Sunday, October 16, 2011

Susan Nelson Myers - Three Questions

Susan Nelson Myers
Susan Nelson Myers is a poet, artist, beekeeper, and small business entrepreneur who resides in Mayodan, North Carolina. Her work has appeared in Contemporary Haibun Online (online and print edition), The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Frogpond, and Prune Juice and is forthcoming in a number of other publications.  Susan was one of four poets to write the first renray entitled Ephemera, a collaborative genre of poetry for two to four people that emphasizes jazz-like improvisational verse. Susan also provided a Spanish translation of Ephemera.

Susan received an editor’s commentary for her haibun entitled a pot of beans and a Best of the Net 2011 Nomination for her free verse poem entitled Fourteen Days. Susan also received a Denny’s Award for her "removing sandals" haiku.



1) Why do you write haiku?

i enjoy the focus required by haiku.  focus on a moment...focus on the richness of the right word in the right place...focus on resonance.


2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

i enjoy haibun and tanka, but my first love will always be haiku.


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


autumn’s palette —
a flash
of crow’s wing blue

Frogpond - Volume 34, Number 2, Spring/Summer 2011



swell’s cusp —
i stand on top
of rain

Frogpond - Volume 34, Number 2, Spring/Summer 2011



removing sandals
i breathe deep
the horse’s mane

Denny’s Award - XIII Calico Cat International Bilingual Haiku Contest - Origa Kankodori Press -
http://origa.livejournal.com/184757.html





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

Sunday updates

 A Hundred Gourds

A Hundred Gourds now has a temporary webpage where you will find the basic submission guidelines and information.

There is also an opt-in facility for those who would like to receive news and updates.

http://ahundredgourds.haikuhut.com/

We welcome your submissions of haiku, tanka, haibun, haiga and articles/ essays relevant to the haikai genre for the March 2012 issue until the submissions closing date of December 15th, 2011.

Though the url for the inaugural issue in December will change slightly, the site will remain available via this link as well.

A big thank-you to Mike Rehling, who is generously hosting A Hundred Gourds.

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



Journal of Renga & Renku 

Many thanks to all who entered this year's JRR Renku Contest. In total we received 52 poems from 29 sabaki (lead poets) in 11 countries on four continents, which I believe is a record number of entries for any non-Japanese renku contest. Our judge, the renowned renku poet and editor Eiko Yachimoto, is now reading the entries. The winning poem will be published, together with a detailed critique, in the next issue of Journal of Renga & Renku, to appear at the end of 2011. All entries will be considered as content for inclusion in the journal.

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

Follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/journal.of.renga.renku



Ed Baker sent the following URL:

http://poemsandpoetics.blogspot.com/2011/10/ed-baker-three-excerpts-from-stone-girl.html




J. Zimmerman sent this:
Wild Violets

The just-published Wild Violets (the 2011 Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Annual Haiku Anthology) is a labor of love, full of haiku, haibun, and essays about modern haiku practice: a great gift book.

It showcases selected haiku by 57 poets (including Kevin Goldstein-Jackson, Christopher Herold, Deborah P. Kolodji, Patricia J. Machmiller, Michael McClintock, Patricia Prime, Billie Wilson, and Teruo Yamagata) from the USA, Europe, New Zealand, and Japan.

Ten informative essays explore the practice of haiku in a wide sense, suggesting ways that readers might add to their haiku toolkit. The first three essays concern our core tools:

    "Kigo: A Poetic Device in English Too" by Patricia J. Machmiller;
    the saijiki, as in Anne M. Homan's "The Task of Writing a Sajiki;" and
    the ginko, adapted to the "Urban Ginko" by Deborah P. Kolodji.

Other essays include "Haiku with Very Few Verbs" by Jerry Ball, "Haiku … Zen—What's the Diff?" by Christopher Herold, and "Gendai Haiku: Why Should We Care?" by Patrick Gallagher.

Selected micro-haibun are for nine of the poets.

The anthology's title is from a haiku by Patricia J. Machmiller:


   the little child
   wanting only to be held—
   wild violets

Edited and introduced by Jerry Ball and J. Zimmerman, the anthology's poems and text are enhanced by Ann Bendixen's powerful yet elegant art. Judith Morrison Schallberger designed the anthology and Harry Lafnear designed the cover.

