Jeffers atop
as he waits for the rise of Orion over Carmel Bay.
to sit on the Old Monterey Wharf
spooning seafood chowder in bread bowls
while we wait for our whale watching charter.
to sip wine in a Carmel Valley tasting room
the world looking better
through bottled poetry.
to picnic on Point Lobos at China Cove
half-cursing that seagull who steals
half a tuna sandwich right out of my hand.
to sit by the Carmel River
listening to the symphonic river run
as water moves over its pebbled bed.
But, most of all, we love to meet tourists
vowing "Some day we will make this our home."
As we once said. And did.
We love…
to stand on Lovers Point in the early morning
watching when the waves break
how water droplets rise to form fleeting rainbows.
to walk by Hawk Tower in the early evening
imagining Robinson Jeffers atop
as he waits for the rise of Orion over Carmel Bay.
to sit on the Old Monterey Wharf
spooning seafood chowder in bread bowls
while we wait for our whale watching charter.
to sip wine in a Carmel Valley tasting room
the world looking better
through bottled poetry.
to picnic on Point Lobos at China Cove
half-cursing that seagull who steals
half a tuna sandwich right out of my hand.
to sit by the Carmel River
listening to the symphonic river run
as water moves over its pebbled bed.
But, most of all, we love to meet tourists
vowing "Some day we will make this our home."
As we once said. And did.
Poem by Neal Whitman
Photograph by Elaine Whitman, "Asilomar Sunset, Pacific Grove"
If you would like to participate in this series, send a photo of yourself composing a poem or writing or a picture of a location where you enjoy writing, along with one of your poems (the type/genre of poem doesn't matter). This series will allow us to see the various locations that inspire us or where we go to write.
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