Your Small Stone in a Book of the Best

It's tomorrow!

International Small Stones Writing Month starts HERE FIRST as the sun will rise in New Zealand on January 1st 2011 before anywhere else in the world. Now that rocks! :)

And a stone or two of YOURS could end up in a book. Yes, that's right - the organisers of a river of stones are looking to create a book at the end of the project. Read more about it here.

Tempted now?

How about the last of my 'small stone' warm ups for your reading pleasure:

waking up still excited by yesterday's new idea

And plenty more where that came from! Check in daily from tomorrow.

A Cure for Your Post-Party Blues

Christmas is over for another year, and 2010 will soon be a thing of the past. So what next?

Turn that lull into a beautiful thing with International Small Stones Writing Month starting January 1st 2011. You can join us 'stoners' here and get some bling for your blog here.

With only two days until the wave hits, here's one of my small stones to whet your appetite:

waiting for a blood test
every face is older than mine

Go here for more stones - peoples' recordings of their encounters with the present moment.

Testing, testing, one, two, three...

That's three days to a river of stones folks: the January writing project taking the world into the present moment by noticing bite-sized bits of the day and writing them down. Piece of cake! ;)

Here's me dipping my toe into the water with my first small stone, which I picked up and turned over on my way across the Kaimai Ranges yesterday morning:

following the summer rain a line of shorn sheep

Pick up a small stone today and join in the fun over at a river of stones

A Haiku for the Happy Couple

Today is my parents 40th wedding anniversary, so I'm heading to a gathering of family and friends at their home in the Waikato. I wrote this haiku to celebrate their day and it appears in a card from me and my siblings, along with our gift of a pohutukawa tree.

ruby anniversary
the colour of love
still in their cheeks

              Copyright © 2010 Kirsten Cliff

Merry Christmas Dear Readers

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season

from New Zealand

Thank you for your support of Swimming in Lines of Haiku.

Stop by again soon for more poetry, photography, literary news and views. Happy writing and reading to you! All the best, Kirsten

Giving Books for Christmas - my picks for your creative peeps

I love books, and can't help but dole them out at Christmas time. I buy most online at Fishpond so all my links point there. However you will also find same on Amazon, etc. Here are a few of my favourites for creative types...

• What We Ache For: Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul by Oriah
• The Art of Dreaming: A Creativity Toolbox for Dreamwork by Jill Mellick
• Art is a Way of Knowing: A guide to self-knowledge and spiritual fulfillment through creativity by Pat B. Allen
• And for the female writer, you can't go wrong with the Mslexia Writer's Diary.



Ever Heard of Cinquains?

Great post here by Joanna Preston on cinquains, a poetic from heavily influenced by Japanese poetry. Check out the post, read the examples, follow the links, and give it a go!

Count Me In!

Better than January resolutions... a river of stones is an international project organised by Fiona Robyn to encourage people to engage with the world through writing a short observational piece (a small stone) every day during January.

I have blogged before about Fiona Robyn's blogzine a handful of stones. Her creation of NaSmaStoMo (National Small Stones Writing Month) is a great way to bring new life into her 'small stone' philosophy and to engage the senses of people around the world.

Now you have two challenges to kick off 2011: NaSmaStoMo in January and NaHaiWriMo in February. So are you in?

                          

Haiku Graffiti Found on the Web

Still Trying to Wrap Your Head Around Haiku?

Then this is the article for you: Becoming a Haiku Poet by Michael Dylan Welch. It's everything you need to know to get started, set out clearly and with examples.

While at his website, stop and take a look around. There is much to read and ponder.

And if you're up for a challenge, Welch has started NaHaiWriMo - a haiku a day for the month of February. That's only 28 days people!

Quick Tip #3 for Freelance Writers

Write what you don't know but are interested in knowing.

Sick of writing what you know? Time to write about what you don't know but are interested in getting to know.

When I'm interested in something I'm determined to find out everything I can about it. I read from books and on-line, I talk to people, I try it out, I journal about the experience. I'm so passionate about the new love in my life that I can't stop thinking about it!

This enthusiasm for a new topic will come across in whatever you write about it, whether it's a how-to article, personal story or profile of an expert. Being new to the topic, you will ask questions that those more familiar with it may not. You will look at the topic from different angles than someone who's more experienced might.

Think of something you've always wanted to try or explore in more depth. Give it a whirl and write about it. It won't just open you up to a new world of experiences but open up your writing world too.

Sharing Haiku for National Jandal Day

summer solstice -
the slap slap
of jandals

Copyright © 2010 Kirsten Cliff
First published in Kokako 8 (April, 2008)


Today is New Zealand's National Jandal Day - Surf Life Saving's annual appeal day. Kiwi's are urged to wear jandals in support of these summer heroes who mark 100 years of service this season.

sunbathing topless
the sound of a lifeguard's
four-wheeler

Copyright © 2010 Kirsten Cliff
First published in Kokako 9 (September, 2008)

Playing with Photo Haiga

I finally learnt how to use PhotoStudio editing software and can now put text on my images and manipulate my photos. It was a lot easier than I thought, and I had fun playing around with different fonts and techniques. The first one I made was the marrying together of my haiku and image that appeared separately on Head Lines NZ - 'taking a mental health day'.

I have only done a couple more as I still favour making my haiga collage-style, and will be off to the Papamoa Market Day this Sunday to search for objects that will inspire my next creation.

My collection of haiku and tanka exploring my leukaemia journey is coming along at a steady pace. I have fourteen that are made into haiga, and twenty-eight polished poems overall. One thing is for sure: I'm growing out of my art space at a rapid rate!

New Links to My Writing this Month

During November, I've had two pieces of writing appear on-line.

First, is a poem, My Depression is a Room, on Head Lines NZ, which I wrote a couple of years ago. It's one of those pieces that I knew would find it's right place in this world given time. Thanks to editor, Jodine Derena Butler, for accepting my work yet again. I'm pleased to support this project, and encourage other New Zealanders with any experience of mental illness to take part, or take a look. Jodine's personal poetry blog is Poetry Out West. 

The second, is an article, You've got to have faith: Inspirational art from Janet Keen, that was published in Bravado 16 in 2009. It's an interview of friend and colleage, Janet Keen, and she has kindly put the article up on her blog. I did a few issues as Bravado's 'roving arts reporter' but sadly this Tauranga produced publication has now closed. A big thank you to Janet for giving my article another life. Check out her blog for creative ideas, inspiring quotes and colourful posts. Below: Bravado 16 cover art by Janet Keen.

The Haiku Foundation Touchstone Awards for Individual Haiku

The Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems will be bestowed annually on haiku and senryu that represent a noteworthy addition to English-language haiku in the estimation of a distinguished panel of haiku poets, editors and scholars. The inaugural Awards are open to any English-language haiku or senryu published in calendar-year 2010. Each author of an award-winning poem will receive a commemorative stone with their poem and name engraved on it, emblematic of his or her contribution to the foundations of English-language haiku.

Each poet may nominate no more than two poems, only one of which may be the author’s own work. I've submitted my nonimations. Have you? The deadline for submission is December 31, 2010. And it's so easy to do with the on-line entry form.