Haiku Society of America News
Volume 31, Issue 1 - January 05, 2016
(HSA News replaces Ripples as the official newsletter of HSA)
In This Issue

Become a
Member of HSA

Membership includes a year's subscription to the society's journal, Frogpond (three issues yearly). In addition, members receive HSA NEWS on the fifth of each month, the annual information sheet and an annual address/email list of HSA members.


Like us on Facebook. Share news, poems, discussions! See photos from some recent gatherings of the poetic kind.
 


Follow us on Twitter:
Twitter@hsa_haiku
 

Check out the ".haiku" column at the HSA webpage, please. Gene Myers shares tools and tips available to haiku poets.
 

View our web sampler and excerpts from previous issues of Frogpond
 


The HSA appreciates your continued support and your participation in society activities. As primary supplement to the HSA website, this monthly report strives to bring you news from the Executive Committee and the Regional Chapters.

Please find attached, the most recent Contact List for HSA Members.
 


Dear Members,

A Happy New Year
of the Monkey!

HSA has several new officers this year. As a novice president, I will need everyone's help. Please contact me at my email address below, if you have any concerns, suggestions, advice or requests. We will try our best to satisfy everyone.
 
The winter has been rather cold for San Francisco, but there are no floods nor tornadoes here. I wish 2016 will be a happy, safe year for you and your loved ones.
 
On behalf of the Kamakura Kyoshi Tatsuko Memorial Museum, the Haiku International Association in Japan sent me the information of Hasekura haiku contest. Details can be found below. The deadline is approaching quickly, so please make your submission soon if you would like to participate.

As a Japanese who grew up in Japan, the life of Hasekura, a Christian samurai from Sendai, interested me. I believe it took him 3 years to reach Spain and be baptized. I imagined a young man from an isolated island country fascinated with everything he saw and experienced in Europe. When he returned to Japan, the Shogun Government in Edo (now Tokyo) forbade practicing Christian religions, and he died two years later from a broken heart. According to Wikipedia, Hasekura's oil-painting portrait is the oldest oil-painting whose subject is Japanese. When you have a chance to visit Sendai, you can see it at the Sendai City Museum (I believe).
 
A couple of years ago, I wrote the following haiku in Japanese:
 
喜望峰回りで着きし宝船
kib�h� mawari de tsukishi takarabune
            a tiny ship
            the Seven Gods on the board
            arrived via the Cape of Good Hope
 
'takarabune' (literal translation is 'treasurer ship') is a Japanese New Year's kigo.
 

Fay Aoyagi
HSA President
[email protected]



Dear Members,

I have no financial news to offer at this time, but I would like to express my wish that you all experience joy and inspiration throughout 2016.

Bill Deegan
Treasurer


Dear Members,

I look forward to the year ahead. May you be prolific, thought-provoking and stimulating in your poetic endeavors in 2016.


Sondra Byrnes
Secretary
[email protected]



Africa Haiku Network (AHN)

The Africa Haiku Network (AHN) is a young organization dedicated to the promotion of haiku on the African continent. Our main mission is to provide a platform for contemporary African poets to learn and practise this fast spreading Japanese poetry form and share through it our beautiful Africa settings and images with the world.
 
We must say our little efforts in studying this beautiful art in our own way has yielded results with the likes of Adjei Agyei-Baah (Ghana), Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian (Nigeria), Nshai Waluzimba (Zambia), Kwaku Feni Addo (Ghana)  and others receiving awards and honorable mentions at the international haiku scene, but we still believe that associating ourselves with your organization will help our members to benefit from your activities, tap into your rich experience over the years, and also be accorded recognition so as to bring more African poets to like and support our cause.
 
We are currently using the Facebook/ Whatsapp platform for both our publishing and tutorial activities, and hope to launch our official website by January 2016.
 
We would be honored to have Haiku Society of American to support Africa Haiku Network as our coach and mentor. On behalf of the Africa Haiku Network and its Editorial Committee, we thank you for your time and consideration.

