Bob Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. Sixty years ago, his songs didn’t just include literary and philosophical references, they also addressed political and social issues which saw them become anthems for progressive movements of the time. As with most… Read More The Way the River Flowed
Jennifer Hambrick is an award-winning poet, public radio broadcaster, multimedia producer and classical musician who lives in Ohio, USA. Jennifer’s haibun collection, Joyride, was published by Red Moon Press in 2021. Joyride was Shortlisted for The Haiku Foundation’s 2021 Touchstone Distinguished Books Award and won First Place in Haiku Canada’s 2022 Marianne Bluger Book Award.… Read More Jennifer Hambrick: Joyride
Christine Villa is the Founding Editor of a bi-annual video journal called Frameless Sky. Issue 18 of Frameless Sky was released earlier in 2023, presenting haiku and other short poems on the theme of Family. The video for this issue is presented in black and white, featuring photos by Susan Aurinko which resonate with the… Read More Frameless Sky: Issue 18
Robyn Cairns is a Melbourne-based poet. Her collection, Horizon, was published by Ginninderra Press earlier in 2023. Robyn’s poems capture the delight of familiar horizons close to home, and new horizons further afield. Horizon presents around 70 haiku with several, tanka, haibun and longer poems interspersed along the way. The residents of Melbourne were subject… Read More Robyn Cairns: Horizon
The black swan is common across large areas of southwestern and eastern Australia. As I was watching the quiet progress of one such bird on Yerrabi Pond in Canberra, the words of this poem began to form in my mind. The poem was subsequently published in Issue 7 of the Sydney-based online journal, Authora Australis.… Read More Black Swan
Over the past ten years, African poets have shown a growing interest in haiku with their poems often appearing in journals around the world. One of the leading African haiku poets is Adjei Agyei-Baah from Ghana whose collection, Tales of the Kite was published earlier in 2023 by Buttonhook Press. You can read the entire… Read More Adjei Agyei-Baah: Tales of the Kite
In 2000, John Bird and Janice Bostok (1942-2011) co-founded the Australian Haiku Society. Sadly, John passed away in May 2022 after many years spent promoting haiku, supporting haiku writers and encouraging the use of Australian subjects and seasonal references in haiku. Every two years, the Australian Haiku Society conducts the John Bird Dreaming Award to… Read More 2022 John Bird Dreaming Award
Japanese haiku writers often reference locations by name, thereby inviting the reader to bring their knowledge of place into the poem. Take, for example, this haiku by Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902): biting into a persimmona bell resoundsHōryū-ji While Shiki did not write this haiku at the Hōryū-ji Temple, it’s thought he referenced the temple because it… Read More Aboriginal Place Names in Haiku
Gregory Piko 