I would like to extend our congratulations to Beverley George, who recently won the 2009 Genkissu! Spirits Up! World Wide Hekinan Haiku Contest with her haiku:
from a lifted oar
a shimmer connects the sky
and sunlit river
Australia, Beverley George
for full contest results visit:
http://www.city.hekinan.aichi.jp/KANKOKYOKAI/haiku/genkissu/haikutaikai_kekka.htm
Many people reading this will be familiar with, and perhaps a practitioner of haiga. What was different – and challenging – about a haiku workshop I gave for the Central Coast Art Society at the invitation of Ms Margaret Hardy of Multi-Arts Confederation, was that the haiku were presented and illustrated in real time in sumi-e (black ink brush painting) or conte crayon. Artist Sherry McCourt, demonstrated the very different techniques required for each. Instant reponse painting is quite demanding on the artist but Sherry coped admirably. The first workshop was great fun and it would be fascinating to explore this type of activity further.
Beverley George
In June I was invited to give a tanka workshop for Warrah Writers at Murrurrundi
Murrurrundi is a delightful country town with fascinating rock formations nearby. The meeting place for the Warrah Writers is a room at the railway station which looked bleak when we entered but was soon made cosy and appealing by enterprising members. Two rugs were laid on the floor and four matching blue cloths on each long table. Two antique lamps were placed on the tables and a fire was expertly laid in the fireplace. In no time it was blazing and warmed the room effectively for the two and a half hours the workshop lasted. One slight interruption occurred when an 80 truck coal train passed by only feet away.
A stage two workshop for Warrah Writers is being planned for next year and also an address to a reading group called Scrolls, based near Quirindi . Scrolls was established over forty years ago and has over thirty active members.
Beverley George
Wollumbin Haiku Workshop presents its seventh collection of haiku on:
www.wollumbin-haiku.com
Previous collections may be found on the site under archives .
Feedback is appreciated, contact:
Nathalie Buckland
[email protected]
The City of Salisbury in conjunction with its Salisbury Writers' Festival is holding a Haiga Art Prize. Entry is free and the first prize is $500. For more information visit the City of Salisbury website: www.salisbury.sa.gov.au and click on the Salisbury Writers' Festival link.
For those of you who might be in Adelaide for the Festival, Tom Keneally is the keynote speaker.
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 seven Highly Commended haiku/senryu.
All the entries shall be postmarked by 31th October 2009. No e-mail submissions, please! Details here: http://irishhaiku.webs.com/haikucompetition.htm
Saturday the 18th July, 3pm-6pm.
Tea and Haiku at Chado The Way of Tea 134 Elizabeth Street, Hobart.
Enjoy an afternoon of Haiku poetry with a tea theme by Lyn Reeves, Ron Moss, Jenny Barnard, Annaxue Yang, Robyn Mathison, Jill Cartwright, Lorraine Haig and Ross Coward. Anne Collins will read excerpts from the book Baisao The Old Tea Seller by Norman Waddell. The cost is $15 per person which includes tea and a specialty sweet. Please note the reading will take place in the first floor room of the teahouse which is accessible only by stairs. Bookings essential. Ring Chado on 62316411.
*Modern Haibun & Tanka Prose*
*Issue 2. Winter 2009*
You are invited to submit haibun and tanka prose for the Winter 2009 issue of *Modern Haibun & Tanka Prose*. The submission deadline is September 30, 2009. Submissions will NOT close earlier than the deadline.
*Modern Haibun & Tanka Prose* is a biannual journal--a print literary journal, a PDF ebook, and a digital online magazine--dedicated to the publication and promotion of fine English haibun and tanka prose. We seek traditional and innovative haibun and tanka prose of high quality and desire to assimilate the best of these Japanese genres into a continuously evolving English tradition. In addition to haibun and tanka prose, we publish articles, essays, book reviews and interviews pertinent to these same genres.
*Modern Haibun & Tanka Prose* specializes in fine haibun and tanka prose. All selection decisions will be made at the sole discretion of the editor.
Previously unpublished work, not on offer elsewhere, is solicited.
*Modern Haibun & Tanka Prose*, Baltimore, Maryland USA. Website:
www.themetpress.com/modernhaibunandtankaprose/
Editor: Jeffrey Woodward. Email up to five haibun, five tanka prose, and
five short works to the Editor at MHTP(dot)EDITOR(at)GMAIL(dot)COM . Before
submitting, please read the detailed submission guidelines and haibun and
tanka prose selection criteria on the website at
*www.themetpress.com/modernhaibunandtankaprose/submit.html*
*Modern Haibun & Tanka Prose* looks for top quality haibun and tanka prose
in natural, modern English idiom. No payment for publication. No contributor
copies. Publishes a print edition (6" x 9" trade paperback), a PDF ebook,
and an online digital edition.
The forecast of 'Fine - high cloud" was quite correct for the fourteenth ginko of the Cloudcatchers on the Far North Coast of NSW on Thursday 25 June. The venue of Shaw's Bay at Ballina presented a grey day, with a dirty sea full of yellow foam and post-storm debris which contrasted with all previous seaside ginko. But the trawlers were still going out, and along came a pod of dolphins to break our concentration, lighten our hearts and enter our writing. Many fine first drafts were produced, and the best of these are currently being discussed in an email Round Robin among the participants. We welcomed one new enthusiast, and invite any haiku poet who is in the area to join us for our Spring ginko in October. Contact Quendryth Young at [email protected].