Workshop: Haiku Day with Graham Nunn (QLD) & Maureen Sexton (WA)

Venue: Great Southern Room, State Library of Western Australia, 25 Francis Street, Perth.

Part one of this workshop will run from 10am - 12pm and address the following topics:

- a brief history of haiku
- defining haiku
- are the syllables important?
- haiku purpose
- fragment and phrase theory
- wabi and sabi
- techniques for writing haiku
- techniques for revising your work

Part II, will run from 1 pm to 3 pm and include a ginko and a look at publishing haiku in Australia and beyond.

To book email: [email protected]

Posted by Graham Nunn at 09:24 PM | Permalink

On behalf of everyone at Haiku Oz, I would like to extend my congratulations to Ron Moss for his recent success in taking out first prize in the With Words International Online Haiku Competition with his haiku:

record heat
a soon-to-be mum
backs into a wave

A full judges report can be read here: http://www.withwords.org.uk/results.html

Posted by Graham Nunn at 09:20 PM | Permalink

At the spring meeting of the Red Dragonflies on August 22 at Vanessa Proctor's home, members were led by Vanessa through the rigours of writing a 12 verse Shishan renku. As several members were new to this style of writing, there was some confusion and much hilarity to begin with, but as confidence grew, everyone settled to the task. A very enjoyable meeting.

Posted by Beverley George at 10:53 AM | Permalink

At the recent Queensland Poetry Festival, Janice M Bostok and Dr Jacqui Murray read a 100 verse renga they wrote some time ago. Commenting on their performance, Festival attendee John Bird wrote:

"The combination of two readers--they read alternate haiku--with large screen showing sumi-e and haiku text, was a fresh and exciting way to bring a 100-verse renga to a general poetry audience. It was very well received"

Congratulations, Janice and Jacqui.

Posted by Beverley George at 10:48 AM | Permalink

Ukiah is a northern California town whose name, backwards, spells "Haiku." In 2010 the
City of Ukiah will hold its 7th annual haiku contest and festival.

The festival encourages local, national, and international submissions of Contemporary
Haiku.

Website Address: www.ukiahaiku.org
Fee: $5 for up to three haiku.
Limit: Maximum 3 haiku per person.
Eligibility: age 19 and over.

Submission Guidelines:
If emailing: Follow instructions on website, or:

1) Send a separate email for each haiku to [email protected]. Send no more than three
haiku. In body of email include: a) author's name; b) email address; c) the category
(Contemporary); d) the poem; e) alternate/additional contact information;

2) Send the fee by snail mail to ukiaHaiku festival, POB 865, Ukiah, CA 95482.

If snail mailing: Go to www.ukiahaiku.org and download the form. Follow instructions on
the form.

Deadline: February 26, 2010 (postmark or email date).

Judging: Internationally famous haiku poet Jane Reichhold will judge the Contemporary
Haiku category.

Awards: $100 first place, $50 second place, $25 third place, plus a small booklet of
winning poems and publication in that booklet.

Festival and Awards Ceremony: Sunday April 18, 2010, 2 p.m. Winners are strongly
encouraged to attend the festival to read their poems.

Posted by Graham Nunn at 06:57 PM | Permalink

Riverbeats 09 invites you to contribute your original Haiku on the theme of water and our relationship to it.

As part of a special composition by the internationally acknowledged ensemble, Synergy Percussion, selected Haiku will be recited and projected along the banks of Parramatta River during this unique performance for Riverbeats Live 09.

Riverbeats Live 09. Saturday October 31.
from 7:15pm on the banks of Parramatta River.

* Writers interested in this project can visit the NEW Writers' Group Inc website and download the permission form: http://nwg-inc.com/word/?page_id=290
* Haiku and completed forms should be sent to [email protected]
The final decision on which haiku are used is made by Riverbeats organisers. Haiku should be original but it doesn't matter if they have already been published elsewhere if they speak to the theme of 'water and our relationship to it'.

The haiku will be read and/or projected without the writers' names however that information will be made available on the Riverbeats website.

Posted by Graham Nunn at 06:52 PM | Permalink

SA Haiku group members, Lyn Arden, Belinda Broughton, Alex Ask and Marilyn Linn met on
1st August at the SA Writers Centre. Some of the members went out for a ginko in the
back alleys or the Botanic Gardens.

After a hour we met again and spent the rest of the meeting looking at each other's work
and making suggestions for improvements. We find this most valuable, as we learn a lot
from one another during the process.

