Happy National Poetry Day New Zealand!

That's right, today is New Zealand's Poetry Day.

How will you be celebrating?

Check out this link to find an event in your area.


I'm pleased to announce that I have finally finished putting my poetry collection together this month, and that is certainly something to celebrate! As I write, my manuscript is being read by three generous and talented poet friends so I can get some feedback before moving forward.

While we're all waiting to see my collection come out in book form (it will happen!) why not check out A New Resonance 8: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku, which I featured in this year with my biggest ever crop of haiku in one publication: 15. It's almost like having a chapbook, in an anthology with 16 other chapbooks! :-)

You can read the first New Zealand review here, written by Tony Beyer. He writes of my work . . .

"Kirsten Cliff's characteristic sensitivity is demonstrated throughout her contribution:

wind gusts--
the letter was not
meant for me

Nature and human nature, co-dependant in our existence, operate in harmony through her lines. She stands up well in this international company and richly deserves the wider audience her inclusion in A New Resonance should bring her."

I have for sale copies of A New Resonance 8 (Eds. Dee Evetts & Jim Kacian, Red Moon Press 2013). If you'd like your copy signed by me, sent from Hobbiton, and with one of my handcrafted cards as a free gift to you for your support, then please contact me here. I'd love to hear from you!

Me beside the "Welcome to Hobbiton, Matamata, New Zealand" sign in my hometown. (click on image to enlarge)

The Winner of the "A New Resonance 8" Book Draw is . . .

Carole Harrison

Congratulations, Carole! A copy of A New Resonance 8 will be on its way to you soon, along with one of my handcrafted cards.

Here's one of Carole's haibun created during the month:

Day 17

"Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go." ~Hermann Hesse

murrumbidgee -
a submerged log letting go
of the morning

~CaroleH 
Note: Murrumbidgee, a large river in SE Australia

Thanks to everyone who took part in I Quote, You 'Ku this July. Your support of my month-long project is much appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed taking part. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday. :-)

If you'd like to buy your own copy of A New Resonace 8: Emerging Voice in English-Language Haiku (Eds. Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts, Red Moon Press 2013) then please drop me a line. Read the first New Zealand review here.

FYI: All the 52 names of poets who posted went into the online tool 'Pick a Winner!' from which one was randomly selected.

My July Challenge: I Quote, You 'Ku

Welcome to July, dear readers! The month of my birth in which I want to celebrate haikai with you.

Everyone loves a good quote, has a favourite or two, whether they're a writer or not. I am no exception and so have gathered together 31 quotes that have touched me for the month of July to bring you “I Quote, You 'Ku”. 

What you'll need to do to take part: write a haiku or tanka inspired by the daily quote posted on Swimming in Lines of Haiku to form a haibun (or tanka prose). Place it in the comments section, and then enjoy reading other participants 'ku! You can write a new haiku or tanka each day, or feel free to post previously published poems, or a mix of both.

This daily challenge was inspired by Aubrie Cox's I Doodle, You 'Ku, practices in Margaret D. McGee's Haiku - the sacred art (where she writes haiku sparked from bible passages), and Jim Kacian's Haibun Masterclass at the 2012 New Zealand Haiku Conference.

My gift to you: everyone that posts a poem in the comments section as least once will go into the draw to win a copy of A New Resonance 8: Emerging Voices in English Language Haiku (eds. Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts, Red Moon Press 2013). The last day of July is my birthday, but I'll do the draw on August 1st so that the Northern Hemisphere has caught up.

Call it a challenge, call it an experiment, call it a learning exercise, call it a daily writing prompt, call it a community collaboration. Either way I do hope that you'll call it fun!

• Find I Quote, You 'Ku - Day 1 here and post your 'ku in the comments section there.
• Find I Quote, You 'Ku - Day 2 here and post your 'ku in the comments section there.
• Find I Quote, You 'Ku - Day 3 here and post your 'ku in the comments section there. 
• Find I Quote, You 'Ku - Day 4 here and post your 'ku in the comments section there. 
• Find I Quote, You 'Ku - Day 5 here and post your 'ku in the comments section there. 
• Find I Quote, You 'Ku - Day 6 here and post your 'ku in the comments section there. 
• Find I Quote, You 'Ku - Day 7 here and post your 'ku in the comments section there.

I have arrived . . .

By which I mean that my bounty of A New Resonance 8 books arrived yesterday . . . By which I mean that the postie left a card in the letterbox saying that the parcel was too big for said letterbox and that my driveway was "too scary" to ascend for the delivery, so I was to go into the post office to pick it up myself!

This huge, and quite heavy, US postal bag is what I found when I got there. Wow!

I am super excited to be in this volume with sixteen other "emerging" haiku poets, and to be the only Southern Hemisphere dweller amongst them. A New Resonance 8 is published by Red Moon Press and edited by Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts, and is said to be the finest volume yet.

Front cover (click to enlarge)

If you'd like to buy your copy from me, and have it sent from Hobbiton, I'm including one of my unique handcrafted cards in with every book. It'll be my gift to you for supporting my creative journey. Here are two examples of the cards I have to send out. I'm also happy to sign the book for you, just let me know. 

I can receive payments via PayPal if you're outside New Zealand. Or if you're a Kiwi, there are a range of ways you can make a purchase. Please email me. Book priced at NZ$20 / US$17 + P&P.

