Renray follow-up: We have a title!

My fellow renray collaborators and I would like to thank everyone who participated in naming our poem. After much deliberating, we have decided on Karen Bennett Lewis' suggestion of "Blue Ridge Harmonies" as the title for our piece.

Here's a repost with the title. Also we thought it would be fun to allow you to peer inside the mind of the poets. Our thoughts about what inspired our poems follows...

Blue Ridge Harmonies

easing into the day...
a dab of apple butter
on a biscuit              cd

mist settles
into the orchard        ac

yesterday's phantoms
cloister
in morning shadows          snm

loggia
autumn winds take respite        tf

mountain music
grandpa blows into a jug         cd

rocking chair creaks
on the porch's
uneven boards           ac

a spider tats
another row             snm

corn husks tossed
into the campfire
strains of kumbaya     tf

~   ~   ~

Commentary about Blue Ridge Harmonies by the poets:

easing into the day...
a dab of apple butter
on a biscuit   

Curtis Dunlap: My opening poem "easing into the day..." was workshopped with friends. I really have no special reason for choosing that poem to start the renray other than thinking it would be a nice way for us all to "ease" into the spirit of having fun writing a collaborative poem.

mist settles
into the orchard

Aubrie Cox: The phrase "apple butter" really caught my attention in Curtis' hokku. I wanted to continue on that idea as well as the "easing into" part of it, but also wanted to nudge the poem out of the house/kitchen as I imagined this taking. So looking at the idea of "apple butter," I tried to continue the mood and senses while taking everyone into a new direction. Not only is the person in the hokku easing into the day, but also the rest of the world.

yesterday's phantoms
cloister
in morning shadows  

Susan Nelson Myers: My response to Aubrie's first lines were immediate and sensory-loaded. I could both feel and hear the mist settling. Her orchard setting evoked an aroma of loamy soil which I associate with life's riches and fresh beginnings. As always happens when reading poetry, I let Aubrie take me on a trip and found myself in the shadowed corners of that orchard where the earth's scent is strongest - in recesses still damp and unexposed to the new day. To further develop the mystical sense of place, I wrote of phantoms...beings which I imagine cannot survive day's full light...perhaps things best left behind.

loggia
autumn winds take respite

Terri Hale French: In the verse previous to my first one, the word "cloister" really stood out to me, which got me thinking about nuns and monks and abbeys and monasteries. I like the word "loggia." A loggia is a building whose sides are open so the wind is able to sweep through. It is also a room for lounging, so I thought it a good place for the wind to take a break!

mountain music
grandpa blows into a jug

Curtis Dunlap: Terri's "loggia" poem inspired my "mountain music" poem. I wanted to link to her "autumn winds" and bring something auditory in a musical sense to the poem. I also wanted a unique "wind" instrument. I'd originally written "cider jug", which would also link to the the first verse but, after some discussion with my fellow poets, I decided to drop "cider", thinking that it could be implied with just the word "jug". Cider is often made in the "autumn".

rocking chair creaks
on the porch's
uneven boards

Aubrie Cox: While I wouldn't say Curtis is an easy act to follow, he always provides wonderful links to go off of—in both cases I never feel lacking of elements to link. Immediately, I thought of an old man sitting out on the porch of his cabin somewhere in the Appalachia, rocking away and blowing into his cider jug. Since there was no rocking chair, or porch, mentioned before, I really wanted to add it to the picture, while still giving Susan something that could move the renray forward. I also wanted to carry the music just a little further with the creaking of the boards, which is both mundane and rhythmic.

a spider tats
another row 

Susan Nelson Myers: Just the way my mind works...Aubrie's creaky, uneven floor boards sent me to ground again. (I do tend to scratch the underbellies in life. ) I immediately thought of the spider under that floor board, and if it's autumn? that spider's weaving her little heart out to grandpa's jug tune.

corn husks tossed
into the campfire
strains of kumbaya

Terri Hale French: Susan's last verse with the spider tatting another row had me thinking of rows of corn. The entire piece seems set in Autumn, which got me thinking of dried corn husks which are excellent to get a fire going. And what is a campfire without Kumbaya? Yes, my mind works rather curiously!

Lenard D. Moore, Richard Wright, 100 Thousand Poets, and Tanka

"In Retrospect: 9/11" a poem by Lenard D. Moore has been posted on the North Carolina Arts Council web site. Click the In Retrospect link to read Lenard's poem.

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JQ Zheng sent this:
   
Curtis,

Thanks for sending me the news on your webpage. I wonder if you would like to forward this link about my book, The Other World of Richard Wright to haiku poets:

http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/1401

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Michael Rothenberg, Founder

Your browser may not support display of this image. 100 Thousand Poets for Change

P.O. Box 870

Guerneville, Ca 95446

Phone: 305-753-4569

http://www.100TPC.org

walterblue@bigbridge.org

Poets Worldwide Unite for the Truly Historic "100 Thousand Poets for Change" Event

Poets in 400 cities representing 95 countries are currently organizing the largest poetry reading in history with over 500 individual events scheduled to take place simultaneously on September 24th to promote environmental, social, and political change. 

Poets, writers, artists, and humanitarians will create, perform, educate and demonstrate, in their individual communities, and decide their own specific area of focus for change within the overall framework of peace and sustainability, which founder Michael Rothenberg stated, “…is a major concern worldwide and the guiding principle for this global event.”

Bob Holman and Margery Snyder, in a recent article on About.com said, “the beauty of the concept of 100 Thousand Poets for Change is that it is completely decentralized and completely inclusive.”

The events range from a poetry and peace gathering in strife-torn Kabul and Jalalabad to 20 collective poetic actions in Mexico City where poets, painters, filmmakers and musicians will spread the word of peace and non-violence throughout the city with day long readings and workshops. There are 29 events planned in India, 7 in Nigeria, 17 in Canada, 19 in Great Britain, 5 in China, 3 in Cuba and over 220 events in the United States for a start. Participation continues to grow. Poetry demonstrations are being organized in political hotspots such as Cairo, Egypt and Madison, Wisconsin. There are 20 events in North Carolina where teacher/poets have mobilized and will be conducting poetry workshops and peace readings, and will send poems to congress in a statewide campaign for sustainability and to emphasize the need for arts in the schools. And along the Platte River near Omaha, Nebraska, poets will be demonstrating against TransCanada's planned Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

More examples of events can be easily accessed on the home page of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change website at www.100TPC.org.

All those involved are hoping, through their actions and events, to seize and redirect the political and social dialogue of the day and turn the narrative of civilization towards peace and sustainability.

Each city organizer and their community has an individual Event Location blog page on the website for posting written material, poetry, artwork, photos, and video to document this global mega-event across national borders.

