Contest Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the First Annual Solitary Daisy Haiku Contest! Sally and Michele were honoured to read the over 600 haiku entries and choosing the top six was made difficult not only by the quantity but the quality. Please remember that just because your haiku didn’t place doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. Judging becomes a very subjective endeavor, especially when the shortlist stage arrives. We encourage you all to keep writing and keep submitting 😊
A big thanks again to contest coordinator, Frithjof, and brochure designer, Carrie Anne Arts Co!
The normal newsletter is below the winning announcement so keep on scrolling.
And now, on to the winners!
First Place
dinner for one… the budding cherry now just another tree - Joshua Gage
Second Place
end of holiday – the remains of summer inside a beach pail - Dan C. Iulian
Third Place
chest deep in recollection wildflowers - Shelly Reed Thieman
Honourable Mention
the arabesque of cherry branches... frayed toe shoes - Debbie Strange a blue heron’s wings folding/unfolding... origami bird - Kim Klugh w*h*i*t*e*o*u*t my rescue dog rescues me - Roberta Beary
Prairie Crocus
peach fuzz stemmed
under purple silk skirt
your sunshine arouses
–Shelly Reed Thieman
prairie flower
unfurling your petals
please stay awhile
–Anna Dean
windflower blowing
double weather whether
spring is coming
–David Brydges
pistils look skyward
welcoming warm spring sun rays
let’s dance in the glow
-Honey Novick
delicate crocus
fragile in a cold spring wind
sways with strength, newness
-Marcia Laycock
crocus flowers
on the earth
flying cupids
-Barbara Anna Gaiardoni
Member News
This arrived in my inbox, courtesy of Charlotte Digregorio. I love the way her daily dispatch gives us the opportunity to see haiku that might otherwise have passed us by. Beautiful, kj!
silence
the white space
around your poem
by kjmunro (Canada)
Tinywords, Issue 18.2, Nov. 8, 2018
Also from Charlotte’s blog is this selection of haiku and a tanka from Debbie Strange. Debbie, you are my haiku hero!
marsh marigolds
dark waters patched
with light
by Debbie Strange (Canada)
Highly Commended
New Zealand International Poetry Competition, 2023
drifting sands
sometimes the poem
writes itself
by Debbie Strange (Canada)
Winner
Drifting Sands Wearable Art and Haiku Contest, 2023
there was
so much I wanted
to teach you . . .
a blue jay’s feathers
are not really blue
by Debbie Strange (Canada)
First Place
San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka, 2023
Sally Quon has had a good week with acceptances from Modern Haiku, The Enchanted Garden, and The Heron’s Nest.
Sally’s Notebook
Watch this space for a special challenge for International Haiku Day on April 17th!
Also, save the date for our very own Gingko Walk in Kelowna on April 27th – more details to follow in our next issue.
Upcoming Deadlines and Cool Stuff
Let’s start with this letter I received regarding this year’s Hexapod Haiku Challenge:
Hello Haiku enthusiasts!
Here is some information regarding this year’s Hexapod Haiku Challenge (HHC). This year we have a special award category, in addition to the regular categories, for haiku about aquatic arthropods. It’s open to all ages. We hope that this special category will encourage everyone to metaphorically (and possibly literally?) get their feet wet in the exploration and appreciation of the world of aquatic arthropods — while writing haiku!
A few months ago, members of the Frost Entomological Museum and Anne Burgevin, who regularly help run the HHC, met up to walk in the forest. We stopped at a stream to flip rocks and gently observe the life we could find. As you might expect, a whole host of different types of arthropods were there. Some were striding along the stream’s surface, resting on twigs that were poking out of the water. Others crawled along the bottom of a wet rock. We were even lucky enough to catch an immature mayfly, which we placed in a container with some water, and observed the mesmerizing movement of its feathery gills. We learned later that the undulating movement of the gills helps pull water past its body for a fresh supply of oxygen. Needless to say, the afternoon was inspiring and encouraged us to learn more about these tiny creatures, and we hope similar activities will result in learning and inspiration for you as well. We share a couple haiku from that day to encourage you to make time for exploring aquatic arthropods yourselves:
flipping rocks
a stone fly
tickles my hand
between silty stones…
a crayfish watches
water striders
Tips for getting started exploring aquatic habitats can be found at the bottom of the 2023 selected haiku announcement: https://ento.psu.edu/about/facilities/frost/news/2023-hexapod-haiku-challenge-announcement
Also, please note the submission deadline this year will be June 15th. More information about the 2024 HHC can be found on the HHC webpage.
With warm regards,
Frost Entomological Museum
And This One! Quick! There is no time to waste!
The deadline is TODAY to submit your haiku on the theme of Internal Migration to The Haiku Foundation.
Another one to act quickly on – 2024 Sakura Haiku Challenge The deadline is March 31.
Closing on April 15 is the Kaji Aso Studio Haiku Contest. This contest charges $3.00 US per entry, but the number of entries you can make is unlimited. Thanks to Sandra St. Laurent for this tip.
This is cool! Submit your haiku for the chance of having it chosen to receive a commentary.
Of course, you can always submit your haiku to us for the same thing. Michele and Sally would be thrilled to receive your haiku. All haiku poets willing to do this would remain anonymous.
This Week’s Prompt
This week we invite you to choose any prompt from our April calendar and submit it.
sally_quon@yahoo.com or kelownalady@hotmail.com
“Learn how to listen as things speak for themselves.”
–Matsuo Basho
Michele Rule is a disabled writer from Kelowna BC. She is especially interested in the topics of chronic illness, relationships and nature. Michele is published in the Asahi Shimbun Haikuist, Pine Cone Review, the Enchanted Garden, Five Minute Lit, Shadow Pond, WordCityLit, and the anthologies F*ck the Patriarchy, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and To Live Here, among others. She is an associate member of the League of Canadian Poets and Haiku Canada. Michele has been awarded honourable mention twice for the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational and also for the Haiku Northwest Porad Award. Her first chapbook is Around the World in Fifteen Haiku. Michele lives in a beautiful garden surrounded by people who love her just the way she is.
Sally Quon is a disabled poet and photographer living in the Okanagan Valley of beautiful British Columbia, Canada. She is an associate member of The League of Canadian Poets and a member of Haiku Canada. Her work has been published in numerous journals including The Heron’s Nest, Modern Haiku, Frogpond, First Frost, and Time Haiku. She is currently working on her first book of haiku, haibun, and haiga, tentatively titled, “My Valley, My Home.”
Featherstone Creative
Thank you ❤️
Greatly appreciate the abundance of poetry to feast on …… !!
Thank you so much Karen 🙂
Thank you so much for your lovely words, the Honourable Mention, & for reposting Charlotte’s feature!
shine on,
Debbie