Gutted

Things are coming together . . .

The house: the architect's plans for the new, reinforced roof of our home were sent through to me this week, and have been sent to council for the required building permit. Also, the house has been gutted - all the walls, ceiling, kitchen, carpets, etc., have been ripped out, and will eventually be replaced once the new roof is on and the building is watertight. It's so good to know that things are continuing on over there in Matamata while hubby and I make another day-to-day life for ourselves in Te Awamutu.

A photo I took from my study last August of the peacocks that roam our country property.

I have no need

of all these peacocks

to teach me how to cry

last night I felt you

in my arms at last

 

Skylark 2:1 (Summer 2014)

The manuscript: my haiku and tanka manuscript did not place in the Snapshot Press Book Awards, but I'm very excited to say that it is now being read by another publisher. Happy, happy, joy, joy! :-)

The store: my online shop Haiku On has taken a backseat for a while now, but today I released a new t.shirt design that I'm really excited about - "What's my sport? Haiku!" This is with thanks to friend and haiku poet Margaret Beverland, who told me about a conversation she had along these lines with fellow haiku poets, and her husband! The bestselling tee "Trust me, I'm a haiku poet" is still available, as well as some beautiful haiku journals, and much more. Come over and take a look at http://www.cafepress.com/haikuon

Brand new t.shirt design at Haiku On available now! http://www.cafepress.com/haikuon

The Haiku Help-Desk

The Haiku Help-Desk is part of my haikai column in a fine line, The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society. It's a place where readers can learn by example: in each issue the editor gives feedback on a haiku in such a way that it shows the reader how they might improve their own haiku or otherwise learn about the art of writing haiku. The editor sometimes uses their own haiku as the example and other times another poet's work is used. These articles are now being archived on the Haiku NewZ website thanks to Sandra Simpson and Laurice Gilbert. So far you can read:

• The Last Line by Kirsten Cliff
• The Shaping of a Haiku by Margaret Beverland
• Awareness in Haiku by Patricia Prime

More will be added over the coming months. Check out other archived articles, as well as book reviews, competition and journal listings, the Showcase of NZ haiku poets and the My Favourite Haiku features while you're visiting. And don't forget about Haiku Festival Aotearoa 2012 - registrations in by June 1st! I'll see you there :)

KOKAKO 17 Now Open For Submissions

Kokako is New Zealand's only dedicated magazine of haiku, tanka, haibun and related forms showcasing poetry from Aotearoa (NZ) and around the world. It's edited by Patricia Prime and Margaret Beverland, and is published twice annually, in April and September.

Submissions for the September issue close July 1st, 2012.
All work should be previously unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere. The editors ask you to please make just one submission of up to 10 pieces during each submission period to kokakonz[at]gmail[dot]com. Notification of acceptance or rejection will be made after the closing date of each submission period.

And don't forget about The 4th Kokako Tanka Competition closing October 31st, 2012. First Prize $NZ200!

Mice and Jam and Poetry...

The cooler temperatures of our beloved Autumn are already encouraging the field mice to seek warmth inside country homes. Hubby and I have had three in our kitchen so far! An interesting winter it shall be :) And the perfect time to share this poem and recipe, which appeared in Narratives with Nosh: Stories, Poems & Recipes edited by Margaret Beverland with Jenny Argante (Tauranga Writers, 2009).

The rush

O, the rush of independence

on assassinating my first mouse

with a dollop of strawberry jam

and a state-of-the-art plastic trap

Four days on the hunt

bruised knees from searching under furniture

for a glimpse of something

I didn’t want to see

Nights, sleepless, waiting to hear SNAP!

instead a scratch a scuttle a squeak

Then at 4 p.m. on a rainy Thursday

I got it!

My high short-lived

as I contemplated disposal of the body

Chocolate jam-drop muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 large (rounded) Dsp margarine
• ½ c brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 egg
• 1½ c flour (for gluten free use 1¼ c Tapioca flour, ¼ c rice flour)
• 1 tsp baking powder (for gluten free use baking powder that is gluten free too)
• ½ c cocoa
• ½ tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• ¾ c milk
• ½ c jam (your choice)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 150 degrees C with fan bake, or 180 degrees without fan bake.
• Line a muffin tin with muffin cups (or grease with margarine).
• In a large bowl, cream margarine, sugar and vanilla essence. Beat in egg.
• Sift flour, baking powder, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into the creamed mix.
• Fold in gently, adding the milk. Stir only to combine and stop once mixed well.
• Into each muffin cup, put about a Dsp of mix, enough to cover the base.
• Follow with a tsp of jam onto the top, and then use the remaining mix to fill the muffin cups so that each muffin is roughly the same size, and all jam is covered.
• Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until well risen and springs back when lightly pressed.
• Cool on a wire rack, ice if you like them iced, or eat as is.

Chocolate butter icing

Ingredients:

• 1 c icing sugar  
• ½ c cocoa
• 1 Dsp margarine or softened butter
• 1-3 Tbsp milk

Method:

• Sift cocoa and icing sugar into a bowl. Mix in butter and milk, and then whip with a fork or spoon until icing is thick.