Immediately following September 24th all documentation on the 100TPC.org website will be preserved by Stanford University in California, which has recognized 100 Thousand Poets for Change as an historical event, the largest poetry reading in history. They will archive the complete contents of the website, 100TPC.org, as part of their digital archiving program LOCKSS.

Founder Michael Rothenberg is a widely known poet, songwriter, editor of the online literary magazine Bigbridge.org and an environmental activist based in Northern California.


For information contact: http://www.100TPC.org

Contact: walterblue@bigbridge.org

Phone: 305-753-4569     

---

25 Tanka on the Theme of Social Realism: Call for Submissions

Please share with any appropriate venue.

The Special Features section of the Atlas Poetica web site is seeking submissions for a collection of ’25 Tanka on the Theme of Social Realism’ edited by M. Kei. Selections should address the topic of social realism, exemplified by great works of art and literature in the field, and covering topics such as poverty, war, violence, sex, urban life, moral decay, politics, immigration, discrimination, rape, social injustice, alcoholism and drug abuse, music, counterculture, desperation, disaster, crime, terrorism, insanity, unemployment, corruptions, famine, and more.

Tanka, waka, kyoka, and gogyoshi should explore the dark underbelly of human existence, exposing the terrors and struggles of the unhappy half of life. This does not mean they are without beauty or grace, but that they must find beauty amid the challenges of the world. Blunt tanka and difficult subjects are welcome, but they must be poetry. Both pastoral and urban works are welcome, but given the frequent presence of rural images in tanka already, the selection will be biased to the urban and suburban environment. (Social Realism is primarily an urban literature.)

Famous examples of Social Realism in art and literature include George Bellows ‘Both Members of This Club’ (painting), Dorothea Lange’s ‘Depression Mother’ (photography), Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Saleman’ (theater), and Upton Sinclair’s ‘The Jungle’ (novel).

The general Atlas Poetica guidelines apply, therefore poets must be 16 or older. Please visit for complete guidelines and to view previous Special Features. Poems should be contained in the body of an email. Please query before sending attachments.

Submissions: Poets are invited to send up to ten poems each, but only one poem will be chosen by each poet, in keeping with the theme and format of the ’25 Poems’ features on the Atlas Poetica website. Send to: editor@AtlasPoetica.org, with a subject line of ‘Tanka for Children.’ Reprints are acceptable, as long as they include previous publication information.

Deadline: Deadline for submitting to ’25 Tanka on the Theme of Social Realism’ is November 30, 2011. The planned publication date is Winter 2010/2011. Special Features are published on an irregular schedule.

Email address for submissions: Editor (at) AtlasPoetica (dot) org -- subject line: Social Realism

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

AtlasPoetica.org

To keep abreast of developments, please subscribe to Keibooks-Announce list at or by sending email to: Keibooks-Announce-subscribe@googlegroups.com

---

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

26 August 2011 — Perryville, Maryland, USA

Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka is pleased to announce ‘From Lime Trees to Eucalypts : A Botany of Tanka,’ a special featured edited and with an introduction by Angela Leuck. The seventh installment in the Special Features hosted at AtlasPoetica.org, the website for Atlas Poetica. ‘From Lime Trees to Eucalypts’ is a collection of poetry of place that explores locality through the plants of the region. Angela Leuck is a well known editor of haiku and tanka on the theme of flowers and gardens.

Nature has always been a popular subject in tanka, both classical and modern, but Leuck drove the topic forward by asking poets to send poems about “plants that are typically associated with a particular region, even if they are not well known outside that region.” Each selection is accompanied by the botanical name as well as location so that readers may appreciate the particular plants along with the poems.

Twenty-five poets, some well known and others only recently emerging into the public eye, evoke love and loss and coming home, whether it be amid the prickly pears (Opuntia ficus-indica) of Sicily or the huon pines (Lagarostrobos franklinii) of Tasmania. Homer is seen in the olive trees (Olea europea) of Greece and pilgrims amid the mayflowers (Epigaea repens) of Nova Scotia. Prayers are offered with kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) in America, but in humorous counterpoint, a few curses are muttered for the key-limes (Citrus aurantiifolia) and sea-grapes (Coccoloba uvifera) of Key West.

Atlas Poetica is an international tanka journal that publishes all forms of tanka literature: tanka, kyoka, and gogyoshi, along with prose, sequences and sets, shaped poetry, and non-fiction. The Atlas Poetica Special Features section highlights different aspects of the literature. 2010 focussed on tanka traditions from around the world, while 2011 will focus on different aspects of the literature. An upcoming Special Feature will present ’25 Tanka Poets from Great Britain and Ireland’ edited by Jon Baldwin.

Designed by Alex von Vaupel, Technical Director for Atlas Poetica, the website hosts information about the journal, submission guidelines, ordering information and sample issues. Previous Special Features are archived free online.

Atlas Poetica is now accepting proposals for Special Features to publish in 2012. Anyone interested in being a Guest Editor for a Special Feature at the Atlas Poetica website will find guidelines on the Special Features home page below the Atlas butterfly that is the symbol of the journal. Anyone interested in being a Guest Editor should familiarize themselves with the project by reading the Special Features section and also sample issues of the journal archived on the site.

About Keibooks:

Keibooks is a micropress located in Perryville, Maryland, USA, founded by M. Kei, a poet and tall ship sailor. Keibooks publishes select projects reflecting his interest in tanka poetry and the sea. Using print-on-demand technology, Keibooks is able to publish high quality literature in attractive, affordable editions.

Keibooks is home to Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka, and previously published Fire Pearls : Short Masterpieces of the Human Heart, a classic anthology of tanka love poems, as well as several other titles. It recently published Catzilla! Tanka, Kyoka, and Gogyoshi About Cats. For more information, visit: http://AtlasPoetica.org

Contact:
M. Kei, publisher and editor
Keibooks
P O Box 516,
Perryville, MD, 21903, USA.
Email: Keibooks (at) gmail.com
http://AtlasPoetica.org

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

---

The renray posted the other day has a title. Thanks to all who participated in naming the poem. I'll post a follow-up soon and announce/credit the person who named our renray.

renray number 2 needs a title

A second "renray" has been written. The poets and poems appear in this order:

Curtis Dunlap, Aubrie Cox, Susan Nelson Myers, Terri French

The renray needs a title. My good friends and collaborators have agreed to let readers of Tobacco Road suggest a title. The title can be from a stanza in the poem or (and this could make things really interesting) a title that does not reference a stanza in the poem.

So, readers, what title or titles do you suggest for our renray?

