Friday, August 30, 2024

#DebbieMStrangeBookmarkGratitudeProject, 2023-2024

To mark my tenth year of publishing (2013-2023), I made over 200 bookmarks and sent them to editors around the world who have been supportive of my work. I used a variety of techniques for this labour of love, such as collage, painting, mono-printing, or photography from my abstract series, "The Poetry of Light" (all the images from this exhibition can be accessed under the exhibition tab of this blog).

I am forever grateful for all the encouragement I have received over the years. Though I've been writing songs, stories, and poetry since childhood, I didn't start taking it "seriously" until my first haiku acceptance from the esteemed poet, an'ya, which changed the course of my writing life.

I have dedicated five hours a day to writing and making art over the course of this last decade. This daily meditative practice has helped mitigate the debilitating effects of chronic illness, allowing me focus on joy rather than pain!

Thousands of my poems and artworks have now been published in hundreds of journals internationally and translated into many languages, and several books of my work have been released. This journey has enriched my life beyond measure, and has exceeded my wildest dreams!

I couldn't have done any of this without the staunch support of my husband, family, friends, and the global community of short-form poets who welcomed me into the fold. There are not enough words to convey my gratitude and love. I am indeed blessed!


(note: please click on the image to enlarge it for better clarity)
 

One Thread: Zoka in Contemporary Haiku, 2024

My thanks to the editor, Janice Doppler, for giving permission for me to archive my featured essay (including my haiku illustrating the zoka technique) on this blog. It was an honour to be selected for inclusion in this groundbreaking anthology! This essay can also be accessed via the "Articles/About" tab of this blog.


Chasing Chiaroscuro
by Debbie Strange
 
One of the most intriguing aspects of zoka is its focus on being attentive to the changing seasons, with their shifting nuances of light and shadow. The portfolio of Ansel Adams, a master of chiaroscuro (light-dark) techniques in photography, has been a constant source of stimulation and contemplation throughout five decades of adventures with my camera. I am forever in pursuit of the perfect balance in the images I make. In my daily haiga practice, I might choose watercolours, inks, or acrylics to paint a scene, or I might decide that a photograph (painting with light) would best convey the message of my haiku.
 
Capturing light and shadow in photographs can be challenging, in the same way that pinning down the essence of zoka can be elusive. I was a photographer long before I was a haiku poet, and I’m grateful that this early passion taught me to look beyond the ordinary.
 
My photographs often act as prompts for zoka-inspired writing, or tangible haiku moments. They allow me to study transient lighting conditions, seasonal attributes, and impermanent subject matter, and to reconnect with my observations and appreciation of this natural world. A wide angle lens helps to portray the vastness of the night sky (zooming out), whilst a macro lens narrows the field of view down to the tiniest fungi (zooming in).
 
I appreciate the following quote from Neil DeGrasse Tyson, which impresses me as being quite zoka-like: “If you see the universe as something you participate in—as this great unfolding of a cosmic story—that, I think should make you feel large, not small.”
 
Though chronic illness and deteriorating vision now restrict my photography opportunities, writing haiku has no such limitations! I have thousands of photographs and dozens of nature journals from which to draw inspiration. I need only sit quietly for a moment, and I am there, still chasing light, shadows, and the possibility of a poem.

morning worship
a tuft of moss inside
the icicle
 
Blithe Spirit, Volume 34, Number 1, February 2024
 
snowmelt
clumps of deer hair
snag the light
 
Modern Haiku, Volume 52, Number 3, Autumn 2021
 
dripping trees
I wait for the right path
to choose me
 
First Frost, Number 3, Spring 2022
 
solar flares
a spill of buttercups
in the meadow
 
Acorn, Number 35, Fall 2015
 
krill migration
humpback whales
scoop up the stars
 
The Heron’s Nest, Volume XXIV, Number 4, December 2022
 
alpine camp
meteors falling
into our mouths
 
Modern Haiku, Volume 55, Number 1, Winter-Spring 2024
 
leaf decay
deep shadows lit
by ladybugs
 
Modern Haiku, Volume 50, Number 1, Winter-Spring 2019
 
chanterelles
dirt makes a map
of my palm
 
Australian Haiku Society, Winter Solstice Haiku String, 2021
 
peat fire
the scent markings
of other worlds
 
Frogpond, Volume 46, Number 3, Autumn 2023
 
icefall
the water still
asleep
 
Scarlet Dragonfly Journal, Number 9, December 2022
 
frozen berries
we enter the silence
of hibernation
 
Presence, Number 69, March 2021
 
polar night
a snowy owl fades
to black
 
Kokako, Number 28, April 2018


Debbie Strange (Canada)
 