Back cover (click to enlarge)

My congratulations to all of the poets in this volume (see back cover image above) some of which I've had contact with, and others that I haven't. Didn't we do well? I hope readers enjoy what we all have to offer. I know I'll be enjoying the experience for a long time to come.

A Puzzle of Poetry

I'm pleased to say that I have begun playing with the puzzle that is my first poetry collection, Patient Property. I've been writing for this collection since being diagnosed with leukaemia in March 2010, and it's only recently that my treatment has finally come to a conclusion. That's a lot of experiences to draw on!

At this stage all the relevant haiku, senryu, tanka, and haibun I've written over the past 2+ years is printed out and blue-tacked onto the back of my study door. From there I'm working out in what order the poems should appear, what stays and what goes, and if there are any gaps in my story for which new works need to be written.

Having never done this before, I can tell you it's a challenging job; though no bigger a task than I had expected it would be. I think I'll be a good few months working my way through the ups and downs of this process. I'm very grateful that a few fellow poets have already put their hands up to be early readers.

In the meantime (and long before my book sees the world!) will be my appearance in A New Resonance 8: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku. I'm very excited to have my haiku chosen for this volume, which will see a sizable body of my work published in one place for the first time. Many thanks to editors Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts, and all those who have supported my haiku habit over the past six years!

Now I just have to get over the small shock I feel every time I close my study door and am suddenly confronted with a wall of poetry! How is it that I keep forgetting it's there . . .

Cold Sun junicho

The first junicho I've participated in creating is now online in the new issue of A Hundred Gourds. You can view the whole piece here, and click on 'next renku' at the bottom of the page to read the Tomegaki for Cold Sun by our sabaki Sandra Simpson. My main contribution was the hokku, which also gave the junicho its title, and is considered an honoured position.

We started writing this at the NZ haiku conference in June where Jim Kacian was our distinguished guest and presenter of two Masterclasses. Jim was also a participant in the junicho. You can read a full write up of the Haiku Festival Aotearoa 2012, including Jim's workshops, in the fearture Sandra has written for AHG here.

Enjoy our junicho, and the rest of the December issue of AHG! :)

Haiku Festival Aotearoa 2012

Don't forget about the Haiku Festival Aotearoa happening in Tauranga this June, being organised by Sandra Simpson and Margaret Beverland. These gatherings don't happen that often in New Zealand so if you're curious but not sure then I recommend you go for it!

There will be Haiku and Haibun Master Classes by US haijin Jim Kacian, and workshops by Owen Bullock (Haiku as Performance), Dr Lawrence Marceau (Haiku, Haibun & Everyday Things), Tony Beyer (Better English Haiku & Tanka) and Sandra Simpson (Introduction to Renku).

Also on the programme is a trip to the Haiku Pathway in Katikati and the prize-giving of the bi-annual Katikati Haiku Contest.

You can find all the information at the HFA 2012 website here.

Breaking News of the Haiku Variety

Finally some good news!

I found out on Friday (while visiting Haiku NewZ) that one of my haiku was selected for evolution: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2010, edited by Jim Kacian and the Red Moon Editorial Staff (Red Moon Press, 2011).

The exciting thing about appearing in the annual Red Moon Anthology is that you don't submit your haiku: it is chosen from the pool of haiku that is published internationally each year.

This from Johnye Strickland in her review of the 2008 anthology:

The key to the selection process for all works nominated by the editorial staff was that they should be considered to be "of exceptional skill." Those making the final cut had to receive approval of the editor-in-chief, as well as votes from five of the ten staff editors (50%). My PhD dissertation didn't receive this much scrutiny.

And these thoughts from Michael Dylan Welch in his 2000 essay A Survey of Today’s English-Language Haiku Activity:

Also of note in the last four years are annual anthologies published by Red Moon Press, primarily edited by Jim Kacian, that aim to collect the very best haiku poems published each year. Though the selection process remains flawed and the editor includes too much of his own work, this annual publication is beginning to serve a very useful purpose in attempting to collect the best haiku in English each year.

I am pleased as punch that I made the grade and promptly bought two copies of evolution from the Red Moon Press website.

My haiku sits alongside other New Zealand haiku poets: Ernest J Berry, Owen Bullock and Andre Surridge. And here it is: 

coming home
to an empty house
so many stars

Copyright © Kirsten Cliff
First published in Kokako 12 (April, 2010)

The Haiku Foundation HaikuNow! Contest

The Haiku Foundation announced today the opening of their second annual HaikuNow! Contest.

There are three categories: Traditional, Contemporary and Innovative. Everyone is allowed to enter one poem in each category. Entry is FREE, with cash prizes!

The submission deadline is March 31st, 2011 using an online form.
Judges are Jim Kacian and Jane Hirshfield. See the website for full information and guidelines.

The Haiku Foundation FREE Haiku Contest on Facebook

The Haiku Foundation is pleased to announce its first-ever haiku contest on Facebook! It starts today and will run through to the end of November 2010. This contest is FREE.

Jim Kacian, the founder of The Haiku Foundation, will be judging and will offer a copy of this year’s Red Moon Anthology for the top three haiku. Anyone may enter one haiku by posting it in the comment section of the post about this contest on The Haiku Foundation Facebook page.