Wild Violets is available pre-paid by check made out to Yuki Teikei Haiku Society (YTHS) of $12 plus p&p ($5 USA; $10 for Canada, Mexico, or Europe; $12.00 for Asia, Australia, and New Zealand). Include your mailing address with your payment to: YTHS Treasurer, 6116 Dunn Avenue, San Jose, CA 95123, USA.

Printed at Patson's Press, Sunnyvale (September 2011) Wild Violets is 70 pages plus folding inserts; 6" x 9". Glossy art covers; perfect bound. ISBN 978-0-9745404-9-8.

Our editors' introduction can be read at:
http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/haiku/anthology.yuki.teikei.htm#2011





Roberta Beary's The Unworn Necklace was recently reviewed on Basho's Road.

The Unworn Necklace is available at Amazon.com.



Penny Harter sent this:

I was invited by the Unitarian Church to give the morning message on August 21st. My topic was using writing, specifically poetry, to move from loss and grief into healing and light. I spoke of my several journeys  through loss and grief (divorce, death of my parents, and loss of my husband) and incorporated a number of my poems. My talk was about 1/2 hour long, and they posted it on their web site. To see it, please go to:

http://www.uucsjs.org/sermons.html and scroll down to August 21st.

I'm moved to post this today because today, October 11th, is the third anniversary of my husband Bill Higginson's death.It was a privilege to share my journey with the congregation. I offer another message on November 21st, this one on honoring the planet. I'll share poetry that focuses on the natural world----poems that witness what we've done to harm the Earth, and poems that celebrate its beauties and gifts. I'll post a link to that one too if they video it.

[I've also embedded Penny's video here.]





Let's close this update with a little flute music this beautiful Sunday morning:


Monday, October 10, 2011

Monday updates

Good day to you all!

I have power issues with my laptop so please bear with me while I struggle with this new...bump in the road.

Here are a few news items:



A new issue of Notes from the Gean was recently published online.This issue is loaded with a lot of great stuff to read. Browse over to http://www.notesfromthegean.com/ and check out the contents page.

BTW, my sincerest thanks to the editors for publishing two renray in the new issue.



Season's greetings - autumn is now fast coming on here in Kyoto. The crickets are beginning to quieten their cries.

Kindly spread the word about the Kikakuza International Haibun Contest's transmutation into next years's Genjuan International Haibun Contest if you possibly can. Nobuyuki Yuasa and I would much appreciate it being posted on any English/international haiku sites or in newsletters this autumn. The renaming is explained and guidelines outlined in the attachment (in two different Word formats). For good measure, however, I will copy them out below, too. We will look forward to another good entry from many countries around the world. Entry is free again. Deadline: late January.

The Hailstone Haiku Circle site, the Icebox, at  http://hailhaiku.wordpress.com/ also carries the guidelines, as well as last year's top four pieces to read (both items are accessed by links at top right). You can also see there (scroll down a little on the top page) the book we have produced of the first three years' Decorated Works and order it if you like. There are some new translations of haibun by Basho, Buson, and Issa at the back. There will be a few review/gift copies available shortly, but only a few!

Thank you in advance for any help you can give our Contest. If ever in the Kyoto-Osaka area, please drop by.

Best wishes,
Stephen Gill (Tito)

(and on behalf of Nobuyuki (Sosui), too)




Turtle Light Press sent this update.



 The 14th International Apokalipsa Haiku Contest

 Deadline: March 15, 2012 

No of entries: up to 6 original unpublished haiku (in one of the former Yugoslavian languages and/or in English) not under consideration elsewhere.

Topic and form: any

Send four (4) copies of each haiku, or group of haiku, signed by a cipher, along with a separate sheet in another envelope with your cipher, name, age, profession, address, phone number and email address to:

APOKALIPSA
Ulica Lili Novy 25
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia

(subject: For haiku contest)

or to

revija@kud-apokalipsa.si

In which case enclose two attachments, one with haiku and another with your personal data, both signed by your cipher.

Judges: Edin Saračević, Silva Trstenjak and Alenka Zorman.

Winners will receive some practical prizes. Contest results will be published in Apokalipsa Review.




Haiku Hot Springs, November 4th and 5th

Hi Curtis,

We may be adding people to the program.