I spent my childhood on the prairies, and I have been composing poetry and songs since I was a girl. My father wrote poetry and often recited the classics by heart, kindling a lifelong love of language in me. He was also instrumental in nurturing my passion for photography. We enjoyed wandering the Saskatchewan hills in search of that indefinable something on which to train our cameras and our senses. I see now that these outings were influential in helping to hone my observational skills.
 
A few haiku highlights: Random Blue Sparks, winner of the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Awards, is forthcoming in 2024. The Language of Loss: Haiku & Tanka Conversations (Sable Books, 2020) received Haiku Canada’s 2022 Marianne Bluger Chapbook Award. Prairie Interludes, winner of the 2019 Snapshot Press eChapbook Awards, was released in 2020.
 
The healing and meditative power of haiku helps connect me to the world, to others, and to myself.

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Geppo: The Work-Study Journal of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, Volume XLIX:2, May 2024

 February - April 2024


equinox snow(drops) drifting across your grave


the pace
of my breath slows . . .
rushing stream


gender bias
a boy sticks petals
to his fingernails


earth day
ivy rootlets tickling
small fingers


Spring Challenge Kigo: Rookery, Heronry


garden rookery
the sycamore fills
with shadows


Honoured to know that "gender bias" was included among Dojin Emiko Miyashita's favourites!

The Zen Space, Summer Showcase 2024

Honoured to have work selected for the showcase!

These haiga previously appeared in my 2021 Haiku Foundation HaikuLife Film, "Black Velvet":






Credits:

1) Cha No Keburi Italian Blog 2018
2) Honourable Mention, World Haiku Review 2017
3) Selected Haiku, Yamadera Basho Haiku Contest 2017
4) Judges' Favourites, Golden Triangle Contest 2018
5) Winner, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2017

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Tanka Society of America - Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contst, 2024

My thanks to the judges, Vandana Parashar and Reid Hepworth, for selecting the following tanka for this year's contest:


an arbutus
sheds its outer bark . . .
my skin
is the only thing
holding me together


Honourable Mention
2024 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest


Judges' Comments:

This tanka poignantly captures the fragility and resilience of human existence. The shedding of the arbutus tree's bark mirrors the poet's own vulnerability and a sense of raw survival, hence suggesting a deep connection with nature.


Red Lights, Vol. 20, Number 2, June 2024 (addendum)

Honoured to have work included in the final issue of Red Lights!


a cardinal
appears out of nowhere
whistling
a song that only you
could have composed


Surrendering

a sachet
of the seven herbs
clasped
between brittle palms . . .
prayers for this new year

stuffing
two fistfuls of snow
into my mouth,
throat chakra blocked
by grief that is unvoiced

on grassy banks
beside this burbling rill,
we sit in silence
for a moment before
the casting ceremony

(note: a casting ceremony involves the scattering of ashes)






The Pan Haiku Review, Issue 3, Summer 2024

Thrilled to have one sijo and one free verse poem (respectively) selected for this "challenge" issue!


Joy and Sorrow

The things I recall from childhood—horses and hay, sisters and snow.
We danced under curtains of northern lights and sang until morning.
Brushfires in their greediness eat the remnants of our past.


The Way I Remember It

Christmas Eve, lit by mothwings of snowflakes fluttering against tradition's candles, incinerated until nothing remained but an ashy wafer of poverty dissolving upon the tongue of childhood.



