Haiku & Horror

Illya's Honey Poetry Contest, tinywords

2013-05-08T06:00:00.001-04:00

The Dallas Poets Community and Illya's Honey poetry journal are sponsoring the 2013 Open Poetry Competition. There are three hefty prizes -- $300, $100, and $50 -- and an entry fee of $10 for one to three poems ($5 for each poem after that). All submissions must be made by snail mail, and the postmark deadline is June 15th.

tinywords is open for submissions again, and the editors just extended the deadline to June 1st. This is an open submission period, with no themes or restrictions.

Bones haiku journal

2013-03-24T08:57:00.002-04:00

Bones is a new online haiku journal that any haiku reader should check out. The first issue was just released in December. Bones is different from most other haiku journals, and it contains a lot of "experimental" poems. There are some poems that push the boundaries of haiku, and others that punch right through it. Avid haiku readers will recognize many names from the journal's inaugural issue, including Johnny Baranski, Cherie Hunter Day, John Sexton, and more.

Bones is currently closed to submissions, but it will reopen in April, so get your poems that won't fit in a traditional haiku magazine ready to send.

Balticon Poetry Contest

2013-03-16T17:20:00.002-04:00

The Baltimore Science Fiction Society holds a poetry contest every year to coincide with the annual Balticon convention. Prizes for the Balticon Poetry Contest are $100, $75, and $50, and there is no entry fee. Each person can submit up to three poems (50 lines or less). Judging by the recent winners (you can view them on the website) longer poems stand a better chance of winning. Entries can be mailed, emailed, or submitted via the online form, but they must be in-hand by April 1st.

NFSPS poetry contests

2013-03-11T17:52:00.002-04:00

The National Federation of State Poetry Societies holds a big poetry contest every year, with many different categories. Some of the categories are for different forms and have different prize amounts. The submission deadline is March 15th.

There are several haiku contests with deadlines in the month of March. Some of those contests are listed in the sidebar to the right, and others can be found on The Haiku Foundation's March calendar update.

2013 Peggy Lillis Wyles Haiku Award

2013-03-06T11:58:00.003-05:00

The Heron's Nest sponsors the Peggy Lillis Wyles Haiku Award for 2013, a haiku contest that commemorates the legacy of haiku poet Peggy Lillis Wyles. This contest is a great opportunity for any haiku poet; there is no entry fee, and prizes consist of cash awards of $150, $75, and $50, plus some books of poems and a crystal turtle figurine. Each poet can submit up to 5 unpublished haiku not being considered anywhere else. The deadline for entries is June 1st, and the winners will be announced July 31st.

Haiku magazines open now

2013-03-02T14:07:00.000-05:00

Some haiku magazines have reading periods, while others are always open to submissions. Below are some haiku journals and websites that are currently accepting submissions. (Markets in bold are paying markets.)

- bottle rockets: always open
- Chrysanthemum: always open (next deadline: August 31st)
- Frogpond: open until April 15th
- Mayfly: always open
- Minnow: always open
- Modern Haiku: always open (next deadline: March 15th)
- paper wasp: always open
- Roadrunner: open until April 1st
- Shamrock: always open
- The Heron's Nest: always open (next deadline: March 15th)

The new issue of The Heron's Nest is now online. It contains many good poems, including some great ones by Brian Robertson, paul m., and Burnell Lippy.

Raven Chronicles, some contests

2013-02-17T08:20:00.000-05:00

Raven Chronicles is a possibly-overlooked market for writers and poets. They are currently reading for their Summer 2013 issue, themed "Why we do what we do." They want submissions of experimental or traditional work, up until the deadline of March 15th. They offer contributors 2 copies of the issue their work appears in, and "sometimes" payment of $10 to $40, when possible.

If anyone is a member of FanStory.com or considering becoming a member, here are some upcoming contests with prizes (some up to $100) that may be of interest. As a disclaimer, I don't know much about the site, except that it's free to join.

- Dystopian Future Story Contest: deadline February 19th
- Ghost Story Contest: deadline March 4th
- Tanka Poetry Contest: deadline June 30th
- 5-7-5 Poetry Contest: deadline July 5th
- Horror Story Writing Contest: deadline July 11th

National Poetry Month, NaHaiWriMo, DailyHaiku

2013-02-05T12:20:00.001-05:00

February is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate it, Poetry magazine is giving out free copies of the April 2013 issue for you and your book club or group of friends. Each person can request up to 10 copies.

February is also National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo). You can find out more information about NaHaiWriMo here, and you can get daily haiku writing prompts by checking out the NaHaiWriMo Facebook page.

Speaking of haiku, DailyHaiku has just reopened to submissions. You can send in your poems through the end of February to be considered for the upcoming DailyHaiku contributor cycles.