This is our first working schedule.

Howard


9:00 AM  Welcome & Haiku Sharing....Howard Lee Kilby and R. Paul Tucker, MD, Arkansas Haiku Society
9:30 ......"Senryu"  by Patricia Laster, Poets Roundtable of Arkansas, Benton, AR,
10:30 ...."Liminality" by Susan Delphine Delaney, MD, Plano, TX
11:30 ...Lunch Break
1:00 PM... "Writing a Haiku Blog"  by Margaret Dornaus, Writer and Teacher
2:00    ... "Japanese Calligraphy Demonstration" by Mickey Hulsey
3:00 ... Ginko Walk and Kukai lead by Johnye Elizabeth Strickland, Professor Emeritis, UALR

Saturday: NOV 5, 2011

9:00 AM Announcements - Participants
9:30  Workshop ...Tom Painting, Teacher, Atlanta, GA
11:30  Lunch Break
1:00 "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" by Omar Almobarak, Hot Springs, AR
2:00 "Panel" Beginning Haiku Poets"  Rev. Gail Paul, Hot Springs, AR
3:00 Haiku Friends Autumnal Gift Exchange ... led by Susan Delphine Delaney, MD
        (Please bring a wrapped gift a haiku poet would enjoy, (about $10 or pre-loved.)

There are poets expected from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

The program is subject to change with the addition of confirmed haiku poets.

Please let me know if there is any information I can share with you.

Thank you very much,

Howard Lee Kilby
PO Box 1260
Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas 71902-1260
Tel: 501-767-6096
Email: hkilby@hotmail.com



 HAIKU REALITY / STVARNOST CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

http://haikureality.webs.com/

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

Beginning with the next issue English Haiku Editor and one of the two selectors (besides Jasminka Nadaskic Djordjevic) of the best haiku of the issue will be Robert D. Wilson, who will take an'ya's place, as she has to concentrate more on her many other obligations.
Thank you very much to an'ya for her excellent collaboration! 

Deadline: October 31, 2011.

Warmly,
Saša Važić

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Gabriola Island

I apologize for the small hiatus. My daughter, Alana, and I moved recently. We're still located in the little old southern town of Mayodan, North Carolina. I know it may sound a bit cliché but there truly is no place like home.

I'd like to thank everyone, near and far, who have helped and supported me during this transition. Sometimes you have no idea just how large your family can be until you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to lean on. I am forever indebted to you all.

BTW, Alana recently contributed to Paw Prints, her school newspaper. Chapter one of Alana's story entitled Black, White, and Gold appears on page seven of the September issue of Paw Prints. Yes, I'm a proud father of a remarkable 12 year-old.

Okay, let's talk poetry!

I no longer do reviews on Tobacco Road. Frankly, I don't have time. However, occasionally I receive a book from someone that is so captivating that I am compelled to spread the news. Tidepools: Haiku on Gabriola is such a book. Edited by Michael Dylan Welch, Tidepools is is a splendid book of haiku, senryu, haibun, rengay (and more) by poets who gather annually at the home of Naomi Beth Wakan on Gabriola Island, British Columbia. This book is more than an anthology of spectacular poems: It is also a guideline as to how haiku gatherings should be conducted, in an air of mutual respect, teaching and learning. Participating poets pay tribute to Gabriola Island in Tidepools with their poems:


sun-worshippers
their discarded clothes
find the shade

Harvey Jenkins
Nanaimo, British Columbia


Silva Bay
watersplash from the tips
of a toddler's toes

Naia
Oceanside, California


pale and wet
drips the winter moon
from the painter's brush

Leanne McIntosh
Nanaimo, British Columbia

Naomi Beth Wakan's free verse poem,  How to Write a Haiku, on page 26 is instructional and fabulous!

I hope I can find my way to Gabriola Island someday. Until then, I'll read and reread this remarkable book.

I'll have another post for you soon.


Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sunday updates


Journal of Renga & Renku : Just 3 weeks left to send content

A quick reminder that there are just three weeks left in our reading period for the next issue of Journal of Renga & Renku, which closes on October 1, 2011. Full details at http://tinyurl.com/jrr-cfc .  To gain an idea of the sort of content that interests the editors, leaf through the 17-page online preview of the current issue of JRR at http://tinyurl.com/preview-jrr1 .

