What is haiku? Why has it become so popular?
Part I of this workshop will run from 10 am – 12 noon and will address the following topics:
a brief history of haiku
haiku purpose
defining haiku
stopping the mind chatter
are syllables important?
fragment and phrase theory
techniques for writing haiku
the stillness –
soaking into stones
cicada’s cry
-- Matsuo Basho
]]> Part II will run from 1 pm to 4 pm and will include the following:
a ginko (haiku walk)
sharing what we’ve discovered
mixing our words
the ‘aha’ moment
why haiku is becoming so popular
Graham Nunn (Brisbane, Qld) defines haiku as: ‘a short poem that captures the true essence of a moment in time.'
summer storm
shorter than
my cup of tea
-- Graham Nunn
“What is the relevance of Zen to Haiku? … Zen and haiku are about finding one’s way to what is known as haiku ‘spirit’. Zen was present at the very moment haiku came into being. Haiku was Zen in inspiration. … What is the relevance of Zen to haiku today, more than 350 years later? In one word is it is discipline. The discipline of self. The discipline to quiet the chatter of our minds.” This is an excerpt of a much longer article by Jacqui Murray, April 2008 that can be found at - http://www.haikuoz.org/Zen%20and%20haiku%20jacqui%20murray.pdf
Brought to you by Wild Fig Jam Cottage
Jane Durkin and Liz Stern
Located on Biddle Road, between Geographe Bay and Yallingup Beach. http://members.iinet.net.au/~jane_durkin/
$110 Workshop inc. morning/afternoon tea and lunch
For booking and payment details please call Liz on Mob. 0404 241 132 or Ph. 9755 2221, or Email elizabethemmastern@hotmail.com
There is accommodation available if you would like to stay for 1 or 2 nights at special rates that include cost of the workshop and meals, please enquire.
Presented by: Maureen Sexton, HaikuOz (The Australian Haiku Society), WA Representative - http://www.haikuoz.org/
BIO Maureen Sexton:
Born and raised in Perth Western Australia, I have lived here most of my life, except for three years in Adelaide and some time residing in Melbourne and rural WA, including: Kalgoorlie, Bridgetown and Peppermint Grove Beach. My interests are mainly in the arts, environmentalism and social justice. I am a freelance writer, poet, haiku writer, editor, amateur photographer, artist, website builder/designer, and digital media artist.
I have gained vast writer-in-the-community experience and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Writing, which I completed at Edith Cowan University, with some of my studies undertaken at Murdoch University and Flinders University.
I was fortunate to be offered, and to complete, an intense mentorship in haiku, with respected haijin John Bird, in 2007, and am currently the HaikuOz (The Australia Haiku Society) WA Regional Representative. My haiku has been widely published nationally and internationally, in such journals as the Heron's Nest, Paper Wasp, Famous Reporter, Stylus Poetry Journal, Haiku Australia Dreaming, FreeExpressions and Creatrix Poetry Journal. I find haiku writing and haiku's awe of nature, to be particularly meditative, healing and inspiring. With the frustration and anger at the continual destruction of the environment, I find haiku is a way of keeping myself calm and in the 'now'.
My poetry has also been widely published internationally and nationally. Believing in the importance of poetry, I have been actively involved in trying to raise community awareness of the relevance of poetry in our lives today. Poets throughout history have also been at the forefront of political and social challenges and changes, and, I believe, need to be more active at this time.
I plan to use my writing, photography and art as a way of voicing my concerns, and hopefully helping to bring about awareness and change.
http://www.maureensexton.com.au
0435 024 616
The results of the New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition (Haiku section) 2010 have just been announced. I am delighted to tell you that first and third prizes were won by Quendryth Young, with John Bird and Helen Davison receiving Commended awards; Helen for two of her haiku.
I thank Quendy, who has for several years organized our meetings, checked out suitable venues, coordinated post-ginko round robins and kept us all informed of competitions we might enter. I am so happy to see her achievements.
Nathalie Buckland
]]>Hosted by The Bodhi Tree Bookstore and Café as part of A Celebration of Writing.
Celebrate haiku and related forms at the Bodhi Tree Bookstore Café, on Sunday 1st August from 12 noon. You will be rewarded with: Haiku readings/performances, demonstrations of the deep and powerful connections in Haiga, the beauty of the combination of Haiku and silk art, and the hauntingly disciplined movements of Butoh dance. The winners of the Bodhi Tree Haiku Competition will be reading their winning works and there will be an open reading, so bring along yours or your favourite haiku to read.
Presenters:
Haiga – Maureen Sexton, Amanda Joy
Haiku – Amanda Joy, Maureen Sexton, Ross Bolleter, Rose Van Son
Butoh – Roeli Joosten
Haiku and Silk Art – Annie Otness
“What is the relevance of Zen to Haiku? … Zen and haiku are about finding one’s way to what is known as haiku ‘spirit’. Zen was present at the very moment haiku came into being. Haiku was Zen in inspiration. … What is the relevance of Zen to haiku today, more than 350 years later? In one word is it is discipline. The discipline of self. The discipline to quiet the chatter of our minds. The discipline to see things are they are, as they exist in this Eternal Now.” This is an excerpt of a much longer article by Jacqui Murray, April 2008 that can be found at - http://www.haikuoz.org/Zen%20and%20haiku%20jacqui%20murray.pdf
Organisers: Maureen Sexton (HaikuOz, The Australian Haiku Society, WA Rep, http://www.haikuoz.org/) and Amanda Joy, in conjunction with The Bodhi Tree http://www.bodhitree.net.au and WA Poets Inc http://www.wapoets.net.au.
For more information and a copy of the full program (available soon), go to: http://www.bodhitree.net.au/events-calendar/celebration-of-writing
For Haiku information, go to:
http://www.wapoets.net.au/pages/creatrixhaikusubmissionguidelines.html
For Haiga Information, go to:
http://raysweb.net/haiku/pages/haiga-definition.html
For Butoh Information, go to:
http://www.zenbutoh.com/
http://www.rebeccawalker.com/blog/2009/03/17/my-body-my-butoh
Haiku Competition
Entries close 5pm Friday 23 July 2010.
Prizes: 1st Prize – Basho: The Complete Haiku
2nd Prize – Haiku Mind: 108 poems to cultivate awareness & open your heart
3rd Prize – The British Museum Haiku
Open to poets residing in the Perth metro area only.
For guidelines and entry form, go to:
http://www.bodhitree.net.au/Text/1276588625412-0226/pC/1214367693359-7635/uploadedFiles/1276588620694-4588.pdf
Brought to you by The Bodhi Tree Bookstore Café and WA Poets Inc
Present: Marilyn Linn, Lynette Arden, Susan Kay.
Apologies: Alain and Elsa Rozanes, Pam Brow, Alex Ask, Margaret Dingle (Fensom), Athena Zaknic.
As there were so few members attending the meeting we decided to concentrate on extending knowledge of the haiku form, with examples of haiku taken from the book resources at the meeting, and also by taking another look at some of the guidelines for writing haiku. This more in depth approach was felt by members present to have increased their understanding and I gather was very helpful. A number of haiku presented by members were workshopped.
August Meeting will be held at the Box Factory on Saturday 7 August at 10.30 am – 1 pm. Activity will be decided on the day.
Lynette Arden 3 July 2010
]]>Vanessa Proctor
]]>Category A HAIKU
Prize Money: A page of 3 Haiku = 1 entry $100 $50
Category B HAIBUN
Prize Money: $150 $75
A haiku journey = 1 entry
maximum length 600 words
Entry Fee: AUS $5.00 per entry
or AUS$12.00 for three Haiku entries
Cheque or money order payable to: Friendly Street Poets Inc.
Please send entries to Friendly Street Poets Inc PO Box 3697 Norwood, SA 5067
1.Entries must be typed, one page per entry.
1.Two copies of your poetry must accompany the entry form and fee. Please use paper clips rather than staples.
1.Your name must not appear on the poetry page, only on the entry form. You need to use the entry form to submit entries.
1.Entries must be the original work of the entrant, unpublished, not have won any other monetary prize or be under consideration anywhere else.
1.There is no limit to the number of entries submitted.
1.Please retain a copy of your work. All entries are destroyed after judging.
1.Authors retain copyright of their work, but we claim the right (if we choose) to publish the winner’s work on our website or in our publications.
1.Prizes are awarded on literary merit and judged ‘blind’. The Judge’s rulings are final and no correspondence can ensue.
1.Prizes and fees are in Australian Dollars.
1.Notification of winners and commendations (if awarded) will be announced at a Friendly Street Poets Meeting; and after that, on our website: friendlystreetpoets.org.au. If you include a SSAE with postage (DL Envelope) in your entry, the results will be posted you.
1.We will invite all winners to attend the announcement.
dappled sunlight
an old dog shakes the river
from his coat
Sharon Dean
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Senior Section (18 & over): Judge Sandra Simpson
There were many good-quality haiku entered this year that were a delight to read – and which made the task of judging an enjoyable challenge. I hope that first-time or novice writers aren’t discouraged if their work wasn’t placed. Judging is a subjective process that might have a different outcome tomorrow. But I do hope they take the time to read and analyse the winning poems. Learning from one another is one of the nicest aspects of belonging to the haiku community.
First place:
a moment before sunrise –
ice singing
beneath the swans’ feet
Martin Lucas (England)
Haiku are poetry, but writers don’t always remember that – this haiku shows someone who truly understands the form. Yes, haiku are observational, but they should also lift us from the mundane, make us think (or look) again and allow us to share fully in the moment. Some, like this one, might even make our hearts rise. Martin’s haiku also has a pleasing “sound effect” with its subtly repeated assonance, and by using only two hard consonants in the entire poem he makes it “soft”, like a feather.
Second place:
3 a.m
the overhead fan
clicks clicks clicks
Joanne Watcyn-Jones (Australia)
The restorative power of sleep is a fragile gift and anyone who’s had a disturbed night will identify with this haiku. Racing thoughts that can’t be controlled, a dripping tap, the neighbours’ party or, in this case, so hot the ceiling fan has to be left on all night, creating a new and different night-time noise. By adding a repetitive word, and choosing the slightly annoying sound of “clicks”, Joanne makes this a winner.
Third place:
he leaves in an ambulance –
the chrysanthemum buds
closed tight
Kirsten Cliff (Papamoa)
This is a more traditional haiku, containing both an overt season word and a juxtaposition construction. The contrast of illness, presumably severe if an ambulance has been called, with the buds ready to burst into life is adept. A reader might also find a link between the colour of the ambulance (white with a yellow stripe) and the colour of the buds (white when tight closed with yellow being a common chrysanthemum colour). Haiku are about the eternal and this poem captures that exactly.
All the Highly Commended and Commended poems are fine haiku too, congratulations to their authors.
]]> Highly Commended (in no particular order):
a field in bloom –
the foal’s tracks
follow the mare’s
Carole MacRury (USA)
his father’s death …
shadows of raindrops
on the window ledge
Beverley George (Australia)
fallen leaf –
the stream carrying
another silence
Eduard Tara (Romania)
Commended (in no particular order):
liquidambar
already my toddler’s hair
darkening
Vanessa Proctor (Australia)
full moon at Motuhoa
stingrays
cloud the evening tide
Barbara Hart (Tauranga)
soft mist …
a mother cups
her baby’s head
Joanne Watcyn-Jones
half light
the river scarred
by a heron
Beverley George
Best Local Haiku:
This haiku deals with an everyday event, the moving of a garden plant, yet the author has captured the why of the moment with great poignancy. It’s a whole, rich, sad story told in nine words.
helping dad
move the rose bush
scent of mum
Dave Robertson (Katikati)
Junior Section (17 & under): Judge Catherine Mair
I enjoyed reading the haiku and congratulate everyone who entered. Haiku for all their apparent simplicity are difficult to write well and many of you have made fine attempts.
First place, equal:
evening walk
at the top of the hill
the loudest bird
Sophia Frentz (Tauranga, 17)
The sense of sound is not so frequently captured in haiku. A lot is suggested in this poem. The quiet evening walk. The achievement of gaining the top of the hill and then the clarity of that bird call. The poem involves the reader and is very evocative. Very well done.
between the gaps
a crab hole
changes colour
Harry Frentz (Tauranga Boys High, 14)
This lovely haiku leaves a lot to the imagination. It conjures up a beach, wet sand and the tide's inward and outward flow. I love the originality of this perception, the focus on the crab hole rather than the more expected crab. Congratulations!
Third place:
among the swans
angry voices –
family photo
Sophia Frentz
I don't think the pause after “angry voices” helps this humorous little verse. I thoroughly enjoy the tongue in cheek humour. It brings back a dire day when I attempted to get my four children photographed.
Highly Commended:
Both these poems were close to place-getters.
summer moon –
a cricket
starts his band
Harry Frentz
Incidentally the correct gender has been identified. The males are responsible for all that racket.
first class –
the girl next to me
already passing notes
Sophia Frentz
Very well constructed and bitingly humorous.
Commended:
There are also several other haiku which deserve mention.
netball goal
hangs out
waiting for the ball
Shavaughan Vaega (Whakamarama School, 12)
sandy footprints
leaving their mark
on the world
- Tara Blackshaw (Matahui Road, 12)
golf ball
lying still – waiting
for its golfer
- Zane Petersen (Tauriko School, 11)
low tide –
I see
Neptune’s beard
Harry Frentz
footprints in the sand
following us
destroyed by waves
- Shavaughn Vaega
On behalf of all the members of Haiku Oz, I would like to congratulate Quendryth on this outstanding achievement.
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