Untitled

easing into the day...
a dab of apple butter
on a biscuit              cd

mist settles
into the orchard        ac

yesterday's phantoms
cloister
in morning shadows          snm

loggia
autumn winds take respite        tf

mountain music
grandpa blows into a jug         cd

rocking chair creaks
on the porch's
uneven boards           ac

a spider tats
another row             snm

corn husks tossed
into the campfire
strains of kumbaya     tf


August 24, 2011

Poets and Poems - Peter Newton

 

 Joy Ride

It’s my first day on the assembly-line outside Detroit. The job -- bore holes in steering columns for Winnebagos. Day-in and day-out I will thread the metal blocks in front of me. I will wear my goggles. I will be on-time. A white oily lubricant splatters everywhere. It’s noisy. I don’t fit in here. But I’m home from my freshman year of college with something to prove. And I need the money.

                       morning drive-thru exhausted sparrows

The guys on either side of me are street-wise ex-husbands with restraining orders. At  lunch, they like to swap stories about their various run-ins with the law. Their B & Es alone-- breaking and entering-- could fill a book. And they’re quick to remind me what a real education is.

Life on the street, man. They’ve got the scars. And like to show them off. I’m no one to them. They take turns calling me “College Boy.” I am someone to look through. Talk at. Teach what tough is.

“Welcome to the joy ride,” Tiny says, his gut shakes like it’s full of Jell-O.

                       shop-talk
                       the Tigers and Miss June
                       staring back at me

HNA 2011 Anthology and Notes from the Gean

Michael Dylan Welch sent this:

Standing Still: 2011 Haiku North America Conference Anthology

Standing Still: 2011 Haiku North America Conference Anthology. Michael Dylan Welch and Ruth Yarrow, editors. Dejah Léger, illustrations. Sammamish, Washington: Press Here, 2011. ISBN 978-0-878798-32-9, 5.5x8.5 inches, 36 pages, 74 poets (one poem each). $8 plus postage from Michael Dylan Welch at 22230 NE 28th Place, Sammamish, WA 98074-6408 USA (please inquire about postage, depending where you live, by emailing welchm@aol.com). Read selected poems from Standing Still at http://sites.google.com/site/graceguts/books/standing-still. “The 2011 conference theme of ‘Fifty Years of Haiku’ reminds us that it has been five solid decades that English-language haiku has flourished in North America, with the first haiku journal having started in 1963.This theme also connects us to the location of the 2011 conference at Seattle Center, at the foot of Space Needle, which opened for the World’s Fair in 1962.With fifty years of creativity and increasing numbers of poets and poems to celebrate, the Haiku North America conference demonstrates that haiku poets do not stand still in their development and appreciation for this rewarding genre of poetry.” —from the introduction (read the entire introduction at http://sites.google.com/site/graceguts/essays/on-standing-still)

---

Colin Stewart Jones sent this:

Gean Tree Press News:

Submissions Policy Change


Dear Readers

In our mission statement Notes from the Gean encourages experimentation and because of this it is incumbent upon us that we must also be forward thinking and keep up with modern methods of communication. Therefore, we have changed our submissions policy to reflect this.

At Notes from the Gean we believe that there is much poetry posted on social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter etc, that is worthy of publishing. Including such works, that could easily be missed or lost due to the volume of posts on such sites, in a specialist magazine setting ensures that they are properly presented and kept for posterity.

As poetry on social networks and blogs is not representative of an editor’s selection we, therefore, deem such works as unpublished. Though we now consider such works to be unpublished we still ask that they not be under consideration elsewhere and that you also bear in mind that each work will still have to undergo the same rigorous selection process, by our editors, as any other submission would.

Submissions for the September issue, close on September 14th

We apologise for our first time being late but Volume3, issue 2 will be out on the 28th of September

follow this link for details on our editors:

http://www.notesfromthegean.com/indexeditorial.html

 Richard Krawiec, USA  will be accepting submissions for Haibun from September 15th 

for a sneak preview of our new look and philosophy please follow this link to our Facebook page :

http://www.facebook.com/groups/182461010541/

Also as part of our commitment to furthering the understanding of haiku at a grass roots level NFTG will be conducting a Ginko in Aberdeen, Scotland, September 17th

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=271687592857151

Notes from the Gean Ginko
Samurai Gala Day, Aberdeen, Scotland, 17th September 2011

As part of Aberdeen’s celebrations for Thomas Blake Glover; “The Scottish Samurai” Notes from the Gean will lead a Ginko (haiku nature walk), which will be free and open to the public, from St Machar Cathedral through Seaton Park along the Don River and on to the Brig O’ Balgownie past Glover’s old home and then proceed through the Nature Reserve to the Murchar (Don Estuary).

This should take around 2-2.5 hours, but we will cater to all ages and abilities

People should bring a notepad and pen to take down notes of images from the ginko

Wear good shoes/boots and dress for the weather

We will then hold a session (in a venue TBA)
here the walkers will work on images gathered from the Ginko
and Alan Summers and Colin Stewart Jones help to produce these into Haiku

Alan will then lead a Renga/Renku session and there will be an opportunity to perform the finished work

Notes From the Gean will run a special feature on the event which will be published
along with selected haiku and renga from the ginko  in the next issue of the NFTG

www.notesfromthegean.com


Notes from the Gean
Editor-in-Chief/Resources Editor

Colin Stewart Jones, Scotland


Gean Tree Press is a publishing house based in Scotland. We already bring you the highly successful Notes from the Gean; our flagship journal. NFTG has recently undergone a major restructuring and is also currently undergoing a program to modernize it and, therefore, NFTG will now be completelyy aligned with its mission to "encourage excellence, experimentation and education..." The mission of GTP is no different.

Further to this, GTP is also committed to bringing quality book and e-books containing modern English-language haiku and/or related genres, to the wider reading public. Although poetry is a niche market, and haiku even more so, GTP understands its market and believes that haiku books should be, and must be, produced by specialist publishers. GTP is, at present, in discussions with various funding bodies and arts agencies with a view to producing a catalog to further this aim.

Though we are forward thinking, GTP is also a traditional publishing house which believes that the quality of the work is paramount and they poetry should stand on its own merit. We will, therefore, never charge reading fees nor ask our authors to contribute towards the costs of publishing their books. All our authors will be offered contracts and they will be paid a percentage of the profits from sales of their books.
GTP already has some very exciting projects in the pipeline and will be looking to bring even more to you very soon. A press release and a call for manuscript submissions will be forthcoming but in the meantime we ask that you do not send us any submissions.

