1 November 2023
This is the third month in a row where I’ve said that additions to Graceguts have been a little low in volume, but my October additions are the fewest yet. Maybe that’s because I just directed Haiku Northwest’s 16th annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway at the end of October 2023. Okay, I’m going with that. But here are some October additions to Graceguts that I’ve managed anyway:
I’ve updated my Appearances page with several events, such as the 9 November VCBF Haiku Invitational Zoom reading, and my 11 November presentation on Mary Oliver at Folio Seattle. I’ve also linked to a guest blog post about Seabeck that I wrote for Judy Kleinberg’s “Poetry Department” blog (I need to add the blog post itself to Graceguts too). I’m starting to list a few 2024 events too!
On the “Haiku Invitational” page on the Digressions page, newly added is the list of winners for the 2023 contest, plus a link to the six interviews I did with the winners—these are always a pleasure to do. Also on Digressions, the “First Frost” page now includes an image of issue #6, which I coedited. Nice to get a new issue out.
On “Countin’ Up the Hits,” available through the Poems page, I’ve unfortunately had to add info on another mass shooting, and also added a Horsey political cartoon.
The Bashō section of the Poems About Haiku page now features “Days of 1975” by Edward Hirsch.
I’ve added new postscripts to the following three essays: “The Practical Poet: Tracking Your Haiku Submissions” (about my workflow), “Points of Growth: Learning Haiku Truth from Louise Glück” (on “the perceiving eye/I”), and “Home for Christmas” (a very brief comment by Randy Brooks). As always, whenever I add new postscripts, I document them on the Postscripts page.
Two other tasks I’ve recently completed have been to judge the 2023 Morioka Haiku Contest (nearly a thousand entries), with results announced 12 November 2023 in Japan, and to serve as the 2024 guest haiku selector for Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine. I plan on sharing the Morioka contest selections and commentary later. My selections for Pulse will trickle out every two weeks throughout 2024. Meanwhile, here’s to a productive month ahead, for you and for me.