Two Great NaPoWriMo Giveaways!

The wonderfully supportive and energetic Kathy Nguyen is running two competitions to celebrate National Poetry Month.

The first is a haiku/senryu/tanka contest on her blog - Origami Lotus Poetry
Take a look at all the details here, and you'll be able to see my entry already in the comments section.
She is giving away a copy of Peter Newton's What We Find to the winner, and you can read her review of the book here.

The second is for WOWH members and the giveaway is one of Fiona's or Kaspa's e-courses!
You can find the prompt and all the info here, and if you're not already part of the Writing Our Way Home community then why not consider joining. You can find out more about WOWH here.

There's still lots of fun to be had this April!

My Year of Submission

IT BEGAN LAST YEAR on 7^th January when I made the bold statement on my blog: I've decided to submit to a poetry publication or competition every week in 2011. 

 

What can I say? I love poetry! 

 

Plus I hadn't submitted much in 2010: I had my hands full, and my spirit clouded, with leukaemia. In this first week of the New Year I was also hyped up on writing a poem-a-day (PAD) for the first International Small Stones Writing Month (A River of Stones) and my inspiration had kicked into overdrive. I wanted to get back out there. Observing, tasting, trying, writing, reading, submitting...

The first four weeks went by and four poetry submissions were sent off. Without pause, I was participating in another PAD in February: the first NaHaiWriMo (National Haiku Writing Month). 

 

A further four weeks past and this time I sent out seven submissions. I was getting bolder. I sent poetry to competitions I'd never seen before, and haiku to a journal that I'd previously been too nervous to approach. I got a rejection. Another was the A River of Stones anthology. I got an acceptance:

loading the dishwasher:

remembering

how he likes the teaspoons

in a particular slot

and how he said today

when we sat in the garden

"I like the shapes of the leaves on our trees."

Through March my spirits remained high and making weekly submissions was proving manageable. My first month with five weeks and five submissions were sent off. 

 

April, and yep, I did a third PAD challenge. This time it was NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) and another first for me. More poetry was written, read, shared and submitted. Following a set of daily prompts this time, I tested my skills with triptych, concrete poetry, rhyming- and free-verse, as well as my favourite Japanese short forms. 

 

The months went on and I faithfully submitted poems every week, and I wrote a lot, too. Work that I'm really proud of regardless of whether or not it has found its home in a publication, or stayed at home with me. I thought about quitting my self-imposed challenge several times. Why was I doing this again? But something within just made me keep on going. Some weeks, if I wasn't very well, or just seriously over it, I'd quickly submit a haiku to one of the free entry competitions with an on-line form. So easy! Then I'd sigh: Another week complete. Other weeks would see me submit to two or three different places. 

 

Week 26: I've never before been waiting on so many editors' verdicts and competition results: currently awaiting replies from seven publications (on-line and in print), two anthologies and five competitions. Phew!

I was spurred on by my successes, and the growing number of poets I was meeting on-line after four PAD challenges (A River of Stones again in July) and my blog and Facebook posts. Through these social media interactions I discovered new places for my poems. I also got to read lots more great poetry as I found other writers' blogs and Facebook pages: names I now recognised from these new journals I was reading and sending my work to. 

 

I entered the most competitions I ever had during this year. But sadly had no success, except for my Commended in the NZPS International Haiku Contest with:

tears

the doctor shifts

in his seat

Any fear of rejection I might have had about submitting my little poems from NZ to some of the big US journals went right out the window. It had to. This was my year and I wanted to make the most of it. I was delighted when this haiku was accepted to The Heron's Nest after my first time submitting there:

first winter's day

I slip into

his gumboots

Getting an acceptance was always exciting news, especially from the journals that were new to me. My ultimate high came from being accepted as a contributor for Cycle 12 of DailyHaiku, where 28 of my haiku have appeared over a six-month period:

cherry blossoms...

the bride-to-be offers

a sun-kissed cheek

As the end of the year drew near, I got busy. Nothing too strenuous, just getting married, buying a house, relocating to another region, all while having maintenance treatment for leukaemia (I'm still in remission!). December was the hardest month overall. Half unpacked, only dial-up Internet access, exhausted: I'd had enough. But I still somehow struggled through my submissions each week, then welcomed the end of my year. Week 52: TICK! 