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.

Cicada Song

cicada song

replaces the heavy traffic

of home

Haiku and photographs © Kirsten Cliff 2011

From Spider's Strand in Lynx: A Journal for Linking Poets

(scroll down to find Spider's Strand: a linked haiku verse with Patricia Prime, Catherine Mair, Margaret Beverland, Steve Cordery, Owen Bullock, Sandra Simpson, George Swede and myself) 

Klostar Ivanic International Haiku Contest - FREE entry!

The Klostar Ivanic International Haiku Contest is my submission for this week (that's week 16 of 2011). I entered for the first time in 2009, but took a break in 2010 due to illness, and am pleased to get back to it this year. Here's all the details:

Klostar Ivanic International Haiku Contest

Organised by the Tourist Community of Klostar Ivanic, Croatia,

and Three Rivers Haiku Association.

Entry is FREE

Cash prizes totalling $US100

Deadline: May 31, 2011

Limit of 3 haiku which must contain "nature and man as part of it".

Results on the internet by November 1.

Send entries by email with the subject line "For the contest",

with haiku in the body of the email to:

dvrozic (at) optinet (dot) hr

Or by post (include addressed envelope with 1 IRC for results) to:

Haiku Association Three Rivers,

Kolodvorska 44,

10310 Ivanic Grad,

Croatia.

In 2010 New Zealander's did very well, with Pat Prime receiving Third equal, Catherine Mair receiving an Honourable Mention, and Margaret Beverland and Owen Bullock both receiving Choice of Haiku placings. I'm very pleased with the haiku I submitted and hope I can live up to the New Zealand standard!

Frogpond Submissions Open

Frogpond, the Journal of the Haiku Society of America, is open for submissions for it's Winter Issue. The cut off date is November 15. See full submission guidelines here. And you can connect with the HSA on Facebook.

I had the pleasure of meeting, and writing with, editor George Swede in 2009 when he came to New Zealand. A linked haiku verse that was written over lunch with George Swede, Catherine Mair, Pat Prime, Owen Bullock, Steve Cordery, Margaret Beverland, Sandra Simpson and myself is published in Lynx (scroll down to find 'Spider's Strand').

First day of sping and it's all about poetry

Happy first day of spring! And the good news keeps coming for me and my poetry leanings...

My page on the Haiku NewZ Showcase is now live. You can see it here: http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/kirstencliff and also check out another newcomer to the showcase, Margaret Beverland: http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/margaretbeverland

A big thank you to Sandra Simpson for inviting me to be part of the Showcase and for expertly putting together all the Haiku NewZ pages. I have added the link under 'Links to My Writing', which are on the right hand side of this blog under the photo of me.

I love it when things come together. I haven't submitted anything for months and then the good news flows forth in a rush! I've had a haiku accepted for the 2010 New Zealand Poetry Society anthology, which will come out in November with a launch in Wellington. And a poem accepted for publication in Takahe sometime in 2011. This came about after Stylus was unable to publish the feature '12 New Zealand Poets' that Pat Prime had put together, so Pat contacted Siobhan Harvey, poetry editor at Takahe, and she agreed to publish the poems throughout 2011. Superb news for me having never had a poem in Takahe before. Thank you, Pat and Siobhan!

My final piece of good news isn't directly poetry related, but haiku could well end up involved! I volunteered to be one of 10 people to represent leukaemia survivorship in an ad campaign for Leukaemia Appeal Week (Nov 1-7). I did a photo shoot last week at Browsers Quality Secondhand Bookshop in Hamilton with photographer TJ Alderson. It was a great experience and I'm proud to be able to help the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation in this way. My image will end up in various places, which could include posters, pamphlets, books and websites.

TJ enjoys incorporating words into his images and, knowing I was a haiku writer, asked me to send him any that spoke of my leukaemia journey. Watch this space - haiku could be flooding the media come November!

The Haiku Foundation's 'Haiku Registry'

Welcome to the first post of my new blog - Swimming in Lines of Haiku. And yes, the first post is about haiku!

I wanted to draw your attention to The Haiku Foundation's 'Haiku Registry' which you can be part of if you've had haiku published in an edited journal. It's a brilliant idea and a great way to connect with others that are passionate about haiku.

Here's how you can apply to be listed -

Email the following information to haikuregistry_at_thehaikufoundation.org (replacing _at_ with @):

Name
Date of birth (optional)
Place of birth
Present place of residence
Brief biographical statement not to exceed 50 words
Awards or other honors
Books published, with date of publication and publisher’s information
Up to 10 English-language haiku that have been published in an edited print or online journal, with publishing credits (up to four will be selected to appear in the Registry
Photograph in jpg format
Email address (optional)
Web site address (optional)

Check out my listing here: http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/resources/poet-details/?IDclient=117

Other New Zealander's up on the Haiku Registry so far are Sandra Simpson, Margaret Beverland, Patricia Prime, Dick Whyte and Andre Surridge.

The Haiku Foundation's website has heaps of other great info and is definitely worth a browse. You can also join them on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000212044634&ref=profile#!/pages/The-Haiku-Foundation/346457215437?ref=ts