INTERNATIONAL HAIKU CONTEST ON THE THEME OF THE GOURDS 2019

The Haiku Association „Three Rivers“

The „Pumpkin Festival“

The Tourist Board of Ivanić-Grad, Croatia

 

AN INTERNATIONAL HAIKU COMPETITION

in English

all ages and nationalities

 

Deadline: May 31, 2019.

 

The theme: The Cucurbits

 

gourd, pumpkin, squash, cucumber, melon, calabash, zuchini, melon, loofa …

The Cucurbitaceae consist of 98 proposed genera with 975 species!

 

Please send three unpublished haiku in English to the coordinator:

E-mail: dvrozic@gmail.com

SUBJECT: Pumpkin Haiku Contest

 

 

The results will be published at www.tri-rijeke-haiku.hr during October, and in IRIS International haiku magazine No 13/2019. The awarded and commended authors will be advised by e-mail.

 

 

                                                                                                                              President of the Association „Three Rivers“Coordinator:                                                                                                       Stjepan Rožić                                        

Đurđa Vukelić Rožić                                            

 

 

Ivanić-Grad, Croatia, 6.3.2019.

 

 

 …

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THE RESULTS OF A LITTLE IRIS HAIKU CONTEST, CROATIA 2018

THE RESULTS OF A LITTLE IRIS HAIKU CONTEST, CROATIA 2018

The judge was Jim Kacian.

142 authors, 409 haiku from 36 countries! The theme – FREE.

 

First Prize

 

Sandra Simpson, New Zealand:

twilight—
humming as i weed
around the hive 

 

Second Prize

 

Jay Friedenberg, USA:

slow summer clouds
the formless shape
of desire

 

Third Prize

 

Martha Magenta, UK:

peacock’s cry
the silence
between stars

 

Honorable Mentions in no particular order:

 

Martha Magenta UK:

I slip 
into your language
babbling stream

 

sanjuktaa asopa, India:

this wish
to look into your eyes . . .
garden buddha

 

Nicholas Klacsanzky, Ukraine:

I say om
a few more times . . .
dripping icicle

 

Agus Maulana Sunjaya, Indonesia:

summer river 
the thing you keep 
secret  

 

Commended haiku, in no particular order

 

Julie Bloss Kelsey, USA:

the little things
we have in common … 
third cousins

 

Zornitza Harizanova, Sofia, Bulgaria:

snow moon
my first breastfeeding
on a rocking chair

 

Vanice Zimerman, Brasil

open window-
on the blue carpet of the room
the shadow of the hummingbird

 

Ashoka Weerakkody, Sri Lanka:

two monks
discussing a flight delay
buddha gaya

 

Carole MacRury, USA:

regrets . . .
a fishbone caught
in my mouth

 

Henryk Czempiel, Poland:

anniversary
on the husband’s grave
whose candle?

 

Violeta Urda, Romania:

crescent moon –
the pregnant woman
hums a lullaby 

 

Violeta Urda, Romania:

after chemo –
in the flock of flying cranes 
an empty space 

 

Margherita Petriccione, Italy:

willow branch …
upon us the weight
of a crow’s shade

 

Margherita Petriccione, Italy:

homecoming –
in the cup remains
of your coffee

 

Ann Magyar, USA: 

giraffe’s neck
the quick hands
of the balloon seller

 

Helen Buckingham, GB:

kid in the crowd
team flag running
down his face

 

Pravat Kumar Padhy, India:

floating clouds
the softness of her
narration

 

Peter Jastermsky, USA:

family belongings
the anger I never wanted
becomes mine

 

Diana Teneva, Bulgaria:

my father’s
disappearing smile…
hunter’s moon

 

Jenny Fraser, New Zealand:

all the things
i want to say
    the depth of water

 

Ed Bremson, USA:

mushroomy August
a mosquito on the arm
of a blistered child

 

Corine Timmer, Portugal: 

leaf-strewn street—
my reflection
in a passing hearse

 