The Haiku Foundation HaikuNow! Contests

2013-02-03T08:30:00.003-05:00

The Haiku Foundation has done a lot for haiku and haiku poets since its inception. Right now, it's sponsoring a three-category haiku contest with cash prizes and no entry fees.

The HaikuNow! Contests consist of three different haiku contests: one for traditional haiku, one for contemporary haiku, and one for innovative haiku. Each person can enter one haiku in each category, and each of the three category winners will receive $100. Honorable mentions will get $25 each.

The deadline for these contests is March 31st, and all submitted poems must be unpublished. Guidelines for each of the different categories are linked to from the contest page.

Deadlines

2013-01-20T07:58:00.000-05:00

If you were planning to submit haiku or other short poems to tinywords, today is the last day to do it until their next reading period opens up.

For anyone wanting to enter the 2013 Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar Competition, submissions must be postmarked (or emailed) by the end of the month.

Mu also closes to submissions on the 31st.

If you have haiku that you can't get in to Mu or tinywords in time, you can submit to Acorn through the end of February.

New cancer anthology call for submissions

2013-01-04T21:45:00.000-05:00

Rhonda Parrish, editor of Niteblade, is editing a new speculative anthology on the theme of cancer. Fiction and poetry can be submitted through June 30th. Payment for accepted submissions will be $10 plus a share of the book's royalties. You can read the full guidelines at RhondaParrish.com.

Upcoming deadlines

2012-12-28T21:05:00.000-05:00

It's almost 2013, and to start the year off with some good publishing opportunities, here are a couple of upcoming haiku deadlines:

- Mu, An International Haiku Journal, is open to submissions for its fifth issue until January 31st, 2013. There is no payment for accepted poems, other than the joy of publication. No simultaneous submissions or previously published poems.

- tinywords is open to submissions of short poems for its next issue (unthemed). Previously published poems will be considered, but simultaneous submissions won't. The submission deadline is January 20th, 2013. There is no payment for accepted poems.

- The North Carolina Poetry Society is sponsoring a bunch of poetry contests, including the Griffin-Farlow Haiku Award. There are three prizes -- $25, $15, and $10 -- and everyone can submit one entry. There is a $3 entry fee per poem if you're not an NCPS member. The deadline for submissions is January 12th, 2013. (Thanks to Haiku Reality for posting this contest notice.)

Free Kindle ebooks

2012-12-21T11:32:00.000-05:00

Below is a short list of some Kindle ebooks you can get for free. I haven't read any of these, so I can't recommend them, but they're all free, so if you download them and don't like them, you haven't lost anything but time.

- A Pumpkin's Life, by C.D. Reimer

This short poetry collection includes nine haiku and one poem about a pumpkin. From the writer's credits, it sounds like these haiku will all adhere to the 5-7-5 syllable count.

- Probably Maybe Perhaps, by Terry Martin

Terry Martin is the managing editor of Murky Depths. This short story collection is 287 pages of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and mystery. It's only free until midnight tonight, so if you want it, jump on it.

- Haiku: States of Mind, by S.K.

This ebook is described simply as a "Collection of Haiku." Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Good haiku deals

2012-12-16T16:06:00.000-05:00

Anyone in the market for a haiku book to add to their collection or give as a gift should check out these deals:

A copy of Haiku Moment: An Anthology of Contemporary North American Haiku can be purchased on eBay for just $4.30 (free shipping). The copy is used, in "acceptable" condition, but the price is a far cry from the $17.91 price for a new copy from Amazon or from Barnes & Noble. This auction ends in just a couple of hours, but there's another auction for a "good" copy of the same book that ends in 3 days, and that copy is going for $4.99 (also with free shipping).

A used "good" copy of Basho's On Love and Barley is for sale on eBay for $1.00 plus $3.99 shipping. This sale ends in about 4 days. If you haven't read this book, it's a great collection, well-translated.

Amazon currently has several used copies of Inch by Inch, a collection of 45 of Issa's haiku translated by Nanao Sakaki. This is a good book for a collector, and all of the poems in the book are handwritten. The copies vary in price, but a "good" copy sells for $3.99 and is eligible for free shipping, and a "very good" copy is listed at $0.01, plus $3.99 shipping.

2012 Dwarf Stars winners

2012-12-04T06:05:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Marge Simon, Greer Woodward, and G.O. Clark, the three winners (first place to third place, respectively) of the 2012 Dwarf Stars Awards! All three of the winning poems are included in the 2012 Dwarf Stars Anthology, along with the other nominated poems.

