Poet Profile

Carmen Sterba

Carmen Sterba was born in Seattle, Washington, and lived in Japan for 31 years. She is an editor for haijinx, a haiku columnist for Essences on Troutswirl (The Haiku Foundation blog), and for the North American Post. In the Haiku Society of America, she has been both Secretary (2005-2006) and First Vice President (2009).

Awards and Other Honors: Featured in A New Resonance 4: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2005); First Place, World Haiku Club Shiki Contest (2001); First Place, World Haiku Club Haibun Contest (2002); Honorable Mention, Mainichi Shimbun Haiku Contest International Section (2002); Winner and Runners-up, The Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar Competition (2003); Honorable Mention, The Heron’s Nest Reader’s Choice Award (2004); Honorable Mention, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (2007); Second Place, Moonset Haiku Contest (2009).

Books Published: sunlit jar (Wim Lofvers’ Private Press: Netherlands, 2002, 2003, 2005).

one mallard
drifts on the satin lake
my mind smooths out

invasive species—
the trail guide prods
each plant with his foot

the Quakers’ silence
spills out a wide-open door
—autumn woods

summer noon
a cloud shadow drifts
down the path

single living
I allow the teakettle
a full whistle

end of summer
the soft touchdown
of a seaplane

Credits: "one mallard" - The Heron’s Nest VI:2 (2004); A New Resonance 4: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2005); "the Quakers’ silence" - Modern Haiku 35:1 (2004); A New Resonance 4: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2005); "single living" - The Heron’s Nest V:3 (2003); A New Resonance 4: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2005); "invasive species" - Modern Haiku 38:3 (2007); "summer noon" - Acorn 17 (2006); "end of summer" - Frogpond XXIX:3 (2006).