Haiku Maven: Haiku Poet Wants In
Dear Haiku Maven, I often hear about haiku contests after the deadline has passed. I find out about calls for submissions once the new journal or anthology is published. I don’t know why but I feel when it comes to these things I am on the outside looking in. I feel as if haiku poets are not willing to share what they know about important contests and journals with me. It’s a little like being back in school, only now it is the popular haiku poets who won’t open the gates and let me in.
Signed, Haiku Outsider
Dear Haiku Outsider, Haiku Maven does not believe that you are being deliberately excluded from hearing about these new anthology calls for submissions or contest deadlines. Many times a local haiku group will post notices of these events to its members. There are also online resources which provide regular updates about new contests and calls for submissions. Other times the burden is on the haiku poet to learn about these upcoming events. The Haiku Foundation has its own excellent resource on contests and other events in two separate calendar listings which can be found at Event Calendars. The first is all-encompassing and is a “Calendar of Conference Dates, Contest Entry, Publication Submittal, and Other Deadlines,” while the second is limited to a “Calendar of Contest Entry Deadlines.” Some haiku poets are happy to share information about new contests, upcoming journal deadlines and calls for new anthology submissions. Others do not share this information, whether from a desire to keep down the number of competing submissions or because it does not occur to them to pass along the news to other poets. Haiku Maven suggests that you follow the concept of “pay it forward” by letting other poets know about any contest deadlines or anthology submissions that come your way. Eventually you will be on the receiving end from others who do the same.
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The Haiku Maven posts each Friday to The Haiku Foundation blog. Haiku Maven offers advice about awkward situations involving haiku poets. The word maven comes from the Yiddish meyvn, meaning “one who understands.” Please use our Contact page to send a question. Haiku Maven will select a pseudonym for you based on your question. Click this link to see the Haiku Maven archive. Feel free to leave comments.
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Hello …
You can find the THF haiku contest index here: https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/event_calendars/ There are probably more contests happening out there in haikuland than this, but it’s a great start!
Lorin nails it with her perspective and comment, “No need to feel left out or to be dependent on any in-group for information. You just need to check around a bit when you have haiku written that you’d like to send somewhere new or special.”
Enjoy and good luck!
Don
Hello Outsider,
Come on along to Haiku NewZ, http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/haikunews, where we have a monthly newsletter, listings of current competitions, journals, a monthly article on haiku or a related topic, a repository of useful websites, etc.
Look forward to seeing you there,
Sandra Simpson
Haiku NewZ editor
Dear Outsider,
While no doubt there are poets who know each other well and share information, I’d say that most of us are in your position. I’d never thought of it in terms of feeling left out, though. Certainly the journals and the competitions try to reach as widely as they can with their notices and want you to know about submission/entry dates.
THF has an excellent resource for us all in the ‘Events Calendar’. Also, many journals place notices on poetry society websites such as the HSA, HaikuOz, Haiku NewZ, as well as lists and forums such as THF Forums, and new competitions often are advertised there, too (see THF Forum: Haiku News, subheaders ‘Contests and Awards’ and ‘Journal Announcements’)
No need to feel left out or to be dependent on any in-group for information. You just need to check around a bit when you have haiku written that you’d like to send somewhere new or special.
– Lorin