We'd also be very happy to receive an entry (or several) from you, for the 2011 JRR renku contest, to be judged by Eiko Yachimoto. Full details at http://tinyurl.com/jrr-contest . Entry is free. Closing date for entries: October 1, 2011.

Please send all contributions and other communications to RengaRenku@gmail.com (RengaRenku AT gmail DOT com)

We look forward to hearing from you.

Norman Darlington
Moira Richards
Journal of Renga & Renku
http://darlingtonrichards.com/



The results of The Haiku Calendar Competition 2011 have been posted.

http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/contests/thcc/results/thcc2011results.pdf

Friday, September 9, 2011

Friday updates

2011 San Francisco International Competition
Haiku, Senryu, Tanka and Rengay
Sponsored by: Haiku Poets of Northern California
Deadlines for Haiku, Senryu, and Tanka: In hand, October 31, 2011
Deadlines for Rengay: In hand, November 30, 2011

Details
All entries must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. There is no limit to the number of submissions. A first prize of $100 will be awarded in each of the four categories. For the Haiku contests, second and third prizes of $50 and $25 will be awarded. Contest results will be announced at the first HPNC meeting in January and in the HPNC Newsletter. Winning poems will be published in the Spring/Summer issue of Mariposa, the membership journal of the HPNC. All rights revert to authors after the contest results are announced. This contest is open to all except the HPNC president and, for their respective categories, the contest coordinators and the judges (who will remain anonymous until after the competition, except rengay contest).

Haiku, Senryu, and Tanka Submission Guidelines
Type or print each entry on two 3 x 5 cards. In the upper left corner of each card identify its category as Haiku, Senryu, or Tanka. On the back of one card only, print your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address (optional). The entry fee is $1.00 per poem. Send haiku, senryu and tanka submissions, along with entry fee, to HPNC, c/o Carolyne Rohrig, 37966 Parkmont Dr., Fremont, CA 94536.

Rengay Submission Guidelines
All rengay must be titled. For two people (Poet A and Poet B) follow this linked format: 3 lines/Poet A, 2 lines/Poet B, 3/A, 3/B, 2/A, 3/B. For three poets (A, B, and C) the format is: 3 lines/A, 2 lines/B, 3 lines/C, 2/A, 3/B, 2/C. Type or print each rengay on three letter-size sheets. Include full authorship information, stanza by stanza, as well as all poets' names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses (optional) on one copy only. On the other two copies, mark stanzas with letters only (poet A, poet B, poet C) to indicate the sequence of authorship. The entry fee is $5.00 per rengay. The rengay judge will be announced later. Send rengay submissions to HPNC, c/o Fay Aoyagi, 930 Pine St. #105, San Francisco CA 94108.

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

Thank you for participating in this year's contest.
If you have any questions, please contact Carolyne Rohrig by e-mail (carolyne.rohrig@gmail.com)
http://www.hpnc.org



South by Southeast has a submissions deadline coming up on Sept. 15th. Visit the South by Southeast web site for more information:

http://southbysoutheasthaiku.blogspot.com/



North Carolina Haiku Society poets Lenard D. Moore and Tom Heffernan have free verse poems about 9/11 on the North Carolina Arts Council web site. Click their names below to read their poems:

Lenard D. Moore

Tom Heffernan



M. Kei sent this:

I have completed the revamp of Pirates of the Narrow Seas, second edition, publishing now through CreateSpace. The books have better physical production values, and I'm very happy with the new printer.

Pirates of the Narrow Seas 1 : The Sallee Rovers, 2nd Edition: https://www.createspace.com/3664325

Pirates of the Narrow Seas 3 : Iron Men, Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Pirates-Narrow-Seas-ebook/dp/B005LKMIS6/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315441535&sr=1-2

The first three books in the series are also available in other formats from All Romance Books, iBooksthore, and other retailers.

Lt. Peter Thorton, a gay officer serving in the British navy during the Age of Sail must struggle to come out gay while surviving ship to ship battles, storms at sea, duels, kidnapping and more in his quest for true love and honor in the narrow Seas. Winner of a Sweet Revolution Award and a Rainbow Award.