Colin Stewart Jones
Gean Tree Press

Tuesday updates

Terry Ann Carter (Ottawa, Canada) is pleased to announce the publication of Lighting the Global Lantern: A Teacher’s Guide to Writing Haiku and Related Literary Forms, Wintergreen Studios Press, Frontenac, Ontario. This is a guide for high school and post secondary educators and anyone with a teen aged spirit who wants to learn more about the aha! poetry of our time. Articles by Penny Harter, LeRoy Gorman, Rick Black, Randy Brooks, Rich Schnell, Jeff Winke, Jim Kacian, Pamela Miller Ness, Deborah  P Kolodji, Michael Dylan Welch, Michael McClintock, John Dunphy, Raffael de Gruttola, Jessica Tremblay and many more. Lists of up-to-date resources (Tobacco Road blog is mentioned!), literary journals, and student haiku examples by Virgilio contest winners (with permission of Tony Virgilio)

“Lighting the Global Lantern is clear and easy to read. It will serve as a fine resource for teachers who want to take their students beyond counting syllables to a better understanding of the true nature of haiku.” Marco Fraticelli

“Lighting the Global Lantern is fascinating and a much needed resource for teachers. Raffael de Gruttola

 178 pages, $25.00 on amazon.com

The author and publisher would appreciate a short “review” for the amazon website. A thousand bows.

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Robert D. Wilson is giving away free ebooks of Jack Fruit Moon and Tanka Fields. Visit his A Lousy Mirror web site for more information.

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A new issue of Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine has been published online.

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Here is an interesting article about our new Poet Laureate, Philip Levine.

Contests and Call for Submissions

The 8th Annual Jerry Kilbride Memorial 2011 English-Language Haibun Contest

Sponsor: Central Valley Haiku Club

Deadline: In hand by October 1, 2011

Submissions: All entries must be unpublished, not under consideration elsewhere, and in English. No limit to the number or length of any submissions. Submit three copies of each haibun, two (2) copies without author information attached for anonymous judging, one (1) copy with author’s name, address, phone number and e-mail address for notification purposes. A first prize of $100 and a second prize of $50 will be awarded. Honorable mention certificates also will be given. Winning entries will be available on our website. The entry fee ($5 US dollars per haibun) should be made out to: Mark Hollingsworth (CVHC Treasurer).

Eligibility: Open to the public; CVHC officers are not eligible.

Correspondence: No entries will be returned. Send business-sized SASE for a list of the winning entries. Please note that entries without SASE, insufficient postage, or that fail to adhere to contest rules will be disqualified.

Judges: Will not be disclosed until the contest winner has been decided.

Send entries to: Yvonne Cabalona, 709 Auburn Street, Modesto, CA 95350-6079.

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Simply Haiku calls for submissions

http://simplyhaiku.theartofhaiku.com/

Submission deadline: September 15, 2011.

Accepting Quality Traditional English Language Haiku, Tanka, Haibun, Haiga, Renga, Book reviews, Interviews and Feature articles.

Please read carefully the Submission Guidelines before submitting.

http://simplyhaiku.theartofhaiku.com/submissions/submission-guidelines.html
Robert D. Wilson & Sasa Vazic
Co-Owners, Co-Publishers, Co-Editors in Chief

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The Haiku Society of America is currently running a number of contest. Follow the link below:

http://www.hsa-haiku.org/hsa-contests.htm

Call for Submissions

A few publication notes for you today:

New Haikai Journal - A Hundred Gourds

The editorial team of 'A Hundred Gourds' welcomes your submissions to our first issue, which will be published online in December, 2011.

'A Hundred Gourds' is a new journal featuring haiku, haibun, haiga, tanka, resources (articles, commentaries, reviews and interviews) and special artwork.

The journal's name is based on a haiku by Chiyo-ni:

hyakunari ya tsuru hitosuji no kokoro yori

a hundred gourds
from the heart
of one vine

(translation by Patricia Donegan and Yoshie Ishibashi)

'A Hundred Gourds' is managed by its editorial team: Lorin Ford, Melinda Hipple, John MacManus, Gene Murtha and Ray Rasmussen. Ron Moss will continue to support us in his valuable role of contributing and consulting artist.

We are dedicated to producing a high quality journal, and look forward to your submissions.

Books for review (hard copy only) may be sent to John McManus or the haiku, tanka, haiga or haibun editor respectively.

* Submissions for the first issue of 'A Hundred Gourds' close on September 15th, 2011*

Submissions and enquires may be addressed to :

Lorin Ford, Haiku Editor: haikugourds@gmail.com

Melinda Hipple, Haiga Editor: haigagourds@gmail.com

John McManus, Resources Editor: jmac.ahgjournal@gmail.com

Gene Murtha, Tanka Editor: tankagourds@gmail.com

Ray Rasmussen, Haibun Editor: haibungourds@gmail.com, ray@raysweb.net

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

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MOONBATHING
A JOURNAL OF WOMEN'S TANKA

EDITOR
Pamela A. Babusci 

Moonbathing Issue 5 is now accepting submissions. I have additional copies of Moonbathing issues of 3 & 4
If you wish to purchase a copy(ies) please e-mail me.

THIRD ANNUAL MOONBATHING CONTEST:

Please e-mail with your regular submission one tanka on the theme of "moonbathing". The winner will receive
a year's subscription.

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

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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ACORN DEADLINE

Haiku submissions are welcome at Acorn. The deadline for the Fall issue is August 31. Please email submissions to acornhaiku [at] mac [dot] com. Go to www.acornhaiku.com for submission guidelines, ordering information, and sample poems from past issues.

A "renray"

Terri French, Ray French, Curtis Dunlap, Susan Nelson Myers

Four poets wanting to write a rengay penned a renray, so named for Ray French.

a renray

3 a
2 b
3 c
2 d
2 a
3 b
2 c
3 d


A renray by Ray French, Terri French, Susan Nelson Myers, and Curtis Dunlap (poems appearing in the same order).

Ephemera

updraft
mid-summer cloudburst
I re-light my cigar

smokescreens
the wind changes direction

ephemera--
this day's remains
a red stain

power outage
thirteen birthday candles

waxing in time
our love

cricket song
a flame burns low
in the hurricane lamp

on a moth's wing
a tale

Perseids--
an all night rain
so say my bones

And the video:

Thursday updates 3/3/2011

Gabriel Rosenstock sent this link:

Poetic Bridge "AMA-HASHI"
A Japanese-English Publication of International Poetry

http://www.ama-hashi.com/

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Saša Važić sent this call for submissions:

HAIKU REALITY / STVARNOST CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

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

Your submissions (up to 6 unpublished haiku in English and your mother tongue, haiga, essays, interviews, book reviews) are welcome.

Please read the submission guidelines before submitting:
http://haikureality.webs.com/ohaikureality.htm

Deadline: April 30, 2011.

Warmly,
Saša Važić

---

Scott Owens sent this announcement:

The annual Poetry Council of North Carolina contest is now open through May 31, 2011, for adult and student poets with a North Carolina connection. Rules for the 2011 competition are posted at www.poetrycouncilofnc.wordpress.com. Adult and student poets, as age appropriate, may enter the following categories: 1) Oscar Arnold Young Contest for a Book of Poetry; 2) Charles Shull Traditional Poetry; 3) James Larkin Pearson for Free Verse; 4) Ellen T. Johnson-Hale Light Verse; 5) Performance Poem to be judged during a live performance on Poetry Day, October 1st , at Catawba College; 6) Charlotte Young for Elementary School Students; 7) Carol Bessent Hayman for Middle School Students; and 8) Sam Ragan North Carolina Connection for High School Students; and Gladys Owings Hughes Family Heritage Contest for Free Verse. Questions about the contest and PCNC may be e-mailed to edcockrell@hotmail.com, or call Ed Cockrell, president of PCNC, at 919.967.5834.