 

It's satisfying to have been published in twenty-two publications over the past twelve months. An even better reward is when fellow writers from across the world tell me that I inspire them; sending me messages that my poems have touched them or brought a tear to their eye. I'm extremely grateful for these moments. I'm honoured to have my work read and enjoyed by so many people. I'm happy to be back in full force on my poetry journey.

This article was written for, and first published in, a fine line, The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society, March 2012.

How Did Your NaHaiWriMo Go?

I quietly wrote my haiku-a-day for NaHaiWriMo this February: I didn't follow the prompts by Michael Dylan Welch on the NaHaiWriMo Facebook page, and I didn't blog about it. Unfortunately, I did miss two days mid-way through due to illness, but as I wrote two haiku a few of the days throughout the month, I have come out with more than 29 at the end of it all, and am pretty pleased with my lot.

March 1st signals Autumn in New Zealand, and so it's time to share the March page of my calendar... 

March 2012 - Kirsten's Calendar of Haiku & Photography

The photo was taken at McLaren Falls near Tauranga last year, and the haiku was written on this blog during April's NaPoWriMo last year. You can click on the image for a larger view. Enjoy!

December Round-Up - Week 52: TICK!

Here's how I'm doing on my 2011 goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week:

• week forty-nine - submitted two haiku for the 2011 Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems
• AND I submitted my third set of ten haiku for DailyHaiku
• week fifty - submitted three tanka and two haiku to Aubrie Cox's New Year's Dragon blog post at Yay Words!, two haiku and two tanka accepted!
• AND submitted six haiku to The Heron's Nest, awaiting outcome
• week fifty-one - submitted one haiku to the Fujisan Haiku Competition (closes 20 January 2012)
• week fifty-two - submitted one haiga to the WHA Haiga Contest (first time submitting here)

And that's it. I've done it! For every week of 2011 I submitted a poem of some kind, some where :) Phew!

It's been a very rewarding year poetry-wise: not just because I reaped the benefits of so many submissions by being published much more, and much more widely, but because I also meet heaps of great haiku-folk through blogging and on Facebook, and through participating in a few PAD (poetry-a-day) challenges (small stones x2, NaHaiWriMo, NaPoWriMo) so that I'm now happily part of the on-line haiku community - a great place to be and to be part of :)

Thank YOU for being part of it with me through Swimming in Lines of Haiku. I'll be back next year with more poetry, and, knowing me, another challenge to be working towards...

Have safe and happy New Year's celebrations!

Half-Way Through My 2011 Challenge

In the first week of January, buoyed by the excitement of writing a small stone a day during A River of Stones, I decided to set myself the challenge of submitting to a poetry publication or competition every week in 2011.

It was my way of getting back out into the world through poetry, after a year of writing taking a backseat to four cycles of chemotherapy and over four months of hospital stays. While I did resume writing regularly in the later part of 2010 (when I could finally say I was home! and felt the need to process the whirlwind of events that began with my diagnosis of leukaemia on March 2nd) I wasn't submitting my work, instead using it purely to process my journey.

It's now week 26 of 2011 and I've faithfully kept to my goal; sometimes submitting to more than one outlet a week. I've never before been waiting on so many editors' verdicts and competition results: currently awaiting replies from seven publications (on-line and in print), two anthologies and five competitions. Phew!

It's opened me up to submitting to several publications/competitions I had never submitted/entered before, and a few places that I'd been meaning to send haiku too for a couple of years, but had chickened out! So, lots of firsts coming out, including:

• my first time submitting tanka to and appearing in Eucalypt
• my first time submitting to, and first ever haiga submission, appearing in Notes from the Gean
• my first time submitting senryu to and appearing in Prune Juice

Hopefully many more to come!

I've also really enjoyed sharing my poetry on Swimming in Lines of Haiku and through Facebook by participating in A River of Stones, NaHaiWriMo and NaPoWriMo. These month-long poetry challenges have lead to me connecting up with several writers/poets/haijins on Facebook, blogs and the Writing Our Way Home community. It's great to be introduced to new publications, be exposed to new ideas, and be encouraged by this thriving and supportive online community. I'm reading, writing and sharing more poetry than ever before and it feels good! Thanks for being part of it :)

STOP! Haiga In Progress. DO NOT DISTURB!

Finally! I have found a decent time/energy envelope to focus back on my collage haiga. I haven't made one in well over a month: exhausting myself with poetry prompts throughout April and having nothing left to give to my hands-on artwork/play. I've been itching to get stuck into it again! And I'm very excited about my first piece back.