The first book can be read for free online at: NarrowSeas.blogspot.com

Happy reading,

~K~

M. Kei
author, Pirates of the Narrow Seas



Another poet has passed. Svetlana Marisova died a couple of days ago at the age of 21. Robert D. Wilson has more information on his A Lousy Mirror web site.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Wednesday updates

Hello Sketchbook Writers and Artists and Readers:

A note from Karina.

Some of you may know, as a woman I love to create new things. In addition to my Global Correspondents, the Little Black Book, Contributing Editors and Childwriter's Sketchbook, which were my last creations to the Sketchbook, I have a new one, Showcase Haiku Haijin, ie. SHH! I will scout out each Sketchbook Issue for haiku to Showcase. These haiku will be chosen by rigid standards.

I have not set a limit to how many haiku will be selected for the Showcase Haiku Haijin; that will be determined and vary each issue depending upon the haiku submitted and selected for the issue. While our thread is themed and our kukai has a kigo, the Showcase Haiku Haijin (SHH), will not be restricted to a topic. However, each Showcase Haiku must have a kigo / season word in the season of the publication they are submitting to. Showcase Haiku Haijin is only for Haiku, no other genres. Later we will add Tanka as a separate showcase.

Haijin may send up to five haiku for each bi-monthly issue: February, April, June, August, October, and December. Haiku entered in the Showcase Haiku Haijin (SHH) must be previously unpublished; they must not be work shopped; they must not appear on any list, forum, group, blog, or in print. In short, if the haiku has appeared on the internet or in print we consider it to have been published. The next deadline is 20, October, 2011 for the September/October 31, 2011 issue. Any autumn kigo may be selected.

Send to: Shh@poetrywriting.org
Subject line: SHH and your name

Include a Reference from which your Autumn kigo word was chosen; for example:

Autumn Kigo: "morning dew"--autumn season/climate: The Haiku Handbook. William J. Higginson, p. 277.

Autumn Kigo: "quail"--autum season / animals: The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words: on-line @ http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html
Autumn Kigo: "harvest time"--autumn season/humanity: World Kigo Database--on-line:
http://worldkigo2005.blogspot.com/2005/08/harvest-and-its-kigo.html

The World Kigo Datebase also maintains a list of regional Kigo. Other saijiki sources may also be used; just be specific.
~ ~ ~

The July / August Sketchbook issue will not be published until September 30, 2011 due to the high volume of submissions and tributes.

Remember to submit your poems to the Found Poem Contest to be elegible for the 1st. prize of $50.00 or 2nd prize of $ 25.00. Read the Details here! Deadline is December 1, 2011.

Send Found Poems to : found@poetrywriting.org
Subject Line: Found Poem Contest plus Poet’s Name
~ ~ ~

Sketchbook “autumn leaves” Kukai: Enter by October 20, 2011: read the details here.

Sketchbook “cemetery” Haiku Thread: Enter by October 26, 2011; read the details here.

Submissions are open for the September / October 31, 2011 Sketchbook. Submit by October 20, 2011. Read the submission guidelines.

Karina Klesko, Sketchbook Administrator
kk

Sketchbook Editors: Karina Klesko and John Daleiden
kk / jd



Gabriel Rosenstock sent this:

a new Wurm project: the poezine can-can

details here: http://www.wurmimapfel.net/can-can





The winners of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2011 Haiku Invitational have been posted:





I'd like to thank Charlotte Digregorio for linking to my mini essay entitled An Introduction to Haiku & Senryu for New Haiku & Senryu Poets and also for interviewing me and featuring three of my free verse poems on her web site recently.



And, finally, some very sad news for you today:


Vale Janice M Bostok 1942 -2011

Australian haiku poets will be saddened by the death of revered haiku poet Janice M Bostok, Patron of the Australian Haiku Society, editor, teacher, judge and mentor in the haiku field. Janice died peacefully in the Murwillumbah Hospital yesterday afternoon Sunday 4th September. On behalf of the Australian Haiku Society (HaikuOz) may I offer condolences to Janice’s family, and to her haiku colleagues and friends.

Cynthia Rowe
President: The Australian Haiku Society

More information on Janice’s life and her role in the haiku community will be posted soon.

Please submit your memorial poems and brief tributes to

cynthia.rowe@ozemail.com.au

Sunday, September 4, 2011

An Introduction to Haiku & Senryu for New Haiku & Senryu Poets


Here's a little something I put together for new haiku poets. I hope it will be useful to someone.