Corine Timmer, Portugal:

family gathering …
the fish father caught…

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THE RESULTS OF THE 4TH HAIKU CONTEST ON THE THEME OF THE GOURD 2018

Judged by Marta Majorka Chociłowska

 

 

HAIKU

1st Prize

 

Saša Važić (Serbia)

 

hidden in the cornfield

a dewdrop sliding into

a lone pumpkin flower

 

kukuruzište…

u samotni cvet tikve

klizi kap rose

 

 

2nd Prize

Radostina Dragostinova (Bulgaria)

 

string of gourds

on the rusty fence

grandma’s ancient necklace

 

niz buča

na hrđavoj ogradi

bakina stara ogrlica

 

 

3rd Prize

Ann Maqyar (USA)

 

rain-scented morning

pumpkin vines

extend their reach

 

jutro s mirisom kiše

produljile se

vriježe buča

 

Honorouable mentions

(in no particular order)

 

Violeta Urda, Romania

 

Halloween–

the moon is hidden

in a carved pumpkin

 

Noć vještica–

mjesec je skriven u

izrezbarenoj buči

 

 

Neal Whitman (USA)

 

the crone next door

scatters pumpkin seeds …

she talks to crows

 

stara susjeda

prosipa koštice buče …

razgovara sa vranama

 

 

Stjepan Rožić (Croatia)

 

ripe Hokaido squash

in the shade of its leaf

a shell with dozing snail

 

zrela bundeva

u sjeni lista spava

puž u kućici

 

 

SENRYU

1st Prize

Aparna Pathak (India)

 

pumpkin soup

the family’s oneness

in slurps

 

juha od buče

obiteljsko zajedništvo

u skranju

 

 

2nd Prize

Eduard TARA, (Romania)

 

small pumpkin–

the young pregnant

cupping her moon

 

mala buča–

mlada trudnica

obujmila svoj mjesec

 

3rd Prize

Capotă Daniela Lăcrămioara (Romania)

 

pumpkin –

teacher teaches us

the circle lesson

 

buča–

učitelj predaje

o krugu

 

Congratulations to all authors!

 

Our gratitude to all poets taking part in our haiku contest, and special thank to Ms Marta Majorka Chociłowska for being so kind as to judge the poems.

 

We hope you join us next year, your haiku will be read on our Pumpkin Festival, at the meeting of Croatian Haijins in the town of Ivanić-Grad and published in the next number of magazine IRIS.

 

D.V.Rozic, the Secretary of the Haiku Association “Three Rivers”, Ivanić-Grad, Croatia…

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THE RESULTS OF IRIS – A LITTLE HAIKU CONTEST, THEME: INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL 2017

IRIS – A LITTLE HAIKU CONTEST, THEME: INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

 

By Jim Kacian

 

If seeing the daily routine with new eyes is the inspiration for haiku, then surely travel is its antithesis. In a foreign setting, everything is new, and even when we hew to our personal routines, we are beset by unaccustomed images every moment. Hence the challenge of writing cogently to the theme of this contest: much of the reason we travel abroad is just for such new stimulation, and most of us will take months, not to say years, to process this newness into something like understanding, where it might become available for our haiku.

 

It will come as no surprise, then, that the best of the poems on this topic seem not to dwell on the new sights, but rather the old routine that insists upon itself even in new surroundings. Another strategy is to imagine our new experience through the eyes of another to whom it is not new. However we arrive at it, travel haiku need some combination of old and new to come home to us. The very best of these do exactly that.

 

 

My top prize winner is this modern conundrum:

 

home of my ancestors
I download an app
that speaks their language

[Ann Magyar, MA, USA]

 

 

The travel here is virtual: whether the poet makes an actual trip to his homeland is indeterminate, but s/he recognizes that the journey will be foreign. The fact that it is “their” language suggests the felt distance between heritage and present circumstance. And the fact that the intermediary is equally foreign — a machine that will do the “interpreting” — recognizes the true strangeness of the situation. Sounding out the way people speak their language is an important physical clue to the way people are, but that won’t even be attempted here. And so the contemporary traveler remains “other,” even if it were possible to go home again . . .

