Monday, April 20, 2009

Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights Bookshop: 'How to write a Haiku Journal'

SOLD OUT!



photo by Paul Gillis
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The first in a new journal writing series:
'How to write a Haiku Journal'
with Alan Summers

Japan-UK 150 haiku poet-in-residence


Wednesday 15th July 2009
6.30-8.30 pm
upstairs at Mr B's fabulous Bibliotherapy Room

This workshop is directed at ALL writers.

Novelists, non-fiction writers, short story writers, diarists, journalists
and poets, this workshop can be useful to you, as well as great fun.

"There is absolutely no difference between revising long poetry, novels, short stories, or haiku. The word count doesn't make any difference, it's the choice of words that counts."

A haiku is more than a mere 'snapshot' poem: it's carefully composed distilled writing conveying more than the sum of its words on a page.

A haiku journal is more than a 'day/date/time, where, why, when' notebook: it's a unique shorthand method capturing a day.


This workshop is suitable for beginners right through to advanced writers. The two hours will include two exercises and group discussion/Q&A
with a FREE complimentary “Haiku Journal” notebook for everyone.


Wine is also being provided I hear from the very kind and excellent
Writing Events Bath organisers Alex and Jude!


ALAN SUMMERS blurb:

Alan Summers is a Japan Times award-winning writer with an M.A. in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University (2007-2008).


He's also 'Japan-UK 150 haiku poet-in-residence' and an experienced workshop leader.

His book 'Selected Haiku Poems 1992-1999’ will be published next year, while his pamphlet 'The Haiku Camera’ is due out later this year.

Cost £22 (concessions £20). Places limited, and filling up fast!
Please book as soon as possible.
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For enquiries please contact Writing Events Bath

writingeventsbath@gmail.com

Click onto their website for information
as well as other exciting events and competition!

Webpage: http://www.writingeventsbath.co.uk/.

Comments from the very first Writing Events Bath event:


"I look forward to attending future events particularly the session
on journal writing."
Julia S, Bristol

"I am looking forward to the journal writing series in the autumn
as I kept a journal last year while I was travelling & found it very rewarding."
K and P

Bibliotherapy Room images at Mr B's Emporium:
Bibliotherapy Room images©Mr B's Emporium

Mr B's bookshop: homepage
Mr B's location: map

Mr B's are the largest stockist of good haiku poetry books including the internationally award-winning Snapshot Press series of haiku poetry anthologies including "Wing Beats: British Birds in Haiku" and "The New Haiku".

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Brief CV:
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Qualifications:
M.A. in Creative Writing, Bath Spa University 2007-2008
Diploma in Creative Writing, University of Bristol 2001

Selected Awards:
The Japan Times award for haiku and renga
Ritsumeikan University of Kyoto Peace Museum Award for haiku

Selected Publications:
'The Haiku Camera' pamphlet collection Forthcoming
'Selected Haiku Poems 1994-2010’ (2010)

Poetry Editor:
'The Poetic Image - Haiku and Photography'
National Academy of Writing/Birmingham Words Pamphlet (2006)

Co–Editor
'Parade of Life: Poems inspired by Japanese Prints'
ISBN: 09539234-2-8 (2002)

"Parade of Life is very impressive." Hiroaki Sano, Japanese Embassy

Japanese newspaper publications:
Yomiuri Shimbun (14 million readers); Mainichi Shimbun;
The Japan Times; and The Mie Times.
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Monday, April 06, 2009

Bath Spa Train Station Renga Party

Images©Alan Summers from the very successful Bath Spa Train Station renga party on Platform 2 in Dashi Sushi Bar on Easter Monday April 5th 2010.

Scribing Lines
The Bath Spa Railway Station Renku
Hosted by With Words (Alan Summers & Karen Hoy), with Marshall Hryciuk & Karen Sohne, Canada, and friends.



scribing lines
across the fields
Easter journey



Sue Shand
hopping on one foot
grandchild counts ducklings


Karen Sohne
the empty home
a kettle whistles
as a train rumbles past



Zoe Blackmore
while bonfire smoke drifts
through a bare tree


Andrew Shimield
clouds
I have even lost
the moon



Mimi Thebo
as I admire
Monet's Haystacks


Alan Summers
lemonade glasses
framed
by the half-done jigsaw



Karen Hoy
where the leaves meet
blue leaves of sky


Liz Brownlee
ice cream
how long
out of the freezer



Karen Hoy
longing for love's lick
dirty dishes pile high


Tracey Kelly
the damp spot
on my expensive shirt
a night's tears



Alan Summers
the world is suddenly interested
in Portuguese Water Spaniels


Mimi Thebo
off Somalia
the Captain's alive
and three pirates dead



Yu Yan Chen
crows pierce the crystaline horizon

Tracey Kelly
inside the cat curls
snug on the warmest chair


Zoe Blackmore
half moon
my wife's unvarnished
toenails



Alan Summers
the tree rattles bones
the wind shakes


Liz Brownlee
today I smelled the earth

Mimi Thebo
abundant
the elderflowers
bow low



Sue Shand
light on the froth below the weir
clouds float


Liz Brownlee
as I drink
through the harp
in my Guinness



Sue Shand
piggyback he sees his dad's view

Alan Summers
two lines summer
Alan and Karen



Tracey Kelly
sunbathing on the roof
the radio DJ tells us
to roll over



Karen Sohne
rockets explode
in showers of golden rain


Sue Shand
Orion's Belt
I sneak another notch
in mine



Alan Summers
this diamond day we set the date

Sue Shand
my new babes gaze
joins my heat to her's


Liz Brownlee
the length of the valley
the bullstag's
trumpeting



Andrew Shimield
Jupiter's moons
through someone else
s telescope


Karen Hoy
roasted chestnuts
start to appear
on London street corners



Alan Summers
snakes in the beard
of the sun god


Karen Sohne
light on the river
shimmering
on the green tour boat



Marshall Hryciuk
tiny butterfly
over the new lawn


Karen Sohne
in a swirl of blossom
the dustmen
fill their cart



Andrew Shimield
letting go of the balloon
with a gentle wave


Yu Yan Chen










 Alan Summers was roving renga poet-in-residence during Japan-UK 150.




Marshall Hryciuk ((President of the Haiku Society of Canada 1990 – 1997)) was sabaki for this event.



Karen Sohne (Toronto, Canada) acted as the scribe.

The event stayed at Dashi Sushi Bar for a number of hours, before moving onto a nearby park in Bath.  Early evening we moved to the famous Raven pub in Bath for refreshments and to perform the completed renga.

Karen Hoy assisted me as co-host at the event, so we could look after the needs of all the participants while guest sabaki and scribe Marshall Hryciuk and Karen Sohne from Toronto, Canada, could concentrate totally on the renga aka renku.


With Words (myself and Karen) insist that participants in a renga enjoy themselves in a relaxed atmosphere.  As a kasen renga can take six hours, there was plenty of opportunity for people to visit museums and galleries, do a little shopping, and generally come back in their own time.

all photographs©Alan Summers
Please contact me at admin@callofthepage.org for permission to use any of these photographs. 

Scribing Lines Renku

journal publishing credit: 
Notes from the Gean vol 2 issue 3 (December 2010)
  


Petals in the Dark
15 renku led and edited by Marshall Hryciuk 
(catkin press, 2015)  
https://claudiaradmore.com/2015/07/15/publishers-hat-renku/


*Also please still feel free to drop a few short poems about trains into the comments box.


Alan & Karen offer online courses in haiku and its related genres.  If you would like to know more drop us a line at: 
admin@callofthepage.org


More about Karen & Alan:
https://www.callofthepage.org/about-1/

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