Listed here are some of our haiku:

leafless tree
lifting a cup of nest
to the sky
 
Adjei Agyei-Baah (Ghana) Winner of Akita Chamber of Commerce and President Award, 3rd Japan Russia haiku Contest, 2014 English Section.
 

autumn dusk
white herons turn black
on their way home
 
Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian (Nigeria)
3rd Place European Quarterly Kukai #12 - Winter 2015 Edition
 

asphalt vapor
afternoon raindrops
return to the sky
 
Kwauku Feni Adow (Ghana)
3rd Place, 12th Indian Kukai from IN haiku, 2015.
 
 
long rains...
the night guard's faint whistle
floats by   
 
Nshai Waluzimba (Zambia), Honorable Mention, 17th HIA Haiku Contest, 2015.
 
 
Sincerely,

Adjei Agyei-Baah (Ghana)

Emmanual Jessie Kalusian (Nigeria)

Co-founders,





Beyond the Grave: Contemporary Afterlife Haiku

October 1, 2015

by Robert Epstein (Author, Editor),
Ron C. Moss (Cover Design)

Product Details
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Middle Island Press; First edition (October 1, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0692547673
ISBN-13: 978-0692547670
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces

How much thought have you given to whether there is life after death? Some religions, like Christianity and Hinduism, posit the existence of heaven and reincarnation, while others are silent on the question. Those not guided by faith are inclined to relegate this haunting mystery to the outermost margins of their lives. In these pages, contributors from around the world have trained their poetic eye on this all-important quest. Relying on the power of intuition and creative imagination, the poets in this collection give us a glimpse into the great mystery of life after death. Suspend your skeptical mind and accompany the poets here on the adventure into the afterlife; you may not only be surprised, but forever changed.

About the Author
Robert Epstein, a licensed psychologist and haiku poet, lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to editing five haiku anthologies, he is the author of four books of haiku:
Checkout Time is Noon: Death Awareness Haiku; A Walk Around Spring Lake; Haiku Forest Afterlife; and
Haiku Edge: New & Selected Poems with Artwork by Ed Markowski.



Haiku Contest Commemorating
the Europe-Japan
400-Year Relationship


(The 3rd Japan
"Tsunenaga Hasekura" Haiku Award)

The year 2015 can be considered as the
400th anniversary of the encounter between Europe and Japan, and the start of their close relationship.
In 1613, asamurai of the Sendai Clan, Tsunenaga Hasekura, was ordered to go to Europe by his lord, Masamune Date. The Tokugawa Shogunate which at that time employed English and Dutch as retainers, helped Masamune to build the ship to go abroad. After traveling to Spain and France, Hasekura landed in October 1615 in Italy and was in November 1615 received by Pope Paul V in Rome. He also visited Florence and around March 12 1616 left for Spain from Genoa.
To commemorate this history, we, the organizing committee of the Japan "Tsunenaga Hasekura" Haiku Award, will hold a haiku contest to encourage a closer relationship through haiku between Europe and Japan. In March 2016 we will hold an award ceremony in Tokyo to commemorate Tsunenaga Hasekura's trip to Europe. At the same time we would like to thank all European countriesfor their valued support to the Tohoku region which suffered the earthquake and tsunami disaster. March 11 2016 will be exactly five years after the disaster.

Guidelines for the haiku contest
  1. President of the organizing committee: Akito Arima, President of the Haiku International Association
  2. Special Judge for the contest: Herman van Rompuy, EU-Japan Haiku Friendship Ambassador
  3. Honorable President of the committee: Tsunetaka Hasekura, 13th generation descendant of Tsunenaga Hasekura
  4. Secretary General of the committee: Takashi Hoshino, Director of the Kamakura Kyoshi Tatsuko Memorial Museum and President of Haiku Magazine 'Tamamo'
  5. Members of the committee: Mutsuo Takano (President of Haiku magazine 'Kogumaza'), and Yasuko Tsushima (Editorial adviser for Haiku magazine 'Ten-I')
  6. Deadline: January 12, 2016. Send to: [email protected] 
  7. Entry: Participants can send in up to three entries. Entry fee: none.
  8. Languages : English, Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, Romanian or any other languages which are spoken in Europe. Please indicate your Name / Address / Country / Male or Female / Age / and Email address in your mail.
  9. The Award is Organized by the Kamakura Kyoshi Tatsuko Memorial Museum with the Cooperation of the Haiku International Association, 'Ten-I', 'Kogumaza' and 'Tamamo.'
  10. All inquiries: If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to address these to Hana Fujimoto, member of the translation committee of the Award, at:  [email protected] 