An Introduction to Haiku & Senryu for New Haiku & Senryu Poets

by Curtis Dunlap

This blog post comes with a warning: Once you open your “haiku eye”, it never closes. In fact, I dreamed in haiku once and I know of at least one other haiku poet who has dreamed in haiku. The dream was sort of like a musical but without music. Every word spoken, every poet in the dream communicated via haiku! It was a wonderfully pleasant dream. But I digress...

Okay, back to the “haiku eye”: You will start noticing small things that will stand out in your mind, a blade of grass swaying in the wind, bird songs, raindrops striking a puddle... Not everything I witness or observe becomes a haiku. Occasionally, a free verse poem will take shape from a haiku "moment" (an added benefit of the “haiku eye” that I did not expect).

So, what are haiku? In a nutshell, haiku are one-breath poems; they are picture poems. The haiku poet uses words to paint a picture without adding personal thought or feelings to the poem. In haiku the poet must “show, don’t tell”. Strong haiku can evoke an emotional response in the reader, an extraordinarily wonderful thing to experience when reading these concise poems.

The Japanese sound unit called an onji does not equal an English syllable. Japanese haiku sound units are written in a 5-7-5 format (again Japanese sound units, not English syllables). When English speaking poets began writing haiku they would write in three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. Now, since an onji does not equal an English syllable, an English haiku tends to be longer than a Japanese haiku. Experts on the subject have determined that a 17 onji haiku in Japanese should be about a 12 to 15 syllable poem in English.

Poet Jack Kerouac seldom wrote 5-7-5 haiku. Kerouac’s haiku are one-breath poems. Personally, I have always thought that it was better to use the best word or words for the poem. Trying to fit a word into a haiku to meet a syllable quota is akin to putting a square peg in a round hole.

Does that mean you should not write haiku in 5-7-5? No, many people are content to write in that format; however, I personally find it less stressful to write in the freer "one-breath" style. It does not cramp my creativity. I have a few poems written as 5-7-5, but it was never my intention to write 5-7-5 haiku. I just penned the poems, let the words flow and they unintentionally became 5-7-5 haiku.

Now, let's talk about kigo (kee-go). Kigo is a seasonal reference in haiku. You can explicitly mention the season as in this poem of mine:

empty house –
a whisper of mother's voice
in the autumn wind

Museum of Haiku Literature Award
Frogpond Volume XXXI:1 - Winter 2008

or this poem:

spring planting –
a redbird offers a seed
to his mate

The Heron's Nest VII:3 - 9, 2005

Autumn and spring are the seasonal references (kigo) in the two poems.

You can also imply the season, by using an image to suggest a season. Can you guess the time of year for this poem?

tall tales in the shade –
grandpa shifts his tobacco
to the other cheek

Notes from the Gean Issue 1 - 2009

or this poem:

bustling shoppers –
the bell ringer's
prosthetic hand

The Heron's Nest X:4 - 12, 2008

Tobacco growing season is a spring or summer kigo. If you guess Christmas for the second poem, you are correct! Christmas is a winter kigo.

You can also use animals and plant life to suggest a season:

a gray cubicle –
cicada songs
through a speaker phone

The Heron's Nest VI:9, 2004

fog rising –
mushrooms push aside
a bed of pine needles

The Heron's Nest VI:11, 2004

Cicadas suggest summer. Fog and mushrooms suggest autumn.

The Japanese take kigo very seriously in haiku, creating entire collections of season words called a saijiki that include wildlife, plants, weather etc. and how or when they should be used in haiku. (William J. Higginson compiled the first international saijiki, entitled Haiku World.)

Let's talk about juxtaposition. Reread the above poems. Did you notice that I used an em dash to separate two sections of the poems? This is done for contrast. Haiku invite the reader to participate in the poem. It is up to the reader to make the connection between the contrasting images. Neat, eh? You and I may read the same haiku; however, it may resonate within you and have a different meaning for you than it does for me. That is a concept that took a while for me to understand.

