Congratulations to André Surridge for taking out the inaugural first prize of $A350 with ‘evening breeze’ – from which the anthology from the contest takes its title. We also congratulate the runner-up, Sandra Simpson and, Chen-ou Liu for taking third prize.

First Prize: André Surridge

evening breeze
a flag releases
its stars

Second Prize: Sandra Simpson

hoar frost the click of a safety being released

Third Prize: Chen-ou Liu

snowy dawn
bits of yesterday
cling to today

Judging the contest was a challenge, but a most enjoyable one. The number of Honourable Mentions attests to the overall high standard of entries.

Honourable Mentions

Jan Dobb

cumulus clouds
in the shallows an egret
fluffs twice

Quendryth Young

hoeing –
his old bones angled
above the earth

Steven Carter

foreclosure
sky among leaves among
sky

Mark Miller

thinning mist –
the skittering
of bird notes

Margaret Beverland

clouds
going nowhere … the sailboat
tacks again

The high standard is likewise reflected in the pages of finalists that make up the anthology collection. Our heartfelt thanks go to all who participated to make this contest so successful and, a fitting memorial to Janice. Paper Wasp is indebted to the judges led by Jim Kacian and Cynthia Rowe.

Copies of the anthology, evening breeze, can be purchased for $10 each or $25 for three copies. Overseas orders will be charged at the same/equivalent $Australian rate with the addition of postage. For orders please contact:
[email protected]

Posted by Greg Piko at 06:39 AM | Permalink

The 1st “aha” (Annual Hortensia Anderson) Memorial Haiku Awards Competition 2013 is to honor the memory of a well-known and respected New York based haiku poet, Hortensia Anderson. Results will be announced on the 21 of May, 2013 . . . one year to the date of her passing.

Deadline: in-hand no later than 1 April, 2013.

Sponsor: Haiku Oregon

Coordinator: Marianna Monaco, HKO Secretary/Treasurer

Adjudication: Names of the two judges will be announced concurrently with the winners.

Eligibility: Open to the public and including all Haiku Oregon and chapter members, except the contest coordinator and judges.

Awards: First Place = $100, Second Place = $50; Third Place = $25, HM = $10, plus Award Certificates will be issued, and winning works will be published online at Haiku Oregon’s website, Haiku Oregon’s facebook page, as well as other places online and in print. All rights remain with the haiku poets.

Submittals: Entries must be the original work of the author, be unpublished and never posted publically anywhere, and not under consideration elsewhere for the entire time period it takes to complete the judging. This contest is un-themed, open to all age groups worldwide, any season is acceptable, and there is no specific syllable or line count requirement.

Entry Fee: $2 per haiku, and no limit to the number of entries per person.

Guidelines: Please print or type each individual poem in English on three separate 3 inch x
5 inch index cards. In the upper left corner of one card only, print or type your name, address,
and email. ONLY the winners will be notified and ONLY via email, (and if you have no email address available, (please provide a proxy email address.) If you do not hear anything back from us by 20 May, 2013, your entries are automatically free to submit elsewhere. Entries that do not follow these guidelines will not be considered, so please read very carefully.

Payment: Please include the entry fee with your submissions, in US currency, (cash at your own risk), check, or money order, made payable to Marianna Monaco, and mailed to 1487 West 24th Place, Eugene, Oregon 97405 USA.

Notification: Winners’ will be announced on 21 May, 2013---the first year anniversary of Hortensia’s passing.

Thank you for your participation to honor the memory of a wonderful person who contributed so much of herself to the haiku community over the years, rest in peace Hortensia.

Posted by Cynthia Rowe at 02:36 PM | Permalink

The winners of the 66th Matsuo Basho Festival Haiku Contest, run by the Basho Memorial Museum in Japan, have been announced: Australia's Cynthia Rowe was awarded joint Top Prize along with Kyoko Shimizu from Japan. This long running contest is strongly contested by haiku poets from around the world, with 774 entrants in the English language section. Congratulations and well done Cynthia on your success.

