7th Jane Reichhold Memorial Haiga Contest (First Runner-Up, Traditional Category)

I'm so ecstatic! My haiga in the traditional catergory won first runner-up in the Jane Reichhold Memorial Haiga Contest. Thank you so much to the judges, Steve Hodge and Hemapriya Chellappan. Congratulations to all the winners - Julie Schwerin, Julie Bloss Kelsey, Bona Santos/Susan Burch and others.

This haiga by Chrissi Villa presents itself as stomach-turning butterflies, a pounding heart and never-ending nervousness. We don’t know who the “he” is, but we sense a palpable tension. When you’re in love you find yourself unable to think straight, you feel ecstatic, you don’t know what’s next. You don’t think about the future because what could possibly go wrong? But then life happens, and you move on. There is nothing better than reliving those moments with your ex-whomever-it-is. Bittersweet moments maybe before and now but everyday seems like the first time again.

                                                                                                                  -Hemapriya Chellapan

See all the winners and commentaries here.

 

5th Jane Reichhold Haiga Contest (Second Place)

The results are out! So delightfully surprised and honored to win second place in the Mixed Media category of the 5th Annual Jane Reichhold Memorial Haiga Contest. I remember corresponding with Jane R. when I just started writing haiku. She was such a sweet and generous poet.

Thank you so much to

Michael Rehling

and

Ron Moss

. Congratulations to all the winners and honorable mentions! Full details here - http://www.haikuhut.com/FifthAnnualReichholdContest.pdf...

Here's my mixed media art below.

mother's handwriting

until now I still can't

read her

Judge's commentary:

Christine has given us a tapestry of collaged art that works beautifully with the accompanying senryu. There’s a feeling of great depth of emotion between Mother and daughter. The individual of the collage feel like experiences of family happenings, favourite recipes and feasts of comforting food. This binds the senryu to the collaged image and to me, there’s a feeling of resilience and determination to get through difficult times. Love will find a way and

congratulations to Christina for a fine evocative senyru, which is brilliantly presented for us to contemplate our relationships to each other.

Sonic Boom's Sixth Annual Senryu Contest

I'm so happy that I was given this opportunity to judge the Sixth Annual Senryu Contest of Sonic Boom . It was a pleasure picking out the winners and writing my commentaries for each poem. 

I took screenshots of the results because I know one day only the list of winners will be posted. I'd like to keep a photo of my commentaries. If you would like to read them, here they are below. Right now, you can still view the whole thing by clicking here. 

Hog Wild Anthology

I'm happy that I have a haiku included in Hog Wild Anthology. 

roasted pig

the juicy converstions

of guests

If you want to know more about this anthology, here's a review that I posted on Facebook. 

Hog Wild, edited by Corine Timmer and published by Bicadeideias, is much more than just pleasing to the eye. Though its pebble art adds a fun and earthy touch, this haiku collection digs deeper. It stems straight from the heart of the contributing poets launching us into a sensory-rich experience. The clever sequencing of the poems by the editor enhances this experience even further. From a piglet plushy to a hog’s head perched on sticks, this is one book I would like to read over and over again! Proceeds go to Farms Not Factories, a charity in the United Kingdom. 

Here are some examples from Hog Wild:

spa day
boars basking
in mud masks

Diane Tomczak

***

the soft skin
behind a sow's ears
spring morning

Joseph Robello

***

Tuscan boar stew
a taste of the meadow
in every bite

Corine Timmer

***
livestock truck-
one round pig nose
stuck between bars

Marina Bellini

Sonic Boom Senryu Contest (Honorable Mention)

Ershnik - Call for Submission

    Interested in submitting some senryu or kyoka? Here's a magazine to check out!

ERSHNIK

     You still have a lot of time. Deadline of submission is on March 15. 

NaHaiWriMo 2013 - Day 5

last dinner date

I point to the spinach

between his teeth

See my post here. 

Prune Juice Issue 8

refusing
to wear bifocals
he blames
the small print



Prune Juice (Issue 8: Spring 2012)

Favorite Haiku of the Month

     If you'd ask me who's my number one contemporary poet, I'd quickly say it's the multi-awarded Chen-ou Liu of Ontario, Canada. It's remarkable that English isn't his first language and yet he has managed to be a great prolific English writer. He's not only excellent in writing haiku, but also in writing other forms of Japanese poetry like tanka and haibun.

     I discovered his haiku in 2010, when I shared the same issue with him in Berry Blue Haiku. I was a frustrated newbie that year, managing to write only one decent publishable haiku, but at the same time I was an eager reader, full of admiration for Chen-ou's remarkable talent.

    These two captivating haiku below were among the June 2010 Haiku Picks of Berry Blue Haiku.

butterflies

wing over cherry petals—  

shadows embracing

on maple leaves

glittering raindrops gather—  

floating worlds

    Since I had resumed writing haiku in the second half of 2011, I've been coming across Chen-ou's works. I have so many favorites, but I'm sharing some of the ones which have garnered him high praises and awards.

spicy chicken...

this impulse to ask

if she's married

                                  Editor's Choice Senryu (Modern Haiku, 43:1 February 2012)

a deceased friend

taps me on my shoulder--

plum blossoms falling

                                  Grand Prize Poem of the Year 2011 ( Heron's Nest)

attic window--                                                    

a few moonlit shadows                                       

come and go 

                               2nd Prize (The Klostar Ivanic Haiku Contest 2011)      

                

moonlit branches . . .

glazed with autumn rain

droplets of me 

                              Commendation (The Klostar Ivanic Haiku Contest 2011)

her face

in my whisky

the moon floats

                             Grand Prix (The Klostar Ivanic Haiku Contest 2010)

             

cherry petals

falling on cherry petals...

I dust your photo

                             Sakura Award (Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2010)

    Included in my list of favorites is this unforgettable haiku sequence published in Frogpond 34:1, 2011.

     A Life in Four Seasons

I write her

one poem every day

spring dewdrops

a butterfly

tattoed on her buttock

summer heat

autumn dawn

before the mirror I count

gray hairs

snow on snow

thoughts of her emerge

one at a time

     Most of his published haiku are highly evocative. As Neal Whitman has said, he has "the gift of tugging at our hearts." If you like to read more of his haiku, go to Poetry in the Moment. You'll be able to see where to purchase his books. One of them is Following the Moon to the Maple Land, the first prize winner of the Spring Haiku Pix Chapbook 2011. On the cover of his chapbook is a photo that I had taken. Can you imagine how thrilled I was when the editor of Haiku Pix requested my photo for Chen-ou's chapbook?

     For some unexplainable reason, I don't have a free copy of this, but thanks to Chen-ou because pretty soon I'll be getting my own copy. I'll be reading on my couch, following the moon to the maple land. 

First Appearance in Prune Juice

Prune Juice (Issue 8: Spring 2012)

Prom Photo

 

 

                                                                                                  

 A Hundred Gourds (1:2 March 2012)