Haiku Now!

The Haiku Foundation is hosting its first national haiku contest, called the Haiku Now! Contest. The contest is for haiku in three different categories: traditional, contemporary, and innovative. There is no fee for entry, but each poet can only enter 1 poem in each category, and all poems must be unpublished. First prize in each category will be awarded $100, and honorable mentions will get $25. Billy Collins will be judging the traditional category, and Jim Kacian is judging the other two. Deadline is March 31st.

If you want to get inspired to write some haiku for the contest, start by reading some good poems. The 2009 Red Moon Anthology, where the wind turns, can be ordered from the Red Moon Press website. I haven't ordered my copy yet, but Deborah P. Kolodji wrote a brief write-up of the anthology and it sounds good.

New Red Moon Press Haiku Anthology

The 2009 Red Moon Press haiku anthology, where the wind turns, is now on sale. For only $17.00 you get 161 of the best English-language haiku from the past year, plus critical essays and linked poems.

In the spirit of good haiku, here are two poems, one by Nelle Stevenson and one by Kristin Riggs.

a flash fiction market and an anthology

Flash Scribe is a micro-fiction site looking for short stories 1-1000 words long. Payment is only $1 or $2 (depending on the length of the story -- shorter stories are paid $2) but it looks like a pretty cool site. Simultaneous submissions are okay, and they prefer unpublished stories but will look at reprints.

Read Raw Press is looking for stories for their horror anthology Raw Terror. Editor Ian Hunter wants "scary, horrible, terrifying stories," which makes it sound like a pretty damn cool anthology to me. Payment for accepted stories is £10 plus a contributor's copy. No reprints, but simsubs are okay. Deadline is February 28th, and they aim to respond by the end of March.

If you're looking for a good read, check out the new issue of Black Ink Horror. Other than yours truly, BIH #5 includes stories and poems by Lawrence Dagstine, Kristine Ong Muslim, and Aurelio Rico Lopez III. They're only selling 110 copies, so order soon.

Also available for purchase online is the 2008 Red Moon Anthology, white lies. Collected in this book are 132 of the best haiku published in 2008 (and one of mine). You really can't go wrong with a Red Moon Anthology.

Keep an eye out... Ballista, the dark/macabre magazine spewed upon the world from the U.K., should be reopening to subs at the end of February.

Good news, three poems

Just had to share some good news. I got an email from Jim Kacian the other day, saying that one of my haiku from the first issue of Frogpond this year was selected for the 2008 Red Moon Anthology. I had to read the email three times before I believed it. I always thought the Red Moon Anthologies were something to aspire to, not something any of my haiku would actually appear in. Who knew?

Not sure when the anthology comes out, but if you want to buy a copy (and help support a great purveyor of haiku) it will be available from the Red Moon Press website. And you can bet I'll let you know when it goes on sale.

It's been a good couple months. Some of my haiku have also been accepted by Lilliput Review, Sport Literate, and Cold Mountain Review, and a few of my horror poems will be putting in an appearance in upcoming issues of Talebones, Scifaikuest, and Necrography.

To finish up this post, here are two scifaiku by Tim Jamieson, from the Abyss & Apex archives, and Victoria Clayton Munn's poem "Zombie!" from the current issue of Niteblade.