_______________________



The First
Bangabandhu Kukai



Call for Submissions:

One Haiku in English

The subject: 'Victory Day'.

Cash prizes totaling $300. Winning and commended poems will be published in an anthology in 2017.

Closes: January 15.

Cost: Free

Full details from the


_______________________


The Robert Spiess
Memorial Haiku Awards
for 2016

Modern Haiku is pleased to announce the Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Awards
Competition for 2016. The purpose of this competition is to honor the life
and work of Bob Spiess, editor of Modern Haiku from 1978 to his death on
March 13, 2002.

Email entries will now be accepted as well as postal entries.

Theme: Haiku are to be written in the spirit of the following "Speculation"
(Robert Spiess, A Year's Speculations on Haiku, Modern Haiku Press, 1995):

As haiku poets, we can learn much from such sources as the traditional masters' haiku and from contemporary haiku publications; but our best teachers are wind and rain, oaks and anemones, rivers and mountains, minnows and giraffes, eagles and earthworms, children and God's fools.

Deadline: In hand no later than March 13, 2016.

Rules: The competition is open to everyone but the staff of Modern Haiku,
the competition coordinator, and the judge. Entries must be in English. Each
entry must be the original, unpublished work of the author, and should not be under consideration in a contest or for publication elsewhere. For purposes of this competition, appearance of a haiku in an Internet journal, on a Web site, in a blog, or in any other public media is considered publication, but posting haiku on a private email list is not. Of course,
entries should not be shared in an Internet journal, Web site, blog, private or public email list, or any other public media during the term of the competition.

Submission guidelines: Poets may submit a maximum of five haiku written in
the spirit of the above Speculation, accompanied by the applicable entry
fee.

Postal entries should be typed or printed legibly on one sheet paper. The poet's name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address (if any)
should appear in the upper left-hand corner above the haiku. Send postal
entries to: Billie Wilson, 1170 Fritz Cove Road, Juneau, AK 99801-8501 USA.

Email entries are to be submitted as follows: (1) on the Modern Haiku
subscription page:
scroll down to the Donate button;
(2) make a donation of up to $5 [$1 for
each entry];
(3) when you receive your payment confirmation number, copy and paste it into an email with  your haiku and your name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address;
(4) send the email to Billie Wilson at
Please keep a copy of your submission; entries will not be returned. Please follow the instructions carefully: entries that are incomplete or that do not comply with the instructions will be discarded.

Entry fee: $1 per haiku, cash, check, or PayPal (U.S. funds); make checks payable to Modern Haiku; for email entries, follow the instructions above.

Adjudication: A judge will be selected by Modern Haiku; the judge's name will be announced at the time of the awards. Judging will be double-blind, and the judge will not know the identity of the entrants. The judge's decisions are final.

Selection criteria: The judge will look for entries that hew to Western norms for haiku as published in Modern Haiku and other leading English-language haiku journals and that best capture the spirit of the theme Speculation above. There are no rules as to syllable or line count.

Awards: First Prize: $100 plus a signed copy of The Heron's Legs (1966, out of print). Second Prize: $50 plus a copy of Bob's The Shape of Water (1982);
Third Prize: $25 plus a copy of Bob's Some Sticks and Pebbles (2001). Up to five poets will be awarded Honorable Mentions and each will receive a copy
of Bob's A Year's Speculations on Haiku (1995).