Okay, back to juxtaposition. There are other ways to separate the two parts of the poem. I have seen poets use a comma, colon, or ellipses as in this poem:

autumn rain
peppers the sand . . .
a missing toe's phantom itch

Frogpond Volume XXVII:3 (Nov. 2004)

Notice also that I separated the second and third lines whereas I separated the first and second lines in the earlier poems. By the way, I have all my toes. The above poem is what I call an “empathy haiku”. I wrote a short article for Modern Haiku that describes empathy haiku. The article is also available at the following URL:

http://tobaccoroadpoet.blogspot.com/2009/07/when-empathy-leads-to-haiku.html

Another haiku technique is to not use anything to separate the contrasting images in a haiku, leaving it up to the reader to decide:

sunset across the field
afterglow
of a full day's work

Frogpond Volume 31:2 - Spring/Summer 2008

Sometimes there is no sharp cut between the two images, the haiku might read as a one breath sentence as in this poem:

up with the rooster
tending her tomato plants
the childless widow

NCHS Anthology Commemorating HNA 2007

One-line haiku are popular. Here is one of my one-line haiku:

rain drops changing the tone of river stones

Modern Haiku Volume 39.1 - Winter/Spring 2008

By the way, I intentionally penned "rain drops" instead of raindrops...implying "rain falls"...oh, and the rhyme was unintentional. Haiku do not rhyme. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule.

That is haiku in a nutshell. Now, let's move onto senryu. Senryu are structurally like haiku, but where haiku are about nature or nature linked to the human condition, senryu are about human nature. Check out these poems:

after the burial . . .
my father’s smile
on so many faces

The Heron's Nest VIII:4 - 12, 2006

country store –
two old-timers whittle
over world affairs

The Heron's Nest VI:8, 2004

outside the planetarium
a senior couple share
a doobie

Notes from the Gean Issue 1 - 2009

karaoke night –
a barfly dances
with the wallflower

Frogpond Volume XXX:2 (June 2007)

Did you notice that there are no seasonal references? The above poems are about human nature.

Senryu can be poignant, satirical, and humorous as in this poem by the lovely Hortensia Anderson:

celibacy—
sounded like a fine idea
until that last beer . . .

Prune Juice: Journal of Senryu and Kyoka (Winter 2009)

Another one of my senryu published in a recent issue of Prune Juice:

plucking hair
from my ears
she loves me, she loves me not

Prune Juice Issue 6 - Summer 2011

Okay, that is a crash course in English adaptations of a couple of Japanese poetic forms. The absolute best thing that I recommend for you to do is to read a lot of haiku and senryu. Saturate your brain with haiku and senryu by other poets and, before long, you will start thinking and composing your own poems. Your “haiku eye” will switch on and stay on. You will look for haiku and senryu and they will, quite often, find you!

I recommend:

Patricia Donegan on Chiyo-ni's "Way of Haiku"

http://www.akaihana.com/Chiyo-ni.htm

The Heron's Nest (has over a decade of haiku online)

http://www.theheronsnest.com/

Modern Haiku (has a few sample poems/issues online)

http://modernhaiku.org/

Frogpond (journal of The Haiku Society of America...a few samples online)

http://www.hsa-haiku.org/frogpond/index.html

Prune Juice (electronic edition online)

http://prunejuice.wordpress.com/journal/

Magnapoets

http://magnapoets.com/

Jane Reichhold’s Haiku page: http://www.ahapoetry.com/haiku.htm

I also recommend The Haiku Handbook by William J. Higginson and Penny Harter.

There are dozens of other haiku links and journals listed on my blog or web site.

http://tobaccoroadpoet.blogspot.com

http://tobaccoroadpoet.com

And finally, if you require a little more room to convey an experience in a poem, check out tanka. Tanka are longer than haiku (five lines) and you have the freedom to add personal thought or feeling.

http://tobaccoroadpoet.com/tanka.html

Happy Haikuing!

Curtis

Friday, September 2, 2011

Friday Updates


Gabriel Rosenstock sent this:

Dear All,

The Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Competition offers prizes of Euro 150, Euro 50 and Euro 30 for unpublished haiku/senryu in English. In addition there will be up to 7 Highly Commended haiku/senryu.

Also, there will be prizes from Dóchas Ireland of Euro 100, Euro 30 and Euro 20 for unpublished haiku/senryu in English or in Irish Gaelic (with an English translation) about poverty + up to 3 Highly Commended haiku/senryu in this category.