 

Our Best Haiga: Black & White Haiga/Haisha, August 2024

 Curated by Lavana Kray


August 16, 2024


(Note: this haiku received joint 1st Place in the 2024 Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest)



Kokako, Number 41, September 2024

Thrilled to have had work selected for this first digital issue!


wild turkey
a dandelion wish
in its beak


star anise
the night bazaar teeming
with fragrance


penguin rookery . . .
the precious things
we keep
within the circle
of our family


(note: honoured to have collaborated with Graham Bates, Editor-in-Chief, for the above haiga)



 

Hauling the Tide, Haiku Society of America Members' Anthology 2024

asperitas
my shape changing
with the wind

Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal, Issue 9: Amber, August 2024

Honoured to be interviewed by the editor, Steliana Voicu, in this issue! Please access this interview via the "article/about" tab on this blog, or read it here:


Also grateful to have the following work included in this issue:

Translated into Romanian

one-room school
grain dust sparking
in the sunlight




Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, August 2024

Featured Artist: August 11, 2024 


Note: this tanka was first published in Ribbons 19.2, 2023

Featured Artist: August 31, 2024


Note: this haiku was first published in Cattails, October 2023




Creatrix: Poetry and Haiku Journal, Number 66, September 2024

tide pool
an oystercatcher
pinches the sun


geyser steam
the vanishing act
of wild buffalo

Akitsu Quarterly, Fall/Winter 2024

labyrinth
the stones we dug
out of our fields


gorilla hail
another crop pounded
into dust
 

The Abstractaphy Initiative, August 2024

My thanks to the curator, Richard Grahn, for including my work in this initiative, "raising awareness of global concerns through a marriage of the arts":


(note: this tanka received Editor's Choice, Cattails, October 2020)


(note: this inverted monoku first appeared in Half Day Moon Journal 1, August 2023)


(note: this senryu received an HM in the 2024 H Gene Murtha Memorial Senryu Contest)


 

A Fine Line: The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society, Winter 2024

pressed flowers
the meadow I will give you
this winter

Akitsu Quarterly, Summer 2021


farm chores
this frost-fringed hole
in my mitten

Geppo XLVIII:1, February 2023

Saturday, August 03, 2024

Dwarf Stars 2024 - The Very Best Short Speculative Poems Published in 2023

Honoured to have the following work chosen for this anthology of shortlisted poems. My thanks to the editor, Brittany Hause!


peat fire
the scent markings
of other worlds

Frogpond, Issue 46.3, Autumn 2023


galactic wind the cosmos collides in our garden

Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Members' Haiga Slideshow Celebration, July 2023

Time Haiku, Number 60, August 2024

a snail finds
its second home . . .
garden cloche


savannah sparrow
I am so far away
from home


shrinking ice
polar bears swim out
of the picture


paper-thin roses
from your memorial . . .
I crush them
between palms that have
lost the will to pray

Triveni Haikai India, July 2024

My thanks to Daipayan Nair for selecting the following haiku for the Triveni Spotlight Feature on July 27, 2024:


earth day
the shimmering wave
of a bee colony

2nd Place, 2020 World Haiku Competition
 

The Haiku Foundation, Haiku of the Day (formerly Per Diem), July 2024

Selected by Helen Ogden for the theme of "Heat and Global Warming": July 20, 2024


beaver dam
salmon seek refuge
from the drought

Akitsu Quarterly, Spring/Summer 2024
 

Presence, Number 79, July 2024

spirit bear
a salmon leaps
beyond


northern lights
a man on skates twirls
his baby's pram


inner dialogues
become amorphous
in this frosty air
the ghosts of words
escape from my mouth


I was delighted to discover that the following haiku was shortlisted for the Best-of-Issue Award in Presence 78:


rural bus stop
a border collie waits
for his boy

Haiga in Focus, Issue 74, August 2024

 Curated by Claudia Brefeld


Translated into German





Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective, July 2024

 Curated by Eric A. Lohman


Featured Artist: July 24, 2024


(note: this tanka first appeared in Kokako 33, September 2020)



Edmonton Japanese Community Association: Spring Haiku Competition Anthology, 2024

prairie hill
the buzz inside
every crocus


lilac jelly
the last jar until
the first jar

Daily Haiku: Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, August 2024

Daily Haiku Special: August 2, 2024 on the theme of "pets"


summer fair
our dog retrieves
a lost boy

Mariposa, Number 40, Spring/Summer 2019

Contemporary Haibun Online, Issue 20.2, August 2024

Haiga Gallery: selected by Ron Moss




Bottle Rockets, Vol. 26, Number 1 (or #51), August 2024

food bank/ing on the kindness of strangers



 

Blithe Spirit, Volume 34, Number 3, August 2024

eclipse
the ravens have swallowed
their shadows


rain quenches
earth's parched throat
at last
dust turns into mud,
turns into water lilies