Australian singer/songwriter, Stu Larsen, spent all of 2024 in search of solitude. He spent the month of April on the Indonesian island of Bali. Well, okay, maybe Stu’s time in Bali wasn’t as solitary or isolated as his previous locations but he still managed to come up with a new song. April 2024 The song… Read More Stu Larsen: Solitude, Indonesia
After spending February 2024 in Tasmania (see my earlier post), Stu Larsen drove north for three days to his home State of Queensland, Australia. He spent March at Possum Park near the town of Miles. The location was special for Stu as he used to stay there on family holidays in his childhood. In March,… Read More Stu Larsen: Solitude, Queensland
Every year, the Irish Haiku Society conducts an International Haiku Competition. In 2024, the competition was judged by the Society’s founding Chairman, Anatoly Kudryavitsky. Details of the competition and a copy of the successful poems can be found here. First Prize went to Gary Hotham from the USA while the Runner-up was Tony Williams from… Read More 2024 Irish Haiku Competition
Staying in out of the way locations, opening himself to beauty and writing songs. Stu Larsen’s 2024 journey into solitude (see my previous post for background) very much reflects the Japanese notion of ‘wabi sabi’ – the sense that everything is transient and imperfect. Wabi reflects rustic simplicity while sabi is the beauty of something… Read More Stu Larsen: Solitude, Tasmania
Australian singer/songwriter, Stu Larsen, embarked on a major project in 2024. His project was to embrace Solitude for the entire calendar year. Each month, Stu experienced solitude in a different location around the world, writing a new song and posting a ‘demo’ version of the song on YouTube. Stu calls these recordings ‘demos’ but, in… Read More Stu Larsen: Solitude, New Zealand
Kathy Kituai is an award-winning poet, editor and judge from Canberra who is well known for running workshops and retreats in both tanka and longer forms of poetry. Her collection, The Art of Catching Jam Before it Burns: New & Selected Poems, was published by Interactive Press in 2024. At 185 pages, The Art of… Read More Kathy Kituai: The Art of Catching Jam Before it Burns
Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture in the northern part of Honshu Island, Japan. The Morioka International Haiku Contest was introduced in 2019 to mark the 130th anniversary of Morioka attaining city status. The 6th Contest, conducted in 2024, was judged by Michael Dylan Welch and Toshio Kimura. The Contest attracted a total… Read More 6th Morioka International Haiku Contest
Canberra poet and musicologist, Hazel Hall, has published a collection of poems exploring the possibilities of the sonnet; from traditional forms to poems that may not be sonnets at all. Her book, titled A Hint of Rosemary, is published by Interactive Press. Hazel says ‘I’ve always maintained that the spoken word is part of the… Read More Hazel Hall: A Hint of Rosemary
Gregory Piko 