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Poetry Hickory

The next Poetry Hickory, next Tuesday, March 8 at 6:30 at Taste Full Beans, in downtown Hickory, promises to be a good one. Featured writers Rhett Iseman Trull, from Greensboro, and Malaika King Albrecht, from Southern Pines, are two of the most popular poets in the state right now. They each authored top-selling books within the past two years: Trull's The Real Warnings, 2009 Anhinga Prize Winner; and Albrecht's Lessons in Forgetting, 2010 Main Street Rag Author's Choice Chapbook selection. I have heard them both read from their work, and their personalities shine through their readings.

The Open Mic readers, Hickory's Nancy Posey and Statesville's Doug McHargue, are also wonderful poets whom many of you have met and heard from before. Posey, who is an instructor at Caldwell Community College and an officer of the Poetry Council of NC, will read from her new book Let the Lady Speak. McHargue is a return reader at Poetry Hickory whose poems have been published recently in Wild Goose Poetry Review (www.wildgoosepoetryreview.com).

Both Posey and McHargue are regular participants in Writers' Night Out, a regional resource and networking group for writers that meets at 5:00 at Taste Full Beans before each Poetry Hickory. Writers' Night Out is sponsored by the NC Writers' Network but is open to all who are interested.

As always, Poetry Hickory, sponsored by Main Street Rag, is free and open to the public. Write me back or call me at (828)234-4266 if you have any questions.

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Billie Wilson sent this update:

Just a friendly reminder that the in-hand deadline for entering the Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award Competition for 2011 is fast approaching: March 13.

For complete details, click the above link.

---

Penny Harter sent this update:

I have two haibun just posted in Haibun Today (Volume 5, Number 1, March 2011):
http://haibuntoday.com/ht51/Harter_OneBowl.html
http://haibuntoday.com/ht51/Harter_WhiteGooseDream.html

I also have a tanka and a haiku, recently posted as haiga with photographs by Ray Rasmussen, on his site "Day's End." The site features work relating to aging:
http://raysweb.net/daysendpoetry/pages_large/harter1_beach_900x800.html
http://raysweb.net/daysendpoetry/pages_large/harter2_bark_900x800.html

AND, while I'm at it, on February 14th, my haibun, "For Two Horses By the Fence at VCCA" was posted on tinywords: http://tinywords.com/2011/02/14/for-two-horses/

---

Jeffrey Woodward

ANNOUNCEMENT: Haibun Today (March 2011) is now online.

The spring quarterly issue of Haibun Today is now online for your reading pleasure at http://haibuntoday.com

Contributors to this issue include Melissa Allen, Chris Bays, John Brandi, Steven Carter, Sonam Chhoki, Glenn G. Coats, Tish Davis, Cherie Hunter Day, Amelia Fielden, Ruth Franke, Charles Hansmann, Penny Harter, Michele L. Harvey, Ruth Holzer, Rita Hooks, Gerry Jacobson, Roger Jones, Gary LeBel, Bob Lucky, Johannes Manjrekar, Giselle Maya, Linda Papanicolaou, Carol Pearce-Worthington, Stanley Pelter, Dru Philippou, Patricia Prime, Ray Rasmussen, Bruce Ross, Helen Ruggieri, Katherine Samuelowicz, Adelaide B. Shaw, Lucas Stensland, Charles D. Tarlton, Diana Webb, Theresa Williams, and Rich Youmans.

This issue also features an in-depth interview, “Showing the Shadow: Ray Rasmussen on Haiku, Haiga and Haibun,” an important essay by Rich Youmans, “More Than the Sum of Its Parts: Explorations in Contemporary English-Language Haibun,” as well as articles and reviews by Glenn G. Coats, Tish Davis and Linda Papanicolaou.

Writers are now invited to submit haibun, tanka prose and articles for consideration in the June 2011 issue of Haibun Today. Consult our Submission Guidelines at Haibun Today. Forward any submissions by email to Jeffrey Woodward, Editor, at haibun.today@gmail.com

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Helen Losse sent this:

If anyone is interested in making a trip to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem on Thursday, March 16, you can hear two great poets by making one trip. Isabel Zuber (Red Lily, Press 53) is reading at 3 pm in Room 204 of the Z Smith Reynolds Library and Jane Mead is reading at 7 pm in DeTamble Auditorium in Tribble Hall.

Jane Mead, former poet-in-residence at Wake Forest University, is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the Lannan, Whiting and Guggenheim Foundations and the author of three collections of poetry. She is the author of The Lord and the General Din of the World, House of Poured-out Waters, and The Usable Field. She now farms in Northern California.

---

Haiku and Meditation Saturday March 5, 2011

Bob Moyer will lead a workshop on haiku and meditation at Golden Flower Center, 612 N. Trade Street, Winston-Salem, NC from 2 PM until 3 PM.

---

And finally new issues of The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, The Heron's Nest, and Notes From the Gean are online.

Friday updates 02/25/2011

Cathy Drinkwater Better sent this:

HIBIKI, by Cathy Drinkwater Better and Geert Verbeke. Empty Sky, Flanders, Belgium; December 2010. HIBIKI is the first collaborative book of haiku by Cathy Drinkwater Better (Maryland, USA) and Geert Verbeke (Flanders, Belgium). This 40-page, side-stapled, digest-size book—“…a unique blend of fine and touching feelings…as the finely knitted thought of a reverberating emotion…” wrote New Delhi, India, reviewer Jasvinder Singh—contains two individual sections of 72 haiku each, one devoted to each poet’s work and a brief biographical note. This limited-edition collection is available exclusively through the poets at the present time. To order in the U.S. and elsewhere, write to: Cathy Drinkwater Better, 613 Okemo Drive, Eldersburg, MD 21784 USA; the cost is $10, postage paid. For more information, e-mail Cathy at cbetter@juno.com or visit her Web site at www.cathydrinkwaterbetter.com. For information on ordering a copy from Geert, visit his Web site at: http://www.haikugeert.net, and click on CYBERWIT INDIA at the top; or write to him at Leo Baekelandlaan14, B-8500, Kortrijk, Flanders, Belgium.

---

From Charlotte Digregorio:

Haikufest To Inspire Poets To Publish

Beginning and advanced poets will learn to appreciate, write, and enhance their haiku skills, from 1 to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, May 7 at the Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Ave., Evanston, IL. The event with lecture, discussion, and exhibition of poetry and art, is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored by the Midwest Region of the Haiku Society of America and the Evanston Public library. Pre-registration is required.