Sad news: Robert Bauer

2012-12-03T05:56:00.000-05:00

From The Heron's Nest:

We regret to inform our readers that Associate Editor Robert Bauer passed away this morning at home in Big Wheeling, West Virginia. Bob was a frequent contributing poet before joining the editorial staff of The Heron's Nest in 2010 as Web Editor. The haiku community will also remember him as co-secretary of the Shiki Monthly Kukai.

A favorite poem by Robert Bauer:

chill wind -

the heart of an oak

leaves the chimney

The Heron's Nest Volume VIII, Number 1

Bob will be mourned and deeply missed by a large and loving family and his many friends, including his friends at The Heron's Nest.

Sincerely,

John Stevenson

rush hour--
the blonde in the Porsche peels
an orange

- Robert Bauer, Honorable Mention, 2004 Gerald Brady Memorial Award

Great deals on haiku and horror for the holidays

2012-12-01T12:34:00.000-05:00

Whether you're shopping for yourself or for someone else, there are many great deals to be had on short poetry and speculative fiction this holiday season. Now is a good time to stock up on books that you might have had your eye on for a while but were too expensive.

Basho: The Complete Haiku is a much-heralded hardcover collection of haiku by one of the form's great masters, translated by Jane Reichhold. This book typically lists for about $25, but Amazon currently offers it for $16.47, and it's eligible for free shipping if you spend at least $25.

Two less traditional voices from the haiku world are Jack Kerouac and Richard Wright. Kerouac's Book of Haikus can be had on Amazon for $11.39, and Wright's Haiku is selling for $10.17. Both are paperback books, and both are eligible for Amazon's free shipping policy.

Fans of author Charles Gramlich can get signed copies of many of his books for cheaper than the normal purchase price during the holiday season. Books like Swords of Talera and Cold in the Light are being offered, signed by the author, for less than their standard retail price. Check out the list of available books on Gramlich's blog.

There are many other holiday deals to be had, and I'll post more as I come across them. I haven't read all of the books mentioned above, but I've read Book of Haikus and Cold in the Light, and I would highly recommend both of them.

Pennsylvania Poetry Society Contest

2012-11-01T14:31:00.003-04:00

Every year the Pennsylvania Poetry Society sponsors a poetry contest with many categories. This year's contest includes 17 different categories, each with a first and second prize. For the Grand Prize Award category, the prizes are $100 and $75; for all other categories, the prizes are $30 and $20.

The different categories are for poems of different styles, subject matters, and forms. Category #9 is the Haiku, Senryu, Tanka Award, and this is the only category that doesn't require poems to be titled. The contest's postmark deadline is January 15th, 2013, and entry fees for non-PPS members are $2 per poem.

Lilliput Review #186

2012-10-19T06:04:00.003-04:00

If you've never read Lilliput Review, issue #186 (Summer 2012) is a great issue to start with. Every issue of LR has great short poems, but this one seems like it's full of them. Haiku fans will enjoy finding poems by familiar names like George Swede, Ellen Compton, and Ayaz Daryl Nielson, and there are two very good haiku by Charles Gramlich and Ed Markowski. The issue ends with a somber (but good) poem by Noel Sloboda.

Single issues of LR can be obtained for just $1, and a 6-issue subscription is just $5. If you like short poetry, give Lilliput a try. More info can be found on the Lilliput Review website.

Book review: Ten Favorite Haiku for 2011, selected by Harvey Teres

2012-10-10T07:15:00.002-04:00

Ten Favorite Haiku for 2011 is a tiny booklet, 17 pages long and smaller than most people's hands. It consists of 10 poems that were gathered as part of the Syracuse Poster Project. These 10 were Professor Harvey Teres' favorite haiku from all the poems he screened.

All of the haiku in this booklet were written in the 5-7-5 format. That's not to necessarily say that none of them were good haiku, but this form is very limiting, and often prevents the poet from creating a true haiku moment. Too much focus is spent on syllable count and not enough on the poem itself.

There is one haiku in this booklet that stands out from the rest, written by Megan Reed (page 6). It shows the common pigeon from another perspective, and it's worth reading.

Some of the poems in this booklet stay so true to syllable count that it throws off the poem's flow, it's internal rhythm. The middle line of Bruce Smith's haiku on page 8 -- "Car drives by blastin' music" -- falls in this category, and it immediately draws you out of the poem.

The poems are presented nicely, one to a page with plenty of white space. At the end of the booklet you'll find some brief guidelines for writing haiku, as well as a couple of empty, lined pages for your own poems or notes. When the booklet is shipped, it even comes with a piece of heavy paper stuck between each of the covers, to prevent bleeding.

