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
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
Earlier in 2024, the journal Presence (UK) published a haiku of mine about a man and his dog. It seems people enjoy haiku about dogs and puppies as the haiku was subsequently voted among the top 10 in the Best of Issue Award (it actually placed 6th). The haiku that appeared in Presence was: his… Read More Dogs and Puppies
The second Haiku Down Under conference will take place via Zoom on 16-18 August 2024. The conference provides an opportunity for writers from New Zealand and Australia to discuss haiku and related subjects through presentations, workshops, poetry readings, writing sessions and engagement with poets from other countries. Haiku Down Under 2024 is being organised by… Read More How to Register for Haiku Down Under 2024
The Koto City Basho Museum conducts an annual contest known as the Basho-an International English Haiku Competition. The famous Japanese haiku poet, Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), moved to what was then the outskirts of Tokyo in 1680, where he lived in a rustic hut built by his disciples. From that time forward, Basho took his name… Read More 6th Basho-an International English Haiku Competition
K’gari (pronounced Gurri) is the largest sand island in the world. Located in Queensland, Australia, the island comprises long, sandy beaches, coastal heaths, woodland and freshwater lakes. K’gari is part of the traditional lands of the Butchulla people. You can read the K’gari creation story, as told by the Butchulla people, here. Essentially, Princess K’gari… Read More Haiku of Place: K’gari
Gregory Piko 