Haiku is short, meditative poetry that originated in Japan in the 1600s, and is currently gaining popularity worldwide in many languages. It is often three lines, has seventeen syllables or less, and captures the moment, with usually a reference to nature or the seasons.

The first presentation, "Haiku: A Path Leading to Conservation Thought," will integrate a lecture on haiku style, form, and history with a discussion of the underlying thought of reverence for nature. Charlotte Digregorio, HSA Midwest Regional Coordinator, will speak. She is an award-winning author, poet, and educator, recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize in Poetry. Her poetry has been translated into several languages, and is often exhibited in public venues.

"A Writing Life in Seventeen Syllables or Less," will follow by award-winning Iowa Poet Francine Banwarth. She will discuss what inspires her to write haiku, and her methods of writing with multi-layers of meaning.

Banwarth, who is regularly published worldwide in haiku journals and anthologies, and who has served as a haiku leader, educator, and poetry competition judge for organizations including HSA, says: "Haiku for me is not so much a way of thinking a moment, as it is a way of feeling a moment. I think that is where intuition enters in, as if there is a hermit inside me, or as if I am in a quiet place, breathing under water."

Subsequently, Randy Brooks, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Millikin University and Professor of English, will speak on "The Role of Kukai in The Haiku Tradition." Kukai is a haiku contest in which participating poets are judges. Preceding Haikufest, attendees may submit from three to five haiku by April 23 to Brooks at brooksbooks@sbcglobal.net. These haiku will be exhibited at Haikufest and judged.

Brooks and his wife, Shirley, are co-editors and poetry publishers of Brooks Books. They also edit "Mayfly," a haiku magazine. An award-winning poet who teaches haiku at Millikin, Brooks is the author of "School's Out," his haiku collection, and is co-editor of anthologies including the "Global Haiku Anthology." He is co-chair of the American Haiku Archives at California State Library in Sacramento.

The last presentation will be "Haiga: History and Technique." Poet and artist Lidia Rozmus will reveal the art of haiku accompanied by an ink painting. She will exhibit and discuss her work.

Rozmus has authored and designed several portfolios and books on Japanese-style poetry and haiga that have won HSA awards, including,"A Dandelion's Flight Haiku and Sumi-e"; "Twenty Views from Mole Hill: My Journey"; and "Hailstones, Haiku by Taneda Santoka." Rozmus' art has been exhibited throughout the U.S., Japan, and Poland.

HSA is a not-for-profit organization to promote the writing and appreciation of haiku in English. Its website is www.hsa-haiku.org

For more information on Haikufest, and to pre-register, contact Charlotte Digregorio, 847-881-2664 or the Evanston Public Library, 847-448-8600.

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Marie Kasprzak sent this:

'A beautiful job!' (Elisavietta Ritchie), 'I see wonderful haiku ...' (Neal Whitman), 'Your first issue was a strong one, with great production values. An impressive start' (William Hart).

Dear Poet,

These are only some of the comments we have received following the publication of the inaugural issue if Haiku Pix Review #1, Winter 2011. True to its name, HRP aims to publish haiku that use juxtaposition of images to produce emotion:


spring apple tree
on the old gnarled trunk
its own shadow

-- Bruce Ross

raindrops
on a lotus leaf ...
homecoming

-- Chen-ou Liu


The deadline for Haiku Pix Review #2, Spring 2011 is February 28, 2011. Offer us your honest best!

Also consider entering our Haiku Pix Chapbook Contest. The new deadline is April 1, 2011. Electronic submissions accepted. Visit: www.haikupix.com

Best regards,

Marie Kasprzak and Tad Wojnicki

editor@haikupix.com/
or
haiku@haikupix.com/

---

Colin Stewart Jones reports that the new issue of Notes from the Gean will be available online on March 1st. He writes:

"enjoy folks it should be a good one!"

col

---

Scott Owens sent this:

Hi, Curtis,

I have a new book of poems coming out in August, and it is available for discounted advance order right now. The cover price will be $14, but by ordering it online from the publisher's website, you can get it for $9 plus shipping.

The book can be ordered from the Coming Soon page of the MSR Online Bookstore. Here is a link that will take you directly there: http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/.

The book is called Something Knows the Moment. I'm including comments about it from Fred Chappell, Joseph Bathanti, and a couple of other early readers below. The sooner we meet the publisher's advance sales goal, the sooner the book will be released, so you can help me out by ordering yours now. I'll be giving readings all over NC in the fall, so you should still have a chance to get your copy signed if you like.

Something Knows the Moment may also be ordered by check or credit card directly from the publisher; however, the discount is not as much if ordered this way ($12/book--postage included). Send to: Main Street Rag, PO BOX 690100, Charlotte, NC 28227-7001. Credit card orders, call 704-573-2516 (M-F 9am-5pm EST).

Something Knows the Moment by Scott Owens

Published by: Main Street Rag Publishing Company

ISBN: 9781599483023, ~114 pages, $14 (cover price)

“Why ask where none can answer?” Scott Owens’ collection, Something Knows the Moment, poses this question and accompanies it with a hundred others about the nature of God, the nature of faith, of doubt, of trust and distrust, disillusion and resignation. The answer is, We ask because we cannot help but ask. --These poems are necessary.
---- Fred Chappell, NC Poet Laureate

By turns these poems are terrifying and glorious, always luminous, informed by an abiding faith that the liturgy of poetry will leave us burnished and restored.
--Joseph Bathanti, author of Restoring Sacred Art

Scott Owens has the audacity to reimagine The Good Book. It is a resurrection not to be missed: haunted, funny, and outrageous, by turns, fiercely imagined, wonderfully accessible, Scott Owens’ latest shows him to be one of the most engaging and readable poets currently working in the South.
--David Rigsbee, author of The Red Tower

Scott Owens stares steadfastly into the “unrelenting zero.” Owens’ motives shed new light on some of the oldest ideas ever, forcing the reader to immediately ponder his own nature and humanity. Good poetry does precisely this. At the root of these poems is a deep and palpable compassion. There is a tenderness in this book that might shame you.
-- Joe Milford, The Joe Milford Poetry Show

All my best,

Scott Owens

---

Sasa Vazic and Robert D. Wilson has informed me that Professor Michael Marra passed away.

http://marra.bol.ucla.edu/

Robert D. Wilson interviewed Michael a few years ago:

http://www.simplyhaiku.com/SHv5n3/features/Marra.html

My sincere condolences to the friends and family of  Professor Marra.