Details here: http://irishhaiku.webs.com/haikucompetition.htm All the entries shall be postmarked by 15th November 2011. No e-mail submissions, please!

Good luck to all!

Irish Haiku Society




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

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

Contributors to this issue include Melissa Allen, Steven Carter, Marcyn Del Clements, Glenn G. Coats, L. Costa, Anne Curran, Tish Davis, Cherie Hunter Day, Claire Everett, Al Fogel, Autumn N. Hall, Jeffrey Harpeng, Michele L. Harvey, Laura Hill, Mary Hind, Ken Jones, Roger Jones, Patricia Kennelly, Gary LeBel, Bob Lucky, Victor Maddalena, Michael McClintock, Kathe L. Palka, Carol Pearce-Worthington, Dru Philippou, Patricia Prime, Kala Ramesh, Ray Rasmussen, Lynne Rees, Richard Straw, Charles Tarlton, Diana Webb, Harriot West and Theresa Williams.

This issue also features an in-depth interview with Michael McClintock, “Wheeling through the Cedars,” on the subject of his haibun, tanka and other writing as well as an insightful critical essay, by Ray Rasmussen, on the rarely examined role of the title in haibun. Bob Lucky and Charles Tarlton reflect upon their individual writing of tanka prose in short personal memoirs. In addition, a long review of Gary LeBel’s Abacus is reprinted and the final results of British Haiku Awards (Haibun Section) 2010 are announced.

Writers are now invited to submit haibun, tanka prose and articles for consideration in the December 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




 A new issue of The Heron's Nest is is available.




 A new issue of The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature is available.



 A new issue of World Haiku Review is available.



Narrative Magazine has an interesting story by Elisabeth Harvor. The title of the story is Prison Nights, Winter Nights. The story is about a woman teaching poetry to prisoners and, yes, there are a few haiku in the story.

You'll have to register to read the story, but registration is free.



Scott Owens sent this:

My fall schedule of readings is pretty well set now.  There have been a few changes since I first posted this online, so I'm emailing it to my friends and those I think might be interested in the new book, "Something Knows the Moment," which will be the primary focus of my readings for a while.  Specifically, the Joe Milford Show has been at least temporarily cancelled; the Fuquay-Varina reading has changed date, time, and location; the 10/14 reading has moved from Young Harris College to a coffee shop in Hiwassee; and I've added the NetWest Picnic on 10/16 and Barnhill's on 12/9.  I hope at least one of these is close enough to you that you'll be able to attend, hear some of the poems, and get a signed copy of the book.  If you can't make it to a reading, you can still order a book from Main Street Rag or directly from me.

Thanks for all your interest and support.

9/13, 5:30, "Something Knows the Moment" Release Party, Taste Full Beans Coffeeshop, Hickory, NC
9/15, 6:00, Lazy Lion Bookstore, Fuquay-Varina, NC
9/16, 7:00, Lincoln County Cultural Center, Lincolnton, NC
9/17, 1:00-4:00, Momentous Writing Workshop, Coastal Carolina University, Pawley's Island, SC
9/24, 2:00-4:00, 100 Thousand Poets for Change, Minetta Lane Center, Hickory, NC
9/25, 2:00, McIntyre's Fine Books, Pittsboro, NC
10/14, Writers’ Night Out, Mountain Perk, Hiwassee, GA
10/15, Perpetual Writing Prompts, The Writers' Circle, Hayesville, NC
10/16, 2:00, NetWest Annual Picnic, Location to be determined
11/3, 7:00, Royal Bean Coffeehouse, Raleigh, NC
11/6, 3:00, Malaprops, Asheville, NC
11/6, 5:00, WordPlay with Jeff Davis, http://www.ashevillefm.org/wordplay
11/18-19, NCWN Fall Conference, Asheville, NC
12/9, 6:30, Barnhills, Winston-Salem, NC

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



And finally, let's start the weekend with a little music.

Monday, August 29, 2011

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!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

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.


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


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.

Friday, August 26, 2011

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

Thursday, August 25, 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

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

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, August 23, 2011

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.



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.



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



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

Monday, August 22, 2011

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.



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



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

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

Sunday, August 21, 2011

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



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



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.

Friday, August 19, 2011

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: