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May 2008
This happy bunch comprises most of the poets who were at the launch of 'the taste of nashi' at Haiku Aotearoa in Christchurch. The picture was taken by Beverley George (clearly a paparazzi in her day job) and supplied by Cyril Childs.
Back row, from left: Nola Gazzard, Owen Bullock, Elaine Riddell, Shirley May, Jeffrey Harpeng, Sandra Simpson, Helen Bascand, Lynn Tara Austin, Elise Mei, Joanna Preston, Helen Yong, Rosemary Scott, Janine Sowerby.
Middle: John O'Connor, Andre Surridge, Karen Peterson Butterworth, Greeba Brydges-Jones, Richard von Sturmer, Helen Lowe, Sally Holmes Midgley.
Front: Judith Walsh, Margaret Beverland, Kirsten Cliff, Nola Borrell, Barbara Strang and Cyril Childs.
Welcome to a bumper edition of Haiku NewZ - read all about Haiku Aotearoa 2008 in Christchurch, which was a great success, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Small White Teapot group, and see more pictures here. Plus Beverley George has posted a report for HaikuOz, see that here.
Read the notes taken from a discussion about the direction of haiku and the haiku community in New Zealand here.
Nola Borrell (the taste of nashi co-editor) and Judith Walsh (SWT) were interviewed by National Radio's Lynn Freeman about the new haiku anthology and HA08 for the Arts on Sunday, broadcast on April 20, and still available through the website, click here and choose "Haiku". The interview is some 13 minutes long (remember to turn your speakers on).
To order a copy (or more copies) of the taste of nashi, please go to Haiku Happenings for the order form.
And to repeat a remark I make at HA08 - if you have not yet signed on as a New Zealand Poetry Society member, please do so as a way of returning the support the society has given us by making these webpages possible. I hope to shortly post a report on the HA08 discussion about where our NZ haiku community is headed. For more information on the benefits of membership and how to join, go to the Membership page.
Coincidentally, after Cyril Childs' talk on the crossover, or lack of it, between haiku and "mainstream" poetry comes news of a book of haiku being a finalist in the William Carlos Williams Award in the US. To learn more, go to Haiku Happenings.
The Publications listing has been updated (including a new haiga e-journal), as has the Competitions listing.
Our article this month comes from American writer Peggy Willis Lyles who ponders the links between Western poetry and haiku and discusses, among other things, metaphor and simile in haiku. If you're planning to enter the NZPS contest, don't forget to look through our fantastic collection of archived articles (see left-hand menu) for pointers. One of the best refreshers is an editing checklist by Lee Gurga, but also look at How to Now by Tracey Koretsky and the March article on season words by Ferris Gilli.
The Showcase seems to be complete for the time being, but if anyone wishes to nominate for inclusion a poet who is achieving at a high level and who has contributed to haiku in some way, please send details.
If you have articles, details of contests or magazines, or general news and photographs from the world of haiku please send them for consideration.