John McManus - Three Questions

John McManus first came across haiku when he picked up a book of old Japanese poems in his local library and has been hooked ever since. He started to write in the hope that someday he could come up with a haiku as good as the ones that had inspired him. He began to send in submissions to various journals and magazines in the middle of 2010 and quickly found a network of friendly, intelligent poets who gave him many helpful suggestions and much needed honesty. John had his first lot of haiku published at the end of 2010 in The Heron's Nest and Notes from the Gean. When he isn't writing John likes to spend time with his wife and two young children.

---

1) Why do you write haiku?

When I started to write poetry I wrote longer rhyming poems and a bit of free verse sometimes. As I got more knowledgeable about the plethora of poetic forms there is to experiment with I went down to the local library, where I stumbled across a book of old Japanese poems. After reading it cover to cover several times I just felt I needed to try and master this brief but beautiful form, and I haven't stopped writing since. I love to play with words, and feel the ability to create a poem that says so much with so few words is a skill that only the sharpest of minds can achieve.

2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

I really do love rhyming poems rather than free verse. Edgar Allen Poe’s work has heavily influenced my longer poetry style. If I am truthful not much contemporary poetry excites or interests me, I much prefer to read classical or modern lyrical poets.

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

I am not sure how many wonderful haiku I have written but the ones I like the best are;


thunderclap

the warmth

of her breast

The Heron’s Nest. Volume XII, Number 4: December, 2010


muffled hymns

cigarette smoke

fills the churchyard

Notes from the Gean. Volume 2, Issue 3.


sorting laundry

a flock of blackbirds

on the fence

Notes from the Gean. Volume 2, Issue 3.

---

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

Sunday updates 2/20/2011

Ray Rasmussen sent this:

Hi Curtis,

If you've not yet made it, please post the announcement as follows:

Announcing Day's End: A collection of haiku, senryu and tanka matched with images and of haibun on the subject of aging by 50 poets. Editor Ray Rasmussen. Guest Editor Anita Virgil.
http://raysweb.net/daysendpoetry

Thanks,

Ray

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Michael Dylan Welch sent this:

Curtis, thanks for listing the HNA announcement on your blog. Could I trouble you to change the URL it links to? Instead of http://www.haikunorthamerica.com/pages/next.html, please change it to http://www.haikunorthamerica.com/pages/2011.html. Much thanks if you could do this.

Michael

---

Norman Darlington sent this:

A quick reminder: There's just over a week left before the first issue of Journal of Renga & Renku reverts from an introductory $19.95 to the cover price of $25. So, if you've been postponing your purchase, there will be no better time than now to order your 170-page copy securely online at http://darlingtonrichards.com/jrr

A 17-page online preview, including the full Table of Contents, is available at http://tinyurl.com/preview-jrr1

--
Norman Darlington
Journal of Renga & Renku
http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/

---

Patrick M. Pilarski sent this:

Dear Readers, Friends, and Contributors,

We are thrilled to announce that submissions are open for DailyHaiku's eleventh publishing cycle!  This coming cycle represents the start of our sixth year of publishing as an online daily periodical.  During Cycle 10, we were excited to see an increase in readership for both our online and print editions. Traffic to www.dailyhaiku.org topped 100,000 hits per month, with up to 4000 unique visitors.

We now invite you to submit some of your best work for possible inclusion in our upcoming cycle (Cycle 11). If you are interested in becoming a Cycle 11 contributor, please see our submission call below. (And please feel free to forward this call on to any other interested parties.)

You may notice that our Spring submissions are open a month early this year. That's because in addition to planning a new cycle, DailyHaiku is also planning a wedding! Your faithful editors are getting married this Spring (to each other, of all people) so we're trying our best to be proactive in our editorial duties.

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

All the best,
Patrick and Nicole

Patrick M. Pilarski and Nicole Pakan
Editors --- DailyHaiku

===============================

Submission are now open for DailyHaiku Cycle 11!
http://www.dailyhaiku.org

DailyHaiku is a print and daily online serial publication that publishes the work of Canadian and international haiku poets, blending contemporary, experimental, and traditional styles to explore the boundaries of English-language haiku. Through our special features section, we also aim to chronicle the diverse and ever-changing landscape of contemporary haiku-related forms. We're now looking for a new roster of six talented haiku poets for our upcoming cycle (Volume 6, Cycle 11, Spring/Summer 2011). If selected as a contributor, you will be responsible for providing a total of 28 haiku over a six-month period.

Submission Period: Feb. 1st--28th, 2011 (closes 11:59 pm Mountain Standard Time)

How to Submit: Email submissions to desk@dailyhaiku.org

What to Submit: Ten unpublished haiku---no more, no less---your contact information, a 75 word publication-ready biographical note, and a digital author photo.  We do not accept work published or under consideration by other journals or websites.

Payment: One contributor copy of the print volume featuring your work.

For specific submission guidelines and more information about this publication, please visit: http://www.dailyhaiku.org

---

Richard Krawiec sent this:

Curtis,

Did you want to put something about the Gathering of Poets on your blog? Haiku writers are welcome and should benefit from workshops with Kay Byers and Fred Chappell, too.

http://www.press53.com/GatheringofPoets2011.html

Tuesday updates 2/15/2011

From Jim Kacian:

Call for Haiga

Red Moon Press announces a call for haiga submissions through the rest of the month for consideration of publication in contemporary haibun Volume 12. contemporary haibun has published 16-32 haiga in each of its first 11 issues and looks to continue this tradition. Submissions should be limited to 4 per contributor, and should be 300 dpi. Either jpg or tiff format is fine. Snailmail submissions are also welcome but because of the timeline must be received by 25February2011 to be considered. Email submissions to jim (dot) kacian (at) redmoonpress (dot) com, making the usual substitutions, or snailmail to Red Moon Press, PO Box 2461, Winchester VA 22604-1661 USA. Thank you, and good luck!

---

From Aubrie Cox:

Call for Submissions: An Anthology of English-Language Haiku by Women

Seeking haiku and senryu for an anthology focusing on excellent English-language haiku by women around the world.

Ladies, send 5-15 of your best haiku, published or unpublished, to paperlanternhaiku [at] gmail.com.

With your submission, please include your name, country, a brief bio of 150 words or less, and any applicable publication credits of submitted poems.

Nominations of poets and individual poems are also welcome, and strongly encouraged.

Deadline: April 15

At this time, unfortunately, there is no payment available for poems accepted.

---

From Michael Dylan Welch:

Haiku North America 2011 – Seattle, Washington

Save the date! Haiku North America 2011 will be held August 3 to 7, 2011, in Seattle, Washington.

Members of the Haiku Northwest group have generously offered to host the 2011 conference and they have many exciting plans already in the works, including a harbor cruise. The conference itself will be held at the Seattle Center, at the foot of the Space Needle, providing easy access to haiku writing and walking opportunities such as Pike Place Market (via the monorail), the Olympic Sculpture Park, the Experience Music Project rock-and-roll museum and Science Fiction Museum, and countless other attractions—including fleet week and the Seafair festival, with the Blue Angels performing overhead.

