Poet Profile

Zdenko Oreč

A retired teacher, Zdenko Oreč publishes aphorisms and haiku. He founded the annual Ludbreg haiku meetings and edited the joint collections published on this occasion in 1998-2009. In 2007, he received the Ludbreg Column of Haiku Poets, a yearly travelling recognition since 2003. He is a member of the jury at the haiku contest in English, the Haiku Calendar/Rokovnik, Ludbreg.

Awards and Other Honors: Zbornik Haiku Konkurs 'AN4-2001'/Anthology Haiku competition 'AN4-2001'; Encouragement Award, Ito-En, International Haiku Contest (1997); Second Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (1998); Second Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (1999); Marijan Čekolj i Marinko Španović: Otvoren put /Free Road: Antologija hrvatske haiku poezije [Croatian Haiku anthology] (Hrvatsko haiku društvo: Samobor, 1999); 100 Croatian Haiku [An anthology for the Haiku Cards Game] (DHHP, Zagreb 2000); Very good haiku, A-Bomb Memorial Day Haiku Meeting (2001); Third Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (2003); Second Prize, Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Contest, Croatian language category (2004); Commendation, Pumpkin Festival Haiku Contest (Ivanić-Grad, Croatia, 2015).

Books Published: BiH ili ne BiH & svakome svoje [aphorisms] (self published, Ludbreg, 1994); Rijeke šume (The Murmuring Rivers) [haiku in Croatian] (self published, Ludbreg, 1996); Biseri iz školskih zadaćnica i srebrnjaci [aphorisms and humorous sketches] (Gavran, Ludbreg, 1997); Školjka u pijesku (A shell in the Sand) [haiku in Croatian] (self published, Zagreb, 1998); Plodovi nesanice 1991, a war diary [haiku, senryu, aphorisms, humorous sketches] (Gavran, Ludbreg, 1999); Neprolazni susreti / Unpassable Encounters [haiku in Croatian and English] (self published, Ludbreg, 1999); Olovka i kist / Pencil and Paintbrush [haigas painted by Rudi Stopar (Slovenia); haiku by Zdravko Kurnik, Zvonko Petrovic, Julija Ivic, Dusko Matas, Boris Nazansky, Zdenko Orec, and Rudi Stopar; in Croatian, Slovenian, English and Japanese] (Zagreb, 2010).

Sunflower seeds
falling into
their own shadows.

With TV serials
they are rinsing our memories
of the dirty war.

A silent kindergarten
ray of the moon slides
down the toboggan

A spider
connects trophies
in the hunting home

A delivery van
working in the snow -
the smell of bread.

Into the cabbage tub
she puts slices of quince -
fragrant ducats.

Credits: "Sunflower seeds" - Marijan Čekolj i Marinko Španović: Otvoren put / Free Road: Antologija hrvatske haiku poezije [Croatian Haiku anthology] (Hrvatsko haiku društvo: Samobor, 1999); "A silent kindergarten" - Haiku-zbornik Ludbreg / Miscellany of Ludbreg Haiku Meeting (2007); "A delivery van" - Second Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (1999); "With TV serials" - Very good haiku, A-Bomb Memorial Day Haiku Meeting (2001); "A spider" - Third Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (2003); "Into the cabbage tub" - 100 Croatian Haiku [An anthology for the Haiku Cards Game] (DHHP: Zagreb, 2000).