Announcement: Haibun Today, Dec. 2017, Now Online

The December issue of Haibun Today has been released. I hope you enjoy the collection of voices in the tanka prose section, where poets write about distant Morocco, East Prussia, an old house on Chediston Street, "a turn never before taken," an unforgettable hike, wild ancestral tribes, speeding words, "things fragile and unneeded," a cherished carrot cake recipe, paintings by Renoir and Whistler coming to life, remembering a sister, "visions of Mother," and more.

http://www.haibuntoday.com

Announcement: March issue of Haibun Today

The March 2017 issue of Haibun Today has been released—my first time as editor of the tanka prose section. Enjoy!

Announcement: Haibun Today Submissions

Reminder for Tanka Prose Writers: Haibun Today is currently accepting submissions for the March issue. To be considered for that issue, please submit your polished tanka prose pieces to me by January 15. See the guidelines on the website.

Announcement: Haibun Today Changes

Thought I'd let readers of twigs&stones know I've taken on a new poetry job. Wish me luck! Effective December 1, I became the editor of the tanka prose section of Haibun Today, an online journal familiar to poets/writers in the haiku and tanka communities. Of course, that unfortunately means that the ever-so-talented and passionate Claire Everett has stepped down from her role as tanka prose editor, to pursue other endeavors. Jeffrey Woodward, founder and owner of HT, as well as a leading expert (or perhaps more accurately the premier expert) in the field of English-language tanka prose (not to mention haibun), also has stepped down. The contributions of Jeffrey and Claire have been immeasurable.

See the new issue of HT here.

Announcement: Skylark and "Sculpting a Face"

The Winter 2016 issue of Skylark, an English-language tanka journal edited by poet Claire Everett, is available for purchase. I'm happy to say that reviews and features editor Jenny Ward Angyal interviewed me for that issue. Several of my tanka, many of them previously posted here at twigs&stones, including "silhouettes," are featured. Check it out.

silhouettes

we made of ourselves

in grade school …

how many know me

only by my profile

Announcement: KYSO Flash HTP Contest Results

Recently, I received the surprising news of winning first place in the HTP Contest, a joint haibun and tanka prose competition administered by Clare MacQueen, editor/publisher extraordinaire of the innovative KYSO Flash online journal. To read my piece, "Approximations," as well as the other winning entries plus the semifinalist and publisher's choice entries, follow this link.

For commentaries by Matthew Paul, judge, follow this link.

Many thanks to Clare and Matthew!

Announcement: June Tanka Contests

Calling All Tanka Poets: Entries are currently being accepted for the following contests:

• KYSO Flash HTP Contest (haibun/tanka prose)—deadline June 15

• Mandy's Pages Annual Contest—deadline June 30

• Tanka Society of America 2016 Sanford Goldstein Annual Tanka Contest—deadline June 30

At Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC, June 2015

Tanka Time 2016

Calling all tanka poets: Tanka Time, an annual challenge at Mandy's Pages, is currently taking place. The theme: rose. Entry fee: none.

Announcement: KYSO Flash (Knock-Your-Socks-Off Art and Literature) Triple-F Writing Challenge

Sharpen your pencils now…the deadline is fast approaching 

Deadline: Sunday, February 7, 2016 (midnight PST)

Categories: Micro-fiction, prose poetry, poetic hybrids such as haibun stories and tanka tales, and lineated poetry (both free verse and formal). Innovative works also welcomed.

The Challenge: Entries must be no longer than 500 words each, including the title (and we count words in all poems as well, not lines). Each entry must also include seamless use of three prompt words: fierce, flicker, and fool.

Prizes (in USD):

$300 First Place

$200 Second Place

$100 Third Place

$50 Honorable Mentions (3-5 awarded)

Plus publication online and in a soft-cover anthology, with a complimentary copy for each winner and finalist

Entry Fee: $5 USD per submission, no limit. Electronic entries only, accepted via Submittable.

Summary Description: 

KYSO Flash announces a writing-prompt challenge of three words: fierce, flicker and fool. Accepted from writers worldwide: micro-fiction, prose poetry, haibun stories, tanka tales, and lineated poetry, both free and formal verse. Innovative works welcomed. Cash prizes. $5 entry fee per submission, no limit. Winners and finalists will be published online this spring and in our print anthology next fall; contributors will receive one complimentary copy each.

Full Guidelines: http://www.kysoflash.com/Classifieds.aspx

Announcement: Tanka Prose Contest Reminder

Tanka Society of America Tanka Prose Contest
A 15th-Anniversary Special Event 

Deadline: October 31

Fees: None

Prize: Free 2016 TSA membership to first-place winner

Submission Guidelines: See the website

Open to members and nonmembers alike. 

The entries have been streaming in: thanks!   JLD

Announcement: Tanka Prose Challenge at Mandy's Pages

Where Tanka Prose Grows 2015—A free challenge. Going on right now!