About a week after NaPoWriMo ended for me (which was four days later than everyone else:) an idea flooded my vision for a haiga, as I knew it would: Create the space and the creation will come. (Note: Always have pencil and Post-It notes handy!)

So I started work/play on the idea last week and have had to leave it sitting for a few days at a time as health (or rather illness) demands. But I'm in the final stage now of sticking stuff to other stuff (one of my most favourite things to do!) and then I shall place my collage haiga on my easel and stand back to delight in the full 3D effect of my original vision.

My currently empty easel

I've found haiga are the artwork/play that most often turns out better than my original idea or vision in my mind's eye. And this is the magic for me.

My writing of prose pieces never turns out the same as first thought, which doesn't usually mean that it's better or worse than the first concept, just different. But I am sometimes left with a feeling that I haven't quite created what I set out to achieve. Granted this hasn't happened for some time as I haven't done much prose work; not as in previous years. I've been concentrating more on poetry and this has been wonderful: my diary has never been so empty of appointments and so full of haiku, senryu, tanka, small stones, one-liners, inspirations, poetry, Poetry, POERTY!

With my visual art I've learned (after much struggle!) to just go with my gut and NOT my head. I may think that a poem involving blood tests or transfusions should sit on red card, and so instinctively allow my mind to override my unconscious flow and grab for the red straight away. But when I just sit for a moment I find I want to choose blue card for this one. I can't explain why, and my mind tries to fight this, puts up an argument that there is no good reason to choose blue over red, red is of course the obvious choice for this haiga!

However, my mind does NOT know best: definitely not when it comes to art anyway! So I've learnt to slow down, enjoy the process, quiet my mind, and go with what comes up without questioning.


"My Art is my Heart" February 2011
Paint, origami, transfers, stickers on stretched canvas.



Too often in the past I would complete an artwork, say a painting, and just not be satisfied by what I'd created because I could see where I had fought against a natural colour choice or natural stopping/finishing point. I had listened to my head instead of my heart/soul/spirit/unconscious.

Now I gain so much enjoyment from my art work/play and I know it's because this process of creation is one of the few times in a day that I really let my spirit have a voice, and this is vital to my well being.

The haiga I'm creating is for a senryu that's part of my collection exploring my leukaemia journey, and has been accepted for the next issue of Prune Juice. I hope to have it finished this week. Then I can sit back and wait for a new idea to pass through me and onto the page. Happy creating to you! 

"Peace is the Way of my Heart" February 2011
Paint, origami, transfers, stickers, brads on stretched canvas.

Dream Speak

After a month writing poems exploring my personal mythology, I'm getting back into the rhythm this week of writing my dreams down, and returning to one in particular that I've been working on interpreting. I find doing dream work in short bursts works best for me otherwise I waste energy fighting with procrastination.

Here's a tanka I wrote about dream work for the InkSeeds prompt on Revelation during April's NaPoWriMo - read it here
 
And a poem from the first prompt: Recycling the First Dream - read it here. This was one of my favourite prompts as I again reconnected with the power of dreams and the significance and importance to doing dream work.
 
This is an earlier post about the books I use for dream work and a found poem from one of them - Receive Dreams as Messengers from Another Realm Enjoy!

April Round-Up - My First NaPoWriMo Complete!

NaPoWriMo kept me super busy over April as I followed the daily prompts at InkSeeds on personal mythology, writing a poem-a-day (PAD). I got four days behind on these prompts mid-way through due to illness, but still managed to write a poem each of the days I had off, penning a haiku from my sick-bed.

All the poems are up here at Swimming in Lines of Haiku: haiku, senryu, tanka, small stones, free verse and rhymed verse. I'm happy with all my poems (though some could do with a little fine tuning) and cherish the insights I've gained through this process.

The personal mythology prompts explored dreams, the elements, archetypes, memories - all that makes up your personal story. They're so much more than mere prompts - they're a conversation with your soul. And will be remaining up on InkSeeds: you can check out the first one here - Recycling the First Dream.

You can also read the poems other people wrote in response to the prompts on Fiona and Kaspa's Writing Our Way Home on-line community under April 2011 InkSeeds Poetry Project. Poems are still being posted and discussed here - come join us!