$3 is not a hefty investment, so if you think you may like this booklet, or if you just want to support local Syracuse poetry, you should buy a copy. The booklet ships right away and you'll get an email confirmation of your order. You can purchase a copy on the poster project's Shop page, and there is a $2.95 shipping fee.

But for true haiku fans I would recommend checking out one of the haiku chapbooks in the Modest Proposal series instead, especially either of the two Basho Haiku Challenge chapbooks or one of Gary Hotham's collections. Each of these chapbooks sells for the same $3 cover price, but they contain some excellent examples of haiku.

bottle rockets, The Syracuse Poster Project

2012-10-03T08:59:00.000-04:00

bottle rockets is a short-form poetry journal that's been around for a while. They used to be a paying market, then became non-paying, and are now a paying market again, offering "a token payment" for short poems (including haiku and tanka) submitted from within the United States and accompanied by an SASE. Submit 5-10 unpublished poems at a time by snail mail.

Poets in or around the Syracuse area may be interested in the Syracuse Poster Project, an effort to bring more poetry to the city through the use of 11" x 17" posters. They are seeking 5-7-5 haiku submissions, and there does not appear to be any payment. If you want to support the project, you can either submit poems, donate money, or buy a poster. Most of them appear to sell for $20.00 plus shipping. There are also two booklets of haiku, selling for $3.00 and $5.95.

While we're talking about haiku, there was a good one posted on DailyHaiku from September 29th by Margaret Chula. And Megan Arkenburg has a humorous senryu ("seventh inning") and an unexpectedly profound haiku ("bookstore awning") posted on the bottom of her "Previously Published" page, both of which deserve a read. (Both of those poems were from Riverbed Haiku.)

2 speculative fiction contests with cash prizes

2012-10-01T15:48:00.000-04:00

Every month, Darker Times Fiction hosts a horror short story competition. There is an $8 entry fee per story. The prize amount will depend on the number of entries, but will be a minimum of $24. The winning story, as well as the runners-up (and possibly some honorable mentions) will be published in an anthology. The contest deadline is the last day of each month, so for this month it's Halloween, Oct. 31st.

The C4WE (Center for Writing Excellence) hosts regular genre fiction contests. This month, the genre is fantasy. Stories must fall between 1500 and 2000 words. There is a $10 entry fee, but only 50 entries will be accepted, so at worst you have a 1 in 50 chance of winning. Three prizes will be awarded: $50, $25, and $15, plus publication. The deadline for the fantasy contest is November 1st.

Illinois State Poetry Society 19th Annual Poetry Contest (with haiku category)

2012-09-30T12:43:00.000-04:00

The Illinois State Poetry Society is open to entries for its 19th Annual Poetry Contest. There are several categories that you can enter -- most notably category #3, modern or traditional haiku. The $6 entry fee allows you to submit three poems, and additional poems can be entered for $1 each. Poems can not have been previously published or have won money in any other contest. Prizes consist of $50, $20, and $10. The postmark deadline is November 10th.

If you're in the mood for a good, short supernatural vengeance story, check out Lee Moan's "Guardian." And with autumn and Thanksgiving creeping up on us, here's a good pumpkin pie haiku by Deborah P. Kolodji.

2 horror contests closing soon

2012-09-29T09:34:00.002-04:00

Both of the contests listed below close to submissions Monday Oct. 1st. Both have fairly steep entry fees, but may be worth considering.

The 2012 "Scare The Dickens Out of Us" Short Story Contest is for unpublished ghost stories, 5000 words or fewer. There is a top prize of $1000, and two runner-up prizes of $500 and $250. These prizes help to make the entry fee of $20 a little more palatable.

The 2nd Annual Weird Words Short Horror Fiction Competition is sponsored by the horror magazine Fangoria, and the top three winning stories will be published in the magazine. Other chosen stories will be published on Fangoria's website. There is an entry fee of $10 per story, but all writers whose stories are published will receive some sort of compensation. Stories must be unpublished, 2500 words or less.

A haiku contest & a tanka contest

2012-09-26T06:04:00.004-04:00

Black Heart Magazine, "independent literature for people who rock," is holding a haiku contest designed for poems written about "black-hearted" topics. There is an entry fee of $5 per poem, and haiku should be written in 5-7-5 format. The guidelines don't specify whether or not poems need to be unpublished. The prize for the winner is $100, and entries may also be published, either online or collected in a book. The submission deadline is September 30th.

Tanka writers might be interested in submitting to the 4th Kokako Tanka Competition, open now through October 31st. (Thanks to HaikuOz for mentioning this one.) The entry fee is either NZ$2 or US$1 per tanka, and two copies of each poem entered must be submitted by mail. Only unpublished poems not being submitted anywhere else are eligible. First prize is NZ$200, and the second- and third-place winners will each receive NZ$50.