The conference theme will be “Fifty Years of Haiku,” celebrating the past, present, and future of haiku in North America. The deadline for proposals has been extended to February 28, 2011 (http://www.haikunorthamerica.com/pages/2011.html) but sooner is better. Proposals do not have to fit the theme. If you’ve already submitted a proposal, please confirm with Michael Dylan Welch at WelchM@aol.com that you can come to Seattle on the new dates. Speakers already include Cor van den Heuvel, Richard Gilbert, David Lanoue, Carlos Colón, Fay Aoyagi, Jim Kacian, Emiko Miyashita, George Swede, and many others.

Detailed information on registration, lodging, and the conference schedule will be available in March. For further information as it becomes available, please visit www.haikunorthamerica.com. And check out the new HNA blog at http://haikunorthamerica.wordpress.com/.

See you in Seattle!

Garry Gay, Paul Miller, Michael Dylan Welch
Haiku North America

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Richard Krawiec sent this:

Curtis, remind your peeps Jacar Press has a call out for poetry submissions. Our last anthology took haiku by a number of writers.

http://jacarpress.com/submit.html

---

From an'ya:

Hello everyone, this is a Call for Submissions, for just one published haiku (with credits) or an unpublished haiku is also fine. Just your favorite haiku written to-date along with your name, city, state and country (and credits if previously published.) Email anytime to an'ya at haikubyanya@gmail.com with the subject heading HSA haiku Wall. The credits for will be are:

Published on the HSA "haiku Wall" exhibited in the historic Liberty Theatre Gallery at the Quarterly National Haiku Society of America Meeting in Bend, Oregon on June 3-5, 2011 and as part of the downtown Bend Oregon First Friday June Art Walk.

Please also help me pass the word even further along worldwide if you would. Our goal is 500 haiku but if we get even more, that would be fantastic! Full details about the whole event will be forthcoming at the HSA Website and the Haiku Oregon site within a couple of weeks. love ya . . . an'ya, HSA Oregon Regional Coordinator.

---

From John Barlow:

Hi All

Snapshot Press is currently holding a book sale exclusive to Mailing List members.

The one-off sale runs from the beginning of the traditional haiku season, risshun (the start of spring) (February 4), to the spring equinox on March 20. All of our titles are part of the offer, so why not take advantage of the sale to fill any gaps in your haiku and tanka collections or libraries, or to buy attractive inspirational gifts for the year ahead, or simply to read some different authors?

Simply pay for any 3 publications at any one time from the Snapshot Press site and get a 4th free.

If paying online please place your order as normal then send an email with your name and the name of the item(s) that you would like free to sales@snapshotpress.co.uk.

If ordering by mail order please just note the free item(s) required on your order form. Order forms are available at http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/order_form.htm

Full details are available at http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/mailing_list_offers/offers.htm

Snapshot Press receives no external funding. The press desperately need funds to commit to new projects, and, as ever, all donations and proceeds from sales are used towards cutting the shortfall in the costs of forthcoming titles and projects.

Thanks for reading!

John Barlow
Editor, Snapshot Press
e: info@snapshotpress.co.uk
w: www.snapshotpress.co.uk

Terms and conditions: The cheapest item (of the 4) is free, the offer ends on March 20, and all titles are subject to availability.

---

Ed Baker sent this:

here it is ALL FIVE BOOKS 525 pps (plus the intro) in ONE VOLUME:
via Leafe press who is in Nottingham, England
just select the country and the payment type
(Leafe is picking up the shipping cost):

http://www.leafepress.com/catalog/edbaker/stonegirl.html

this to you is about all I have to do with SG's production and distribution and advertising !

---

haijinx welcomes Roberta Beary as the haijinx quarterly editor for haibun. To learn more about Roberta Beary’s work, please visit http://www.robertabeary.com/.

For each haijinx issue, you may submit up to 2 haibun. No single haibun should exceed 150 words. We do not consider any haibun that has been previously published or accepted for publication in any form. We do not consider any unpublished haibun which include previously published haiku or haiku which have been accepted for publication.

Please submit your best work in the body of an email to

shortpoems at gmail.com

with ‘haijinx haibun submission’ and your name in the subject line.

The submission deadline for the spring issue of haijinx quarterly is March 1st.

---

Invitation to Apply for Membership in the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society (YTHS), which offers you a world of haiku practice


All readers of Tobacco Road are invited to join the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society (YTHS) for 2011.

* YTHS Members receive the GEPPO, the bi-monthly study work-journal. A member may submit three haiku for each issue; the haiku are published exactly as submitted. Each member may vote for ten haiku from the preceding issue. The GEPPO includes "Dojins' Corner" where Patricia Machmiller and Jerry Ball each select three haiku and comment on them. Thus writers can learn by studying the work of others and the responses from others to their work.

* Meetings are held monthly in various locations of the San Francisco Bay Area. Members meet (often in natural settings) to write haiku and to study the fascinating art of haiku.

* An annual members’ anthology is published. Members may submit their unpublished haiku and will have at least one poem published in the anthology.

* An annual haiku retreat is held each autumn at the lovely Asilomar Conference Center on the sea coast of Pacific Grove (near Carmel).


More distinctions of Yuki Teikei membership:

* Membership is worldwide: we have members from not only all regions of the U.S.A. but also from Canada, Ireland, Japan, and New Zealand.


* The GEPPO has served, since 1978, as a “town hall” for the society by communicating the ideas and the subtleties of traditional haiku writing.


Join Yuki Teikei:

* Send your membership check ($26 in 2011 for a U.S. address, $31 for an international address) with your contact information to the YTHS Membership Secretary, donnalynn chase, P.O. Box 320433, Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA.

* For further information on YTHS, see:

http://www.youngleaves.org/

---

Pamela A. Babusci sent this:

MOONBATHING
A JOURNAL OF WOMEN'S TANKA

EDITOR
Pamela A. Babusci

Moonbathing Issue 4 is now accepting submissions. I have additional copies of Moonbathing issue 3, hot off the press. If you wish to purchase a copy(ies), please see information below.

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

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: $10 for one year (two issues) U.S. and Canada; $5 for single issue. International: $14
(two issues) $7 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 14615-1810 USA

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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Don Wentworth sent this:

http://lilliputreview.blogspot.com/2011/01/wednesday-haiku-issas-untidy-hut.html

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!

—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.

Jennifer Gomoll Popolis - Three Questions

Jennifer Gomoll Popolis is a Chicago native currently living in Springfield, IL. When not writing haiku, she may be found freelance writing, cooking, gardening, volunteering, knitting, and spending time with her husband, John.

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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)

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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

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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)

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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;

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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

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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

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Click on the link below to view the results of the

15th International Kusamakura Haiku Competition 2010

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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.

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