This year, in our International haiku contest in English, in Klostar Ivanic, Croatia, we received 459 haiku written by 147 authors from 30 countries. Thank you for your contributions, join us again. Closing date on our next contest is June 30, 2008. Judges: prof. Ruzica Mokos and prof. Vida Pust Skrgulja.

1st Prize
waking up
the view from my window
still the same
Mateusz Sionkowski, Torun, Poland (16)

2nd Prize
between steel bars
of the unfinished building
a spider's web
Santiago M. Pacquing Jr., Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, Philippines (40)

3rd Prize
in a Japanese book
from far far far away
a long black hair
David Cobb, Shalford, England (8o)

Commendeds:

window shaped
moonlight
on the floor
Munira Judith Avinger, Lac Brome, Quebec, Canada

end of rain
each cactus thorn keeps
its raindrops
Rosa Clement, Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil

summer pool
a cat's tongue
touches the surface
Tanya Dikova, Tel Aviv, Israel

thunder
the cicadas too
stunned into silence
Bob Lucky, Chiang Mai, Thailand

summer sun
even the ants' faces
tanned
Magdalena Ljubomirova Borisova, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

open window
the cherry blossom fragrance
call me again
Vasile Moldovan, Bucharest, Romania

gipsy happpiness
laugh of barefoot children
in summer downpour
Gordana Radovanovic, Banja Luka, Bih

winter morn
bare trees
all alone
Lanie Shanzyra P. Rebancos, Pinas City, Philippines

almost dusk
the creak of a swing
from an empty park
Sanjukta, Belgaum,Karnataka, India

silent night tiha noć
turning the light off gasi se svjetlo
to watch the snow da se promatra snijeg
Grzegorz Sionkowski, Torun, Poland

downpour
dandelion blossoms closed
in little umbrellas
Verica Zivkovic, Starcevo kod Panceva, Srbija

a swollen river
the spring started somewhere
already
Ivan Nadilo, Metkovic, Croatia

Posted by Beverley George at 10:33 PM | Permalink

Becoming Sky - Report by Jeffrey Harpeng

Ynes Sanz cannily mc'd this megavitamin dose of haiku by reading the label of contents on this spoken literary supplement before retreating into the shadows to put her feet up and indulge. First up was the B complex and the St John's Wort from Dangerously Poetic Press. Laura Jan Shore and James Khidir read the Sand Between the Toes anthology to the musical accompaniment of Kevin James maintaining a sustained drone on harmonium and accompanying himself alternatively on ocarina and bamboo flutes according to the changes in emotional tone as the pieces shifted through the landscape and the various styles of the contributors. This firmly established a close your eyes and drift ambience. Almost an out of body experience.

Sue Stanford was an antioxidant in the mix, her acutely observed and crafted pieces a superb antidote to myopic vision and flaccid statement. She prefaced her work with listening advice for the audience. She warned of how a single haiku can set up a resonance and stay with you for minutes and even hours on occasion and at other times elude you before you can grasp them. She advised then, that as she would be reading quite a number of them that it would be best just let go of them. Taking that advice my experience was of an ebb and flow of word and emotion elegant and elegiac, passionate and precise.

Myron Lysenko followed with the iron of irony. By stop-watching his segment he overlayed his set with a sense of an unspoken senryu. His reading elicited a good deal more ha ha than ah ha! Even his haiku often sounded like they wanted to be senryu. Myron's inclusion at this point was important to dispel the uncritical sense of reverence which a long reading of haiku may engender. A sharp whiff of ye olde smelling salts.

Lyn Reeves, to the accompaniment of Jules Witek on percussion, was Co Q10 for the heart and vitamin E for the complexion. The bulk of her reading was a series of tanka or more likely waka, given her adopting the style and structure of the Manyoshu. This sequence was a lesson in how erotic poetry should be written. Each waka first portrays a tattoo and its place on a masculine anatomy, then follows a feminine response: hope, heart and body. The lower classes in old Japan were forbidden decorative apparel and thus found outlet in decorating their own bodies. This account was made all the more erotic by it being a forbidden relationship between social classes; a high born lady and a lower class man.

A fine piece of programming. I hope next year's festival has something to equal it.

Posted by Graham Nunn at 08:54 AM | Permalink

The new Katikati Haiku Pathway guidebook is now available. It features a complete set of the 30 poems, including those by Australian writers Janice Bostok, John Knight, Cecily Stanton and Ed Davis, engraved on boulders in this riverside walk in Katikati, New Zealand. The walk had its three newest additions blessed at the end of July in a ceremony conducted by local Maori.

The book also includes short author biographies, a potted history of the project and a map of the pathway.

For those ordering from Australia the cost (including P&P;) in New Zealand dollars is $11 for 1, or $19 for 2.

Payment may be made through the Katikati Haiku Pathway Focus Committee's PayPal account, please e-mail Sandra at [email protected] for details of the payee account, or for the cost if you wish to purchase more than 2 guidebooks.

