Sad news from Australia - Jan Bostok, patron of Haiku OZ, passed away on September 4. She had been in hospital for some time with complications from diabetes.
To read more, go to Haiku NewZ
http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/haikunews/haikuhappenings
Jan was an amazing woman and a gifted poet who did much to generate interest in haiku and its related forms in both Australia and New Zealand.
Jan was a good friend of mine, so this is a big shock despite knowing she had been in hospital for some time.
Her sense of humour stayed with her inbetween times of her latest set backs, and I will be forever grateful.
It feels horrible being on the other side of Australia in Perth, while visiting my birth mum for the first time. Jan was a friend, and a haiku mum too.
I urge everyone to read her work on the internet, and where possible, purchase one of her collections.
all my very best,
Alan
I love Jan's poems--all so evocative and heartfelt. She will be missed. One of my favorites (among so many others):
in and out of fog
the yellow line of highway
runs with the train
. . and in between the highway to heaven and the golden train is Jan ascending
RIP
Al
She served on the panel for the inaugural Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems, one of her many contributions to the haiku genre. As Chair of the THF Awards Committee, I had the good fortune to work with her, and she never allowed her failing health to dampen her intelligence and grace. I'm sure that will come as no surprise to those who knew her better than I did.
With respect and gratitude,
Mark
What a sad peice of news.
I first came across Janice's work in Bill Higginson and Penny Harter's Haiku Handbook and was instantly compelled to search out other poems by Janice. May she rest in peace and her poetry be long remembered.
warmest,
John
After reading the sad news that Jan Bostok had passed away, I sat down and reflected on the strange but true story of how we almost, but didn't meet back in the early 60s. The memories came flooding in: Jan's memories, my memories, the stories we swapped and the gaps we filled in by combining those stories.
It was wonderful to finally meet Jan in person at the 4th Pacific Rim Haiku Conference,2009, in Terrigal. We'd missed crossing paths by barely a whisker, in younger years, in a very isolated community where everyone knew everyone. We shared many memories, nevertheless... a bush town, its people, a winding road that followed the old bullock trails, a river that flows into an estuary. By coincidence I'd stumbled onto the haiku path that Jan had been the pioneering spirit of in Australia for decades and as haiku editor for Stylus, Jan had encouraged me to continue.
My first contact with Jan was a time for remembering. Again, on hearing of her passing, it's a time for remembering and for being thankful that life did somehow arrange that we would eventually meet.
incoming tide
ripples
the width of the river
(by Janice M. Bostok, from 'Amongst the Graffiti', Post Pressed, 2003)
- Lorin Ford
ps there are some messages on HaikuOz as well, and more expected over the next several days:
http://www.haikuoz.org/
I echo the sadness and deep respect being expressed by the haiku community here and elsewhere on the web regarding our loss of Jan Bostok. It was neat to see her poem on the Foundation's home page this morning.
A memorial page has now been created for her in the Haiku Registry to honor her memory and her many gifts to all of us.
http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/poet-details/?IDclient=869 (http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/poet-details/?IDclient=869)
With respect,
Billie
Such a beautiful person. I'm really honoured to have met her at the Katikati Haiku Pathway Official Opening, and wish we lived just yards away from each other. I know my life would have been enriched.
Alan
Quote from: Billie Wilson on September 22, 2011, 11:22:45 AM
I echo the sadness and deep respect being expressed by the haiku community here and elsewhere on the web regarding our loss of Jan Bostok. It was neat to see her poem on the Foundation's home page this morning.
A memorial page has now been created for her in the Haiku Registry to honor her memory and her many gifts to all of us.
http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/poet-details/?IDclient=869 (http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/poet-details/?IDclient=869)
With respect,
Billie
Hi Billie,
It's good to see the memorial page here at THF.
I'm not sure who to contact, but on the memorial page:
"...The Sidney Morning Herald (September 14, 2011)..."
should be corrected to 'The Sydney Morning Herald'.
There will be a memorial for Jan in the first issue of 'A Hundred Gourds' in December, as well. I have the copyright holder (Jan's daughter) Vicki's permission to use content from Jan's website and elsewhere and Sharon Dean's permission to use various of her material as well.
- Lorin