Posted by Greg Piko at 07:19 PM | Permalink

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

Writers are now invited to submit haibun, tanka prose and articles for consideration in the March 2013 issue of Haibun Today.

Contributors to this issue include Phil Allen, Joanna Ashwell, Johnny Baranski, Collin Barber, Anne Benjamin, Susa Bracken, Owen Bullock, Peter Butler, Matthew Caretti, Steven Carter, Sonam Chhoki, Glenn G. Coats, Eddee Daniel, Robert Davey, Tish Davis, Cherie Hunter Day, Amy Ekins, Claire Everett, Dana Furrow, Ruth Holzer, Elizabeth Howard, Gerry Jacobson, Alexander Jankiewicz, Ryan Jessup, Carol Judkins, Mark Kaplon, Gary LeBel, Chen-ou Liu, Bob Lucky, Doris Lynch, Ed Markowski, Giselle Maya, Frances Ruhlen McConnel, Graham Nunn, Carol Pearce-Worthington, Dru Philippou, Patricia Prime, Vanessa Proctor, Kala Ramesh, Ray Rasmussen, Lynne Rees, Bruce Ross, Adelaide B. Shaw, Laura Jan Shore, Susan Solomon, Charles Tarlton, David Terelinck, Anita Virgil, Kath Abela Wilson, Geoffrey Winch and Brian Zimmer.

This issue also features an in-depth interview with Steven Carter on the subject of his haibun and haiku, close readings by Glenn G. Coats and Bob Lucky of haibun by Ken Jones and Steven Carter respectively, and book reviews by Graham Nunn, Patricia Prime and Lynne Rees.

Consult our Submission Guidelines at Haibun Today

Posted by Cynthia Rowe at 03:00 PM | Permalink

Ten members and visitors attended the December meeting of the Bindii group. This was a social gathering for our final meeting for 2012.

A vote of thanks was made to Maeve Archibald for her workshop on haibun for our November meeting. The remark was made by one member, Martin Christmas, that the workshop had inspired him to look at the haibun form as part of his repertoire as a poet.
WORKSHOP: LEE BENTLEY
Group members read their haiku, tanka and haibun on the Christmas and seasonal theme set by Lee, for the appreciation of those present.
HAIKU BINDII BLOG: members agreed to trial again having the Challenges on the main part of the blog in order to attract some interest.
The remainder of the meeting was devoted to our end of year social function, sharing food and drink and lively conversation.
The next meeting will be held on Saturday 2 Feb from 11 to 2.00: tanka workshop in Box Factory (Lynette Arden)

Lynette Arden
1 December 2012

Posted by Lynette Arden at 07:20 PM | Permalink

The fifth issue of A Hundred Gourds, a quarterly journal of haiku, haibun, haiga, tanka and renku poetry is now online.

http://ahundredgourds.com

The deadline for all submissions to AHG 2:2 (the March 2013 issue) is December 15th.

As well as haiku, haiga, haibun, renku, tanka and our Expositions section, AHG 2:1 includes a feature by Sandra Simpson on the Haiku Festival Aotearoa, 2012, which was held in Tauranga, New Zealand.

We begin our second year of publishing a wide range of haiku and related poetry with special thanks to Jim Sullivan, AHG’s new webmaster, and to Ray Rasmussen, who was willing to teach Jim the mysteries of web work and will continue in his role of consultant.

Many thanks, too, to Ron Moss for his willingness to be the guest editor for this issue’s haiga section. Aubrie Cox is now on team as haiga editor and welcomes your haiga submissions for the March issue onwards.

Please check the AHG submissions page for all of the editors’ guidelines and email addresses.
----
Lorin Ford, haiku editor,
for the Editorial Team
A Hundred Gourds

Posted by Cynthia Rowe at 02:49 PM | Permalink