 

My second choice is this bit of historical reminiscence:

 

the mountains
Santōka never saw again —
closed saké shop

[Engin Gülez, Turkey]

 

Those mountains never again seen are certainly the physical barriers that the poet crossed to arrive at his final abode on the Inland Sea, but they also possess a spiritual dimension. The fact that Santoka did not see them again testifies not …

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The results of the Croatian International Haiku Contest on theme GOURD

The results of the Croatian International Haiku Contest on theme GOURD

We received haiku by 72 authors from 26 countries. The Selector was Carole MacRury.

 

Na natječaj se odazvalo 72 pjesnika i pjesnikinja iz Australije, Belgije, Bosne i Hercegovine, Brazila, Bugarske, Crne Gore, Filipina, Francuske, Gane, Hrvatske,

Indije, Italije, Kanade, Nigerije, Njemačke, Novog Zelanda, Poljske, Rumunjske, Rusije, SAD-a, Singapura, Sjeverne Irske, Slovenije, Srbije, Švicarske i Velike Britanije.

Sudila je Carole MacRury.

 

 

FIRST PLACE/PRVO MJESTO

Ana Drobot, Romania

 

pumpkin field–                                                         polje buča –

unknown faces                                                         nepoznata lica

in the crowd                                                               u masi

 

SECOND PLACE/DRUGO MJESTO

Eduard ŢARA, Romania

 

towards dawn –                                                     pred svitanje

the full moon leads                                               puni mjeseci predvodi

a row of pumpkins                                                red buča

 

THIRD PLACE/TREĆE MJESTO

Carl Seguiban, Canada

 

family dinner—                                                     obiteljska večera –

the taste of a bitter gourd                                   okus gorke buče

lingers                                                                    nas povezuje

 

HIGHLY COMMENDED/VISOKE POHVALE:

 

Jan Benson, USA

 

pumpkin harvest                                                 berba buča

the old straw-man                                              sve tanji je stari

thinning                                                                čovjek od slame

 

Cezar-Florin Ciobîcă, Romania

 

after Halloween–                                                  Noć vještica –

the pumpkins’                                                       izdubljen izgled

hollow looks                                                          buča

 

 

Goran Gatalica, Croatia

 

pumpkin blossoms–                                           cvjetovi bundeve –

our migrating silence                                         tišina među nama

across the field                                                    putuje poljima

 

 

 

Jonathan Humphrey, Tennessee, USA

 

mining town–                                                           rudarski grad –

ants file                                                                      mravi ispunjavaju

into pumpkin blossoms                                          cvjetove buča

 

 

Lee Nash, France

 

standing in line                                                     u redu za

for winter soup                                                     zimsku juhu

a harvest of gourds                                              berba buča

 

 

Vanessa Proctor, Australia

 

blazing sunset                                                   gorući zalaz

the farmer sings NessunDorma                   ratar pjeva Nessun Dorma

to his pumpkins                                              svojim bučama

 

“Nessun dorma” (“None shall sleep”) is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini‘s opera Turandot.

“Nitko neće spavati” je arija iz završnog čina opere Turandot, Giacoma Puccinia.

 

 

COMMENDED/POHVALJENI RADOVI:

 

Adjeji Agyei-Baah, Ghana

 

an old man                                                            starac

harvesting pumpkins                                         ubire buče

the stiffness of his spine                                    ukočenost njegove kičme

 

 

Elisa Allo, Italy/Switzerland

 

Filling the silence                                              Ispunjavajući tišinu

pumpkin seeds crumble                                  koštice buče drobe se

beneath my feet                                                pod mojim stopalima

 

 

 

Marilyn Appl Walker, Georgia, USA

 

darkness. . .                                                         tama…

our smiley-faced pumpkin                              naša nasmiješena buča

lights the way                                                     osvjetljava put

 

 

 

Julie Bloss Kelsey, USA

 

a smell of wood smoke                                     miris dima drva

combined with …

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The results pf the 3rd haiku contest on theme Gourds

This year we received 681 haiku by 281 authors  from 34 countries:…

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