By Belinda Broughton

Posted by Graham Nunn at 06:47 PM | Permalink

Janice Bostock and Jacqui Murray will premier their 100 verse renga
'Stonewashed Moon' at the Queensland Poetry Festival on Saturday, 23 August
2009. The renga, which was written some time ago, is believed to be the
first written in English. The authors deliberately gave their work a strong
Australian flavour, concentrating on noticeably Australian subjects and
themes. In keeping with this mood, Jan and Jacqui's QPF performance, at 2.45
p.m. on Saturday at the Judith Wright Centre in Brisbane, will feature a
dramatic visual backdrop. Jan and Jacqui will also present a selection of
their individual haiku at the festival on Saturday night.

For full festival details visit: www.queenslandpoetryfestival.com

Posted by Graham Nunn at 06:44 PM | Permalink

NEXT DEADLINE: 21st August for the September issue.

Haiku Submission Guidelines
Creatrix will be published online in March, June, September and December each year. Founding members of Creatrix Online Haiku Journal: Maureen Sexton, John Bird, Nicholas Barwell To avoid disappointment, please take note of the submission guidelines.

Submission Guidelines:
Brevity is the key element in haiku. Around 12 syllables or less is ideal, but we will sometimes accept up to 17 syllables. In 1, 2, 3 or possibly 4 lines. Three lines is the most common setting out in English language haiku.
That preferably does not use poetic tools, such as simile, metaphor, rhyming, punctuation (except perhaps a dash to mark a grammatical break), capital letters (except Proper nouns), titles, personification, abstract images.
Haiku capture a moment in time, therefore need to be written in present tense.

That preferably infers an awe or a reverence of nature and uses a nature reference, however, we will also accept modern haiku that doesn’t necessarily refer to nature. That relates to the senses. Juxtaposition of two images is preferable, but we will accept single image haiku as well. We are looking for the 'aha' factor.
We will also accept senryu, which is similar to haiku, but emphasises humour and human foibles instead of seasons. Please send between 2 and 10 haiku for each submission.

Email your submission to [email protected] with ‘haiku submission’ in the subject line, with all haiku in the body of the email only.

At this stage, publication is for WA Poets Inc member poets only. You don't have to live in WA to become a member. Membership form is available at: http://www.wapoets.net.au/pages/membershipform.html and Creatrix Journal is available at: http://www.wapoets.net.au/pages/creatrixhaikusubmissionguidelines.html.

Posted by Graham Nunn at 06:24 PM | Permalink

The Mari Warabiny Haiku Group is a group of haiku enthusiasts in WA who give feedback on each others' haiku by email. We all recognise the need to critique our haiku, no matter how experienced or inexperienced we are. We follow guidelines for haiku writing based on the Submission Guidelines for haiku sent to the Creatrix Journal, and the Haiku Information provided for Creatrix haiku submissions. We will occasionally participate in Ginko (haiku walks) and also meet to read and discuss haiku. We don't expect members to attend all our ginko or meetings.

Mari Warabiny are Nyungar words meaning 'Billowing Clouds'.

If you live in Western Australia, and you'd like to join the group, email Maureen: [email protected]

Posted by Graham Nunn at 06:18 PM | Permalink

Haiku Competition - 2009 Entry Conditions
Haiku and Senryu will be accepted.
Entries must be previously unpublished.
Adult entries are limited to 5 per entrant and must all be on one A4 paper.
Student entries are limited to 3 per entrant and must all be on one A4 paper.
The name of the poet must be included at the bottom of this page.
A separate sheet must have name and contact details.
The contact sheet must also list the first line of each poem.
Font size to be at least 22pt. Any style is acceptable.
Entries will be judged purely on the text.
Any pictures or decorations must fit on the page with the Haiku.
Entries close Thurs 13 August, 5 pm. 
Winners listed Mon 31 August.

We welcome entries from Overseas, but regrettably we are not able to allocate prizes or forward the gift Vouchers to Overseas entrants.
Submit entries : Deliver… to the Library, 573 Hay St Perth
Post … GPO Box C120 Perth 6839
Email … [email protected]
The poems must be sent as a word document attachment.
Adult : Gift Vouchers 1st - $ 75, 2nd - $ 50, 3rd - $40
Primary School age: Gift Voucher 1st - $40
High School age : Gift Voucher 1st 50
Entries will be judged by the Office of the Consulate-General of Japan, Perth
Winners will listed on the Library’s web page and in the Library.
Entries will be displayed on the Haiku Wall in the Library during the WA National Poetry Week 31 Aug – 5 Sept.
Haiku will not be returned unless accompanied with a stamped, self - addressed envelope.

Posted by Graham Nunn at 06:15 PM | Permalink