Notification: Winners will be notified by email or phone before the general
announcement. Winning entries will be published in the summer 2016 issue of
Modern Haiku and posted on the Modern Haiku Web site, http://www.modernhaiku.org/, on or before July 1, 2016. If you would like a
list of the winners, please indicate that on your e-mail entries or send a stamped, self-addressed envelope (SASE) with your postal entries. The winners will be announced when the summer issue of Modern Haiku is released.

Submitted by Billie Wilson


Submitted by
Charlotte Digregorio
Second Vice President/ Contest Coordinator


Dear Members,


Please read below for the results of our annual contests: haibun, senryu, haiku, and the haiku contest for students. We were fortunate to have high-quality entries and exceptional judges/haiku poets who took tremendous care and time to do their very best during the process.
 
We are so grateful for the work of Judges Marjorie Buettner, Marsh Muirhead, Gayle Bull, Jerry Cushman, George Dorsty, Tom Painting, Aubrie Cox, and Michael Rehling. Their continued support of the HSA is tremendous, and we are very proud to have them as loyal members.
 
Our renku contest was cancelled due to insufficient entries. Nonetheless, we'd like to thank Kristen Deming and Ellen Compton for graciously accepting the task of judging.
 
 
HSA Contest for Best Unpublished Haibun
 
Co-Judges: Marjorie Buettner, Chisago City, MN and Marsh Muirhead, Bemidji, MN
 
First Place: 
Michele Root-Bernstein, East Lansing, MI

Second Place:  Rebecca Lilly, Port Republic, VA
 
Third Place:  Ren�e Owen, Sebastopol, CA
 
Honorable Mentions; No Particular Order
* Margaret Chula, Portland, OR 
* Beverly Acuff Momoi, Mountain View, CA
* Rich Youmans, North Falmouth, MA
 
 
The Annual Gerald Brady Memorial Awards for Best Unpublished Senryu
 
Co-Judges: Gayle Bull, Mineral Point, WI and Jerry Cushman, Victor, NY
 
First Place:
paul m., Bristol, RI,

Second Place: Jay Friedenberg, New York, NY

Third Place: Margaret Chula, Portland, OR,
 
 
The Annual Harold G. Henderson Awards for Best Unpublished Haiku

Co-Judges: George Dorsty, Yorktown, VA and Tom Painting, Atlanta, GA 

First Place:
Debbie Strange, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Second Place: Scott Mason, Chappaqua, NY   
Third Place: Ren�e Owen, Sebastopol, CA


Honorable Mentions; No Particular Order  
* Kevin Goldstein-Jackson,  Dorset, England
* Michele Root-Bernstein, East Lansing, MI 
* Joe McKeon, Strongsville, OH
 
 
Nicholas A. Virgilio Memorial Haiku Competition for Grades 7-12
 
Co Judges: Aubrie Cox, Knoxville, TN and Michael Rehling, Presque Isle, MI

* Elena Bonvicini, Grade 10
Sage Hill School, Newport Coast, CA
 
* Maggie George, Grade 11
Sprayberry High School, Marietta, GA
 
* Catharine Malzahn, Grade 10
Sage Hill School,  Newport Coast, CA
 
* Kian Etedali, Grade 12
Sage Hill School, Newport Coast, CA
 
* Claire Reardon., Grade 12
St. Ignatius College Prep, Chicago, IL
   
* Sophie Sadd, Grade 8
The Paideia School,  Atlanta, GA
 
 
Submitted by Charlotte Digregorio
Second Vice President/Contest Coordinator   




Every Chicken, Cow,
Fish and Frog:
Animal Rights Haiku


Call for Submissions for Every Chicken, Cow, Fish and Frog: Animal Rights Haiku. Seeking haiku, senryu, tanka and monochrome haiga related to the theme of animal rights, broadly conceived. 

Please send
poems to Robert Epstein / Miriam Wald at [email protected] or SASE to:  Robert Epstein, 1343 Navellier Street, El Cerrito, CA 94530.  Paperback Print Edition. No compensation for inclusion in anthology.  Deadline:  2/1/16.