Posted by Graham Nunn at 04:55 PM | Permalink

2008 English-Language Haiku Contest

Sponsor: The 14th Key West Robert Frost Poetry Festival (annual event)

Deadline: Postmark on or before March 24, 2008.

Prizes: 1st Place $100, 2nd Place $50, 3rd Place $25, and Honorable Mentions.

Judge: Editors from Modern Haiku Press.

Submissions: Previously unpublished, must contain a seasonal or nature image, 3-line format of up to 17 or fewer syllables. Two copies, typed or neatly written, with your name, address, phone and/or email on one copy only. For further information, visit robertfrostpoetryfestival.org

Entry fee: $10 for each 3 haiku. Make checks payable to “Robert Frost Poetry Festival.”

Send entries to: Robert Frost Haiku Contest, Heritage House, 410 Caroline Street, Key West, FL 33040 USA

Posted by Graham Nunn at 04:51 PM | Permalink

THE NEW ISSUE OF HAIKU REALITY IS OUT
(to close Sponsored Links on the right of each page click on << next to them)

http://www.geocities.com/ana_vazic/indexeng.htm

Contents
Haiku Contents

Essays, Criticisms, Analyses, Interviews...

a.. Geert Verbeke: Reflections...
b.. H. F. Noyes: Favourite Haiku
c.. Margaret Chula: Harmony: Poetry and a Bowl of Tea
d.. Lee Gurga: Juxtaposition
e.. Mohammed Fakhruddin: LAND AND SEA in Poetic Harmony
f.. Richard Powell: Still in the Stream
g.. Richard Powell: Wabi What?
h.. Bruce Ross: Sincerity and the Future of Haiku
i.. Lee Gurga: Toward an Aesthetic for English-Language Haiku
j.. Interview with David G Lanoue
k.. Interview with Max Verhart

Haiku Gallery

a.. Geert Verbeke
b.. Jadran Zalokar
c.. Aurora Antonovic
d.. Robert Wilson
e.. Gillena Cox
f.. Olga Hooper

Book Reviews

a.. Michael McClintock: David G Lanoue, Haiku Guy
b.. Instead of a book review: Ikuyo Yoshimura, elephant's eyes
c.. Michael McClintock: David G Lanoue, Laughing Buddha
d.. Jadran Zalokar: Dusan Vidakovic, From the Forsaken Shore
e.. Verica Zivkovic: Milenko D. Cirovic Ljuticki, The Embrace of Shadows
f.. Moma Dimic: Tatjana Stefanovic, Zoran D. Zivkovic, A Haiku Flower
g.. Charles Trumbull: Jianqing Zheng, The Porch, Delatascape & Found Haiku

Selected Haiku
a.. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE BEST HAIKU OF THE ISSUE
b.. Selected Haiku

http://www.geocities.com/ana_vazic/

Eseji, kritike, analize, intervjui...

a.. Milos Crnjanski: Haikai
b.. Zen u umetnostima
c.. Geert Verbeke: Razmisljanja
d.. H. F. Noyes: Omiljeni haiku
e.. Lee Gurga: Jukstapozicija
f.. Mohammed Fakhrudin: Kopno i more u poetskoj harmoniji
g.. Margaret Chula: Harmonija: poezija i cinija caja
h.. Pavle Adanski: Prema Sekspiru
i.. Sasa Vazic: Haiku u SCG (izmenjeno i dopunjeno)
j.. Richard Powell: Tisina potoka
k.. Richard Powell: Wabi sta?
l.. Bruce Ross: Iskrenost i buducnost haikua
m.. Lee Gurga: Put ka estetici...
n.. Intervju sa David Lanouem
o.. Intervju sa Max Verhartom
Recenzije knjiga

a.. David G Lanoeu, Haiku Guy: Michael McClintock
b.. David G Lanoue, Laughing Buddha: Michael McClintock
c.. Dusan Vidakovic, S prebolene obale: Jadran Zalokar
d.. Milenko D. Cirovic Ljuticki, U zagrljaju sjenki: Verica Zivkovic
e.. Ljubomir Dragovic, Dugo svitanje: Mileta Acimovic Ivkov, Dragan Jovanovic Danilov, Vladimir Devide
f.. Tatjana Stefanovic, Zoran D. Zivkovic, Haiku cvet: Moma Dimic
g.. Boro Latinovic, Splav plovi rekom: Zivan Zivkovic
h.. Jianqing Zheng, The Porch, Delatascape i Found Haiku: Charles Trumbull

YOUR FURTHER CONTRIBUTIONS TO HAIKU REALITY ARE MOST WELCOME!
THANK YOU!
VASA DALJA SARADNJA SA HAIKU STVARNOSCU NAM JE DRAGOCENA!
HVALA!

Sasa Vazic, editor (urednik)

Posted by Graham Nunn at 04:48 PM | Permalink

To celebrate seven years of publishing poetry, Pardalote Press is offering big savings. Titles are discounted by 25% - more for the special pack of six haiku titles. Beautiful gifts for special friends. You can order online at http://www.pardalote.com.au

Posted by at 11:41 AM | Permalink