Persistent Rain

bone marrow biopsy --
through my internal tears
a doctor talks
of the persistent rain
on his summer holiday

Kokako 19 (September 2013)

Thankfully all my treatments (and related procedures!) for leukaemia ended a year ago this month. Although I'm still considered high risk, a label that will stay with me for life, I have remained in remission for three years now, so all is looking good. I have also finally completed my collection of haiku and tanka that explore my journey through this experience. It is now with some very generous readers, and then I hope to enter it in the Snapshot Press Book Awards.

My work has just come out in Kokako, A Hundred Gourds and A Fine Line. I've recently had work accepted for Skylark, Presence and Contemporary Haibun Online. And have submitted work to The Heron's Nest, A Hundred Gourds, and the Australia-New Zealand Haiku Anthology. Now I'm getting my entry ready for the Kokako Haiku and Senryu Competition, as well as making haiku cards to take to the fair. Collaborations are still continuing, with Seanan Forbes writing haiku and tanka for some of my photos from Fiji. Never a dull moment!

Don't forget about the Svetlana Marisova Memorial Kukai 2013 (closing September 14th), which marks two years since Sveta's passing from cancer.

waking 
from a dream --
on my lips
I find the word
arohanui*

*Maori for with love/deep affection
RIP Svetlana Marisova

The Books on My 'To Buy' List . . .

In no particular order:

Forgiving the Rain by Lynne Rees (haibun) http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/

twelve moons by Claire Everett
(tanka)
https://www.createspace.com/3923071

breakfast with epiphanies by Owen Bullock (haiku) http://owenbullock.com/haiku.html

 

In the Garden of Absence by Stella Pierides (haiku)
http://stellapierides.com/news/4744

Snapshot Press Announces International Annual Awards for Unpublished Collections of Haiku, Tanka, Short Poetry, Haibun

The Snapshot Press Book Awards

The Snapshot Press Book Awards are international annual prizes for unpublished book-length collections of haiku, tanka, short poetry and haibun.

The Award winners will have their collections published in paperback or hardback by Snapshot Press. There may be up to four Award winners each year.

Submissions are open from July 1–November 30. Full details here.

The Snapshot Press eChapbook Awards

The Snapshot Press eChapbook Awards are international annual prizes for unpublished short collections of haiku, tanka, short poetry and haibun.

The Award winners will have their collections published online by Snapshot Press. There may be up to eight Award winners each year. Each entrant will receive a copy of a print anthology featuring a selection of the best individual poems and haibun entered into the contest.

The deadline for submissions is July 31. Full details here.

Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar Competition Results

The 2011 Haiku Calendar Competition results are out now, see here. My congratulations to all the winners!

This year was my first time entering the competition, and I'm pleased to know that one of my haiku was shortlisted for the awards, although unfortunately was not selected for the calendar.

Snapshot Press are encouraging poets to get their entries in early for the next competition, which closes January 31st, 2012. You can find all the information here.

January Round-Up - What a Month!

A warm welcome to my new readers and all those that have popped in over the course of January - international small stones writing month. I greatly appreciate your comments, and ticking of the 'like' and 'cool' boxes at the bottom of my posts :)

I've loved writing a small stone a day and adding it to the river, and have benefited greatly both mentally and spiritually from doing so. At the same time, I wrote up my small stones in my Mslexia Writer's Diary: a diary I bought for the first time this year and am so glad I did; highly recommend!

I've also enjoyed stopping into other stoners' blogs who I may not have found if it wasn't for this challenge, and I thank you all for sharing your stones. I look forward to submitting my ten best stones this month, and eventually reading many others' in the book to be put together by Fiona Robyn.

January saw me make a goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week for 2011. Here's how I'm doing:

• week one - submitted six tanka to Eucalpyt (first time submitting here) won't hear outcome until after March 31st submission deadline for Issue 10
• week two - submitted one senryu to Haiku News (second time submitting here) was accepted, you can read it here
• week three - submitted five haiku and three tanka to Kokako; had two haiku and one tanka accepted for Issue 14, April 2011
• week four - submitted to Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar Competition (first time submitting here) results will be announced March 31st

I also created a 'My Photography' page here at Swimming in Lines of Haiku, and submitted images to (all for the first time):

• Four and Twenty (online short form poetry journal) - my image was chosen as the cover art for the January issue
• The Bay News 'Weather Photo' Page
• The Bay News 'Holiday Photo Competition' - closes Feb 4th
• And I'm very excited to have been asked to provide cover art for the next issue of Kokako (Issue 15, September 2011) Many thanks, Pat :)

I've continued making collage-style haiga for my collection: four this month, to make a total of twenty-three. I have written two new tanka so far this year for the collection, and still have several haiku and tanka already written to turn into haiga.

I had the opportunity to show them to my local fellow haiku writers at a small gathering in Tauranga on the 29th, which resulted in some good feedback. I'll carry on with this project while it still has meaning for me and the creative process brings me great joy.

January is extra special too because I made it to my first 100 blog posts! Thanks again to all those who have come along for the ride :)

So as you can see, there has been lots of great things happening for me, alongside my continuing treatment for leukaemia. Roll on February!

Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar Competition Deadline 31st Jan

If I get my act together in time, this will be my submission for week four of 2011. I've never entred it before, but in my bid to get myself and my writing back out into the world after cancer, I'm going to give it a whirl!

Cash prizes totalling £360. Twelve haiku will be picked as monthly winners; 40 others will be runners-up. All will be published. Haiku should include a seasonal word or activity. Results announced on March 31.

Cost: £3/$US5/haiku; £6/$US10/3 haiku; £12/$US20 up to 10 haiku. It is now possible to pay via PayPal.

For full details see the Entry Guide on the Snapshot Press website.