_______________________



Bernard Lionel Einbond 
Renku Competition
 
The HSA Bernard Lionel Einbond Renku Competition for 2016 is calling for 20-verse submissions. Please log onto the HSA website for this and other contest guidelines. Patricia Machmiller, 2016 Second Vice President, will be coordinating the contests, and questions may be addressed to her. Please note her contact information on the website.




see Regional News


 

Alaska
Billie Wilson 

Please see Upcoming Contests above.


 

California
Deborah Kolodji 


Haiku Poets of
Northern California

2016 San Francisco
International Competition
Rengay

Sponsored by:
Haiku Poets of Northern California

Deadline for Rengay:
In hand, January 31, 2016

 
Details
All entries must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. There is no limit to the number of submissions. A first prize of $100 will be awarded. Contest results will be announced at the April meeting (or earlier) and in the HPNC Newsletter. Winning poems will be published in Mariposa, the membership journal of HPNC. All rights revert to authors after the contest results are announced. This contest is open to all except the HPNC president, the contest coordinator and the judge.

Rengay Submission Guidelines
All rengay must be titled. For two people (Poet A and Poet B) follow this linked format: 3 lines/Poet A, 2 lines/Poet B, 3/A, 3/B, 2/A, 3/B. For three poets (A, B, and C) the format is: 3 lines/A, 2 lines/B, 3 lines/C, 2/A, 3/B, 2/C. Type or print each rengay on three letter-size sheets. Include full authorship information, stanza by stanza, as well as all poets' names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses (optional) on one copy only. On the other two copies, mark stanzas with letters only (poet A, poet B, poet C) to indicate the sequence of authorship. Mail rengay submissions to HPNC, c/o Fay Aoyagi, 930 Pine St. #105, San Francisco CA 94108. If all the participating poets live outside the United States, you may submit via e-mail to [email protected].  "2016 HPNC Rengay Contest" must appear in the subject line.   

Entry Fees
The entry fee is $5.00 per rengay. Make checks or money orders payable in U.S. dollars to "Haiku Poets of Northern California (HPNC)." Cash (in U.S. currency) is OK. Overseas participants may pay via PayPal, if all participants live outside of the U.S. (If your partner is a U.S. resident, this rule will not apply.) For PayPal payments, please add $1 ($6 per rengay) to cover the handling charge. Send PayPal payments to [email protected], and please clearly indicate this is payment for the HPNC Rengay Contest.

Enclose a business-size SASE (U.S. first class postage, or enclose $1) for notification of contest winners. No entries will be returned, with the exception of late submissions, or those received without payment. These will be returned using your SASE; without an SASE these entries will be discarded.
The 2016 rengay judge is Garry Gay.

Thank you for participating in this year's contest. If you have any questions, please contact Fay Aoyagi at http://www.hpnc.org


______________________


Haiku San Diego

Haiku San Diego's next meeting will be held at Java Joe's, Sunday, January 10, 2016, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Java Joe's is located at 3536 Adams Avenue, San Diego. Haiku San Diego meets on the 2nd Sunday of every month.


______________________


Southern California
Haiku Study Group


The Southern California Haiku Study Group had a launch party for its new anthology, drawn to the light, in November.  drawn to the light was edited by William Hart, and its title was taken from a haiku by Victor Ortiz:

drawn to the light
of the setting sun
vacationers

   - Victor Ortiz

The cover photography was by Marcyn Del Clements. Copies are available for $12.00 plus postage from Deborah P Kolodji, [email protected].

The Southern California Haiku Study Group's next workshop will be at the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, on Saturday, January 16, 2016, 2 to 4 pm.


______________________


Yuki Teikei Haiku Society

The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society's next meeting will be on Saturday, January 9, at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum. We will pay first attention to the exhibition, "Looking East - How Japan inspired Monet, Van Gogh, and other Western Artists", http://www.asianart.org/exhibitions_index/looking-east with a docent-led tour at 12:00, browsing the museum to follow. There is an optional no-host lunch in the Museum Caf� at 11:00 am.

