from The
Editor's Desk
May 31, 2008—Issue No. 14 of
Sketchbook. In May 2008 forty-six writers from
eleven countries have contributed to this issue. Thank you all
for your continued interest.
In April and May
2008 Vaughn Seward conducted a workshop at the yahoo Group,
Renhai Studio, to study and write the new collaborative form
which he devised. Renhai is composed of three independent haiku
verses formatted in 3 lines, 2 lines, and 3 lines. Each verse is
uniquely linked to the other verses; each verse makes reference
to one common theme. a kigo appears in at least one verse. The
fifteen members of the Renhai Studio have written fifty poems at
this time. Some of the poems are published in this issue of
Sketchbook,
A Collection of Renhai.
Congratulations to
the first three place winners in the May 2008 barefoot kukai:
First Place:
Jacek Margolak, PL
Second Place Tie:
Karina Klesko, US,
Kala Ramesh, IN
Third Place:
Betty Kaplan, US
Read all the haiku in the
"barefoot" Kukai
For Sketchbook
readers who do not know, a kukiai is a haiku contest in which the poets
anonymously judge the work of their peers in order to determine
the most significant haiku among the poems submitted.
Sketchbook conducts a monthly kukai on an assigned topic
that all participants must use in their verse. At this time the
editors are accepting three haiku from each poet on the assigned
monthly topic. Details for each monthly contest appear on the
lower left hand side of the contents page. If you are a haiku
writer consider entering the monthly kukai. The June kukai topic
is summer morn(ing).
A second monthly
Haiku activity conducted by Sketchbook is the
monthly thread. Haiku are written on an announced general topic.
The poems are posted daily on a web page for all readers to see.
Haiku poets may post an unlimited number of poems to the monthly
thread. From these haiku the editors select Editor's
Choice" poems for recognition. All haiku writers are
invited to participate in the monthly haiku thread; specific
instructions are posted monthly at the bottom left of the
contents page. The
June thread topic is
bride / wedding.
The May haiku thread
is motherhood; nineteen poets from eight countries participated:
Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Israel, Poland, Romania, Trinidad
and the United States
Read the
motherhood
haiku thread and the Editor's Choice selections.
Four Global
Correspondents are represented in this issue.
Jeff-Spahr-Summers presents his sixth installment of
experiences in South Africa as a young man.
Gillena Cox reports on a Trinidad high school girl who is
invited to the Olympics to display her art work.
Sally Evans writes about her travels in Scotland.
Helen Bar-Lev describes a writing workshop she organized in
Israel and in memory of the recent disasters in Myanmar and
China she presents a poem about her own Earthquake experiences.
Three writers
featured in this issue of Sketchbook are actively
involved in related projects.
Hugh Fox, poet, critic, anthropologist, translator,
playwright, and iconocloast" will be the guest of host
Doug Holder on Somerville Community Access TV Show "Poet
to Poet/Writer To Writer" on Channel 3 at 5 PM.
Helen Bar-Lev, well known Israeli poet and editor of
Voices Israel Anthology is launching a poetry
website. Bar-Lev describes the new project: "This site will be
an outlet and home for poets from every country and outlook who
believe in the essential beauty of nature and the dignity of
mankind. We will publish a regular online magazine several times
a hear that will include poetry, prose, flash fiction and
selected art work with each issue centered on a different
theme". Annual poetry contests with substantial prizes will be
another regular feature. The opening issue has no
designated theme. Poetry and short stories should be submitted
by June 30, 2008 to
j_simon@netvision.net.il Subject line:
Submission to Website.
RD Armstrong (Raindog)
will be one of the featured poets at an open reading mic reading
on Sunday, June 1, 2008, 5 P.M. at
Beyond Baroque
in Venice, CA. He will be reading from his new book
Fire and Rain. "Things
I Notice # 4" in this issue is from Raindog's new book;
copies of the book will be for sale at the reading.
Fire
and Rain was the March 2008 Book Fair feature.