Announcement: taking a break

Time for another small break: I can't keep up with things right now. Life has gotten a little wild. So, see you a bit later on! 

Announcement: Tanka Society of America Events

Tanka poets, please be reminded of the 2015 TSA members' anthology and other upcoming events and deadlines. For details, click on the website links below or refer to the spring/summer issue of Ribbons.

Fall Ribbons, including Tanka Café—August 31 (deadline).

TSA 2015 Members' Anthology—September 1–30. Send 5 to 10 unpublished tanka to our editor, Claire Everett. All current-year TSA members are eligible to participate. (Please consider joining or renewing your membership if you haven't done so.) We hope you can join us on the pages of this year's anthology. 

Tanka Sunday 2015 (free)—October 18, Desmond Hotel, Albany, NY. 

Tanka Prose Contest (free)—October 1–31. 

Announcement: 2015 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest Results

Please see the Tanka Society of America website for a list of the winning poems from the 2015 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest! The winners were selected by judges Carole MacRury and Laura Maffei from a pool of 499 entries. Congratulations to these poets:

First Place: Ken Slaughter 

Second Place: José Angel Araguz 

Third Place: Susan Burch 

Honorable Mentions: Dawn Manning, David Terelinck, James Chessing, and Ken Slaughter (2).

The complete report with the judges' comments will be published in the fall 2015 issue of Ribbons as well as later on the website.

Announcement: Special Event Tanka Prose Contest (October)

The Tanka Society of America is pleased to announce a tanka prose contest that will take place this fall. This fifteenth-anniversary special event is open to members and nonmembers alike. There is no entry fee, and the first-place winner will receive a 2016 TSA membership. Please see the submission guidelines at the TSA website for details. The guidelines also are included in the spring/summer issue of Ribbons, the TSA journal.

Announcement: 2015 TSA Members' Anthology

The Tanka Society of America (TSA) is pleased to announce the publication of a members’ anthology in the fall of 2015. This year’s anthology will be edited by Claire Everett, a widely known tanka poet and editor of Skylark Tanka Journal. David Rice, TSA’s Ribbons editor, will do the design and production. We’re very excited about this anthology, which will complete a year of events celebrating TSA’s fifteenth anniversary.

– Margaret Chula, TSA president and anthology liaison
_________________


See the TSA website for more information. If you’re not a current member, please join or renew soon so you'll be eligible to participate.

Announcement: June tanka contests

Poets, submit your fine English-language tanka to these two annual contests. The deadlines for each are June 30. Refer to the websites for submission details as well as contest results from previous years.

• Annual Tanka Contest 2015 at Mandy's Pages—Theme: to be announced June 1. Cash prizes. Fee: first tanka free, subsequent tanka $2 (US) each.

• 2015 Tanka Society of America Sanford Goldstein International Contest—No theme. Cash prizes. Fee: $1 (US) per tanka.

Announcement: Tanka Sunday

Save the Date: Tanka Sunday is Back!

Join the Tanka Society of America on Sunday, October 18, 2015 (the last day of the Haiku North America conference), at the Desmond Hotel in Albany, New York, for another Tanka Sunday celebration. Tanka Sunday 2015 will have tanka readings, workshops, and presentations all afternoon and evening, plus a bookfair, group photo, and more. Registration will be free for everyone, including nonmembers (although donations will be welcome). So mark the date on your calendar now, and watch for registration details later on our Facebook page and website and in member emails. Whether you attend the HNA conference or not, we hope to see you at Tanka Sunday 2015! Will you join us?

Announcement: TSA Contest Renamed to Honor Tanka Pioneer

In celebration of our fifteenth anniversary today, April 14, 2015, the Tanka Society of America is pleased to announce that we have renamed our annual tanka contest after Sanford Goldstein. Sanford is the foremost pioneer of English-language tanka, a scholar and translator of tanka, and a widely respected tanka poet. The contest’s new name is the Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest. 

This year's contest submission window is May 1 through June 30, 2015. We welcome submissions from everyone, not only in support of tanka, but also in honor of Sanford. For more information about the contest, please visit the TSA website. 

– Margaret Chula, TSA President

Announcement: Tanka Society of America Celebration of Tanka

Tanka poets and others who enjoy reading tanka, hop on over to the Tanka Society of America (TSA) Facebook page. A new prompt will be posted each week throughout the month of April. From Margaret Chula, TSA president:

National Poetry Month Celebration of Tanka

This week the TSA celebrates its 15th anniversary, so it's fitting that the prompt be "anniversary." You may expand the theme from a pleasant memory—a wedding, birthday, family celebration, graduation—or an observance of something not so pleasant. My tanka below recalls a misfortune with a touch of humor.

anniversary
of last year’s house fire
I bless our new house
with a wand of burning sage—
bucket of water nearby

—Margaret Chula
Always Filling, Always Full