 

Oregon 
Shelley Baker-Gard 

HSA Conference
Planning News

The Oregon HSA group is planning the Summer HSA regional conference to be held in Portland, Oregon on Friday evening Aug. 12, all day Saturday Aug. 13, and Sunday morning Aug. 14.  We will be featuring anthology readings (contact Harriot West and Cece Rosenow for information and/or willingness to participate);  Workshops by Michael Dylan Welch and Margaret Chula;  a special performance by Jim Rodriguez and Michele Schafer, a reading by Johnny Baranski, and  a tour of the newly expanded Japanese Garden.

A book table will be available for authors to display and sell their books. Please book your hotel reservations as soon as possible - contact Shelley Baker-Gard [email protected] for a comprehensive list (put together by Myrna Begin) of hotels close to the meeting center at Ramona House on 14th and SW Quimby. Complete details and schedule will be available in February 2016.

Other News

HSA members in Portland and nearby cities are continuing to meet on a regular basis on the 2nd Friday of every month at 7 pm at the Friendly House on 26th and NW Thurman. We welcome guests who are in town and would like to attend a meeting. First part of the meeting is devoted to sharing haiku and the 2nd part is devoted to an exercise or activity devoted to writing haiku or other forms of Japanese inspired poetry. 

 

Hawaii
Brett Brady 

No news this month
  


Mid-West
Julie Warther 

New Haiku Study Group 
at Michigan State

Michele Root-Bernstein is launching a haiku study group in association with the Center for Poetry at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

Beginning February 20th, 2016, we'll meet from 1 to 3 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month, in Snyder Hall, classroom C302. (Most campus parking is free on weekends.) Everyone is welcome!

Haiku poets in local Michigan communities are urgently encouraged to come whenever possible. Those farther afield throughout the Midwest are likewise invited to contact Michele whenever their travels take them near East Lansing. We need you and your poetry! For more information, email:

Submitted by Michele Root-Bernstein

__________________________

Meetings of
The Indianapolis Haiku Group

The Indianapolis Haiku Group (IHG) meets one Sunday each month, from 2-5 p.m., to read, write and share haiku, senryu, tanka and haibun. This group, begun this past October, has now met for three consecutive months, and has averaged 10-12 people per meeting. Location varies.

The next meeting will take place Sunday, January 24, 2016. Please contact developer and facilitator Kyle D. Craig at [email protected] if interested in attending. All levels of experience welcome.


The Long and Short of It: 
Writing Japanese
Poetry Forms

Kyle D. Craig will be teaching a two-session class entitled "The Long and Short of It: Writing Japanese Poetry Forms" at the Indiana Writers Center on Feb. 28th and March 13th from 1:30 p.m .to 4:30 p.m. The first session will focus on writing tanka and haiku, and the second session will focus on writing haibun and tanka prose. For a full description of the class and to sign-up, please click this link: shortforms

Submitted by Kyle Craig

__________________________


Biography of Raymond Roseliep Published

Loras Professor Emeritus Dr. Donna Bauerly has recently completed and published her long-standing research project, a literary biography of Loras haikuist Raymond Roseliep, who influenced a generation of writers in Dubuque and from Loras in haiku writing and beyond.   There is absolutely no doubt that he was one of the leaders in the haiku movement in the United States.

Donna will read from and sign copies of her biography Raymond Roseliep: Man of Art Who Loves the Rose (published by The Haiku Foundation) at THE FOUNDRY BOOKS, Mineral Point, WI on Sunday, January 10, 2016 from 2:00 - 4:00.

All proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to THE HAIKU FOUNDATION.

For more information, please contact Gayle Bull, [email protected] or 608-987-4363.



THE CRADLE OF AMERICAN HAIKU FESTIVAL 5

The Cradle of America Haiku Festival 5 will be held August 5-7, 2016 in Mineral Point, WI. Plans are still evolving, so mark you calendars. If you are not on my mailing list and wish to receive information on the FESTIVAL, please send me your email address and I'll be in touch - Gayle Bull, [email protected] or 608-987-4363.

Submitted by Gayle Bull 
 

Mountain
Steve Tabb

No news this month 

 

Southwest
James Applegate  

No news this month
 

South
Carlos Col�n

20th Autumn 
Haiku Conference


The 20th autumn haiku conference will be held at the Arlington Hotel on Friday and Saturday, November 4-5, 2016.

Dr. Johnye Strickland, professor emerita of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will be the featured poet.
Dr. Strickland is a living legend in the international haiku community.

More later.

Call for Submissions

The bi-monthly haiku column in Ouachita Life is accepting submissions for the February 2016 issue. The contest is open to everyone. The winning poet receives $10, and his/her name is placed in a random drawing for $50 in early December. The Verna Lee Hinegardner Award will be discontinued. Ideas are being discussed for other prizes and awards.

The deadline for the haiku contest is January 15th. Email [email protected] and use Haiku Contest in the subject line. Include no more than three haiku followed by your name, mailing address, telephone and email address. Please keep the copy simple with single-line paragraphs. The mailing address is:
Haiku Contest
PO Box 1260
Hot Springs, Arkansas
71902-1260.
 
Please share this email with your friends.
 
I am renewing my interest in haiku. My goal for 2016 is to rediscover the joy of haiku. Won't you join me?
For information, please call 501.767.6096

Submitted by Howard Lee Kilby

 

Southeast
Robyn Hood Black  

No news this month
 

Mid-Atlantic
Robert Ertman  

No news this month
 

Northeast Atlantic
Wanda Cook 

No news this month
 

Northeast Metro
Rita Gray 




HSA MetroNE

December 5th 2015
Meeting Report

submitted by Miriam Borne

This program was dedicated to the "Wartime Suite" haiku of Doris Heitmeyer, which were spoken and danced by Miriam Borne to music of the 1940's, with tech support by Amanda LaSalle. Opening with a "Prologue" written by Ms. Heitmeyer, this performance evoked the war years 1941 to 1945, from the point of view of Ms. Heitmeyer, as a girl growing up on the home front.

A Selection from Doris Heitmeyer's "Wartime Suite"

paper shortage
the wartime book crumbles to dust
between my fingers

ration coupons
in my shopping cart
Spam, Velveeta. margarine

my first pair of slacks
the side placket meets with
my mother's approval

in a shop window
the summer frock I bought
seventy years ago

Marlene Dietrich
singing "Lili Marlene"
to German troops

a moment of silence
between me and my Jewish friends
concentration camp photos

Hiroshima
I see clearly that
my country can be wrong

occupation forces
organizing baseball games
for Japanese kids

Music was from Glenn Miller, Kate Smith, the Andrew Sisters and more. Costuming and props for the dances included a 40's wedding dress, a death mask, Rosie the Riveter attire, plus eBay finds of a silk scarf embroidered by an army wife and an old ration book. The prizes for the writing contest concluding the program were authentic wartime memorabilia of photos, postcards and an army recruiting patch. Perhaps, it was only fitting that the winners were all women in a program created by women from the wartime perspective of one...


God Bless America
performed by Miriam Borne



WWII Memorabilia

Winners of the "Wartime Suite" Writing Contest, judged by John Stevenson and Scott Mason:

1st prize

Pearl Harbor
the survivors who were killed
in other battles
            --Dorothy McLaughlin

2nd Prize

ball games
and apple trees
all American War
               --Rita Gray

3rd Prize

opportunities of war
black market
Milky Ways
              -- Mary Ellen Rooney

 

Washington
Angela Terry 

No news this month




Dear Members,

I hope you all are enjoying the somewhat different look and more inclusive content of the new HSA NEWS, your monthly communication from HSA. As in the past couple of years with the previous Bulletin, I will continue to strive to get HSA NEWS to you on the fifth of every month.

May all your experiences in 2016 be positive.
 

Ignatius Fay
 
HSA NEWS Editor 
Haiku Society of America
[email protected] 

Comments or concerns about your membership?
Please contact the HSA officers  


Haiku Society of America  |  P.O. Box 31  |  Nassau  |  NY  |  12123