Here's how I'm doing on my 2011 goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week:

• week fourteen - submitted 15 haiku to the Anthology of English-Language Haiku by Women
• week fifteen - submitted tanka prose to Haibun Today (first time submitting here)
• week sixteen - entered three haiku in the Klostar Ivanic International Haiku Contest, closes May 31
• week seventeen - submitted my poem "A Journey in Three Masks" to Excellent Writing (first time submitting here)

This month saw one of my photos printed in the local paper as the Weather Spotters pic for that week. I was surprised and excited about this as it's the first time I'd ever sent a photo into the paper, and when I still hadn't heard from them months later I figured it was no good. Great to be proved wrong! You can check out the photo on my Photography page.

I also spent some time playing around with text on photos. I put a few of my previously published free verse poems onto images and think they look amazing. It's a striking way to showcase both my writing and photography on the Internet. I made a few into haiga, doing some with tanka for the first time. I use an old version of PhotoStudio as my editing software, which is limiting. So I'm going to look into downloading the free OpenSource software (as I'm already using OpenOffice as my word processing software) and see if this is easier to work with.

I'm enjoying getting more involved with my prose again. One of my articles was a Friday "Speak Out!" guest post on the WOW! Women On Writing blog - "Writing Each Day Keeps The Doctor Away". And three of my quick tips for freelance writers will be appearing in issues of Excellent Writing - an e-newsletter for writers edited by Janie Sullivan. You'll see above that I also sent her a poem as a filler, which was accepted for the May issue. My post about that here.

This month I look forward to creating some more collage-style haiga and reading and sharing haiku on the NaHaiWriMo Facebook page where many people continue to write a haiku-a-day.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Thirty - Beginnings

Poem #30

new moon -

first harvest

from the feijoa tree

Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Twenty-Nine - The Fifth Element

Poem #29

words -

the way God

creates through me

Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Twenty-Eight - Place

Poem #28

my soul
no longer sings
in this place
my mind & body too
seek safer shelter

Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Twenty-Seven - The Shadow

Poem #27

May Day
a storm is brewing
all I can do
is keep saying "yes"
to my growing anxiety

Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Twenty-Six - Revelation

Poem #26

the realisation
that my dreams are full
of His wisdom -
I can never go back
to who I was before

Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Twenty-Five - The Image

Poem #25

the image

as I sit at my desk to write
there's a daytime shadow
that keeps catching my eye

before I turn to take a look
my mind sees bird, cat, man
but it's just the pathway

strewn with autumn leaves,
just the overgrown grass
& the jacaranda tree

both moving to the tune
of the traffic's steady flow,
just the two pairs of shoes

that are waiting by the mat
& my reflection in the window
as I sit at my desk to write


Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Twenty-Four - Renewal

Poem #24

thinking
that moving away
will change things
but each time I'm
still left with me

Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Twenty-Three - Memory

Poem #23

white lilies... just like in hospital

Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Twenty-Two - The Animal

Poem #22

wind and rain, but I want to see if anymore monarch's have hatched this autumn day, and there, on the cyclamen, a butterfly fresh from it's chrysalis, swaying, wings closed, waiting still for the right time to go... how will it know? how will I?

Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.

Photo (c) Kirsten Cliff 2011

Written A Poem About Writing?

Then it could be just right for Excellent Writing - an e-newsletter for writers. Editor Janie Sullivan is looking for poetry about writing or the writing life to use as fillers (100-150 words) along with quick tips relevant to writers, website/blog reviews, news bytes and drawings or cartoons.

A poem I wrote for NaPoWriMo has been accepted for the May issue - "A Journey in Three Masks". And I've had three of my quick tips for freelance writers accepted, which will run over three issues. (This was my submission for week 17 of 2011.)

Jane is also looking for articles and features for Excellent Writing so check out the Writers' Guidelines. There's no payment for contribution, however Jane is offering a FREE advert in the newsletter so contributing writers can promote themselves.

Jane is great to work with, enthusiastic and quick to reply to emails. She has made up my advert for me, complete with photo, and I'm really looking forward to the May issue of Excellent Writing coming out on Monday. You can subscribe here.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Twenty-One - The Element of Fire

Poem #21

sheets of rain from no where talk of us spooning

Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.

April PAD Challenge: Personal Mythology Prompts Day Twenty - The Body

Poem #20

autumn sun

my right hand colder

than the left

Copyright © 2011 Kirsten Cliff
For the prompt used to write this poem, please go here.