Tomislav “Tom“ Maretić is a physician specialist for infectious diseases, who worked in University Hospital for Infectious Diseases “Dr. Fran Mihaljević“ in Zagreb for almost 40 years. He is semi-retired as an MD but still works part-time in Čakovec, a city in north Croatia. He has been writing haiku for over 40 years and has received over 100 Merit Awards, Honorable Mentions, and Commendations, mostly abroad, and has been included in more than 60 almanacs and anthologies as well as many periodicals on line and in print. In addition to haiku and other Far Eastern poetic forms, he writes free verse and is a member of the Croatian Writers' Association. He has been recognised among the top 100 most active and creative European haiku poets (as chosen by Polish poet Krzysztof Kokot) every year since its beginning, 2011 through 2022. In 2021, Tom, Michael Dudley, and Dejan Pavlinović were honoured – as co-writers of NEXUS haiku – with the "Borivoj Bukva Award" from the Croatian Literary Society, for the best collection of haiku published that year in Croatia. Tom regularly plays guitar in an amateur jazz swing band and also enjoys cultivating tomatoes in the village near Zagreb where he lives with his family.
Awards and Other Honors:
First place - Haiku Contest of Azami haiku magazine Tokyo, 1998; Award for the best haiku on „16th Samobor Haiku Meeting", 2008; Grand Prix, 2nd Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award 2012; Shiki Monthly Kukai, 2013 and 2015; The best haiku of the entire contest this year in "Lanterna Magazine", 2021; Croatia; First Prize – Contest for haiku in Croatian kajkavian dialect for adults, IRIS International Haiku Magazine Vol 16. 2022. Second place - The First Yugoslavian haiku contest, Vršac 1989; The 8th Haiku Meeting "Dubravko Ivančan" Krapina, 2006; Basho Haiku Festival, Iga City, Japan, 2013; Caribbean Kigo Kukai, 22. August 2016; „The Pumpkin“ – Croatian language, IRIS International Haiku Magazine; The Haiku Foundation Blog Monthly Kukai — May 2020. Third place - International Kusamakura Haiku Competition, Kumamoto, Japan, 2000; "Towards the Sun", a competition organized by the Croatian Olympic Committee and the Croatian Writers' Association, 2021. Honorable Mentions - ITO EN Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest, Japan, 1991 and 1996; 15th International contest Honolulu, Hawaii 1992, 1999; Simply Haiku: Winter Kukai, 2004; 2009; Romanian Haiku Contest, 2007; World Haiku Review, Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2009, Neo Classical Haiku; 14th The Mainichi Haiku Contest, 2010; Carribean Kigo Kukai, May, 2010; Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, 2011; The 19th Mainichi Haiku Contest, 2015; The 20th Mainichi Haiku Contest 2016; Caribbean Kigo Kukai #22, August 2016; 6th Japan-Russia Haiku Contest (English Section), 2017; 2nd Basho-an International English Haiku Competition, Basho Museum, Tokyo 2020; Romanian Haiku Contest, Constanta, 2020. Merit Awards - Sakura Award Haiku Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, 2006 and 2008; 6th Matsuyama International Haiku Contest - Excellent haiku Award, 2017; ITO EN Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest, Japan 2001, 2016; The 6th Mainichi Haiku Contest Japan, 2002; World Haiku Review Vol. 6 Issue 3 - May 2008, WHC Showcase Tokusen poems of special merit; Fifth Annual Suruga Baika Literary Festival, Japan, 2017; World Haiku Review, August 2017 and March 2018. Commendations - Highly Commendable, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival,2006; Runner-up - Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award, Osaka, Japan, 2011 and 2014; Honorable Mention, Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards (2018); 10th Yamadera Basho Haiku Contest – selected poems /2 haiku (2018); The Mainichi, Annual Selection (2018); The Golden Triangle haiku contest 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.
Books Published:
Books: Naplavine - free style poetry; Felsina & T. Maretić, Zagreb, 2002; Mutne svjetiljke, Studio moderna, Zagreb i N. Đuretić, 2021; Leptir nad pučinom (Butterfly over the Open Sea) - haiku; Hrvatsko katoličko liječničko društvo, Zagreb, 2011; Šešir pun uspomena - haiku, Biblioteka „Posebna izdanja“, Knjiga 5, Vlastita naklada Đuretić, Zagreb 2012; Nebo u rukavcima (Sky in the Creeks) Biblioteka „Posebna izdanja“, Knjiga 5, Vlastita naklada Đuretić, Zagreb, 2014; NEXUS haiku, Michael Dudley, Tomislav Maretić, Dejan Pavlinović, the bilingual collection (Croatian & English), Press: Grafomark, Zagreb, 2021. Work anthologised: Nouvelles Visions de Guerre, 55 haikus de poetes croates, Patrick Blanche, Vois d'Encre, Montelimar, France (1993); Duizend Kolibries / Haikoe van Hier en Elders – Bart Mesotten, Netherlands (1993); Wind Five Folded, an anthology of English language tanka, compiled and edited by Jane Reichhold and Werner Reichhold (1994); Antologija hrvatskog haiku pjesništva, Vladimir Devidé, naklada P.I.P. Pavičić, Zagreb (1996); Four Seasons, an anthology of haiku poetry by season words, Koko Kato (1996); Timepieces, Haiku Week At-A Glance, Los Angeles, CA, USA, David Priebe and James Hackett (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996); Haiku World: an international poetry almanac, William J. Higginson, New York, London, Tokyo (1996); Knots: The Anthology of Southeastern European Haiku Poetry, ed. Jim Kacian and Dimitar Anakiev, Red Moon, UK (2002); Zen Poems, Manu Bazzano, MQ Publication Ltd., London (2002); Haiku, 10th memorial edition, Meguro International Haiku Circle, Tokyo, Japan (2004); World Haiku No. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,18 edited by Ban'ya Natsuishi, World Haiku Association, Cyberwit.net (2007-2022); An Unmown Sky (1), 1996 – 2007. An anthology of Croatian Haiku Poetry, Đurđa Vukelić Rožić, Ivanić-Grad (2007); Seed packets, an anthology of flower haiku, ed. By Stanford M. Forrester, bottle rockets press, Windsor, Connecticut (2010); The Scaldy Detail, an anthology of New Writing from County Wexford, ed. Eamonn Wall (2011); The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language, Red Moon Press, edited by Jim Kacian & the Red Moon Editorial Staff, Winchester VA, USA: nothing in the window (2012); fear of dancing (2013), big data (2014); Animal Rights Haiku Anthology, ed. by Robert Epstein, Middle Island Press (2016); Festival igračaka: Igračke (Toys), post-competition collection, Udruga "Tri rijeke" HPOI, Ivanić-Grad (2017); Beyond the Fields, a trilingual anthology (Punjabi, Hindi, English), edited by Sandip Chauhan, Ludhiana; Great Falls, VA, USA (2017); An Unmown Sky (2), 2008 – 2018. An anthology of Croatian Haiku Poetry, Đurđa Vukelić Rožić, Ivanić-Grad (2018); Haiku published in 29 issues of Samobor Haiku Meetings (1993 – 2022); 25-anniversary, Meguro International Haiku Circle, Tokyo, Japan; Turning the Page to Old: Haiku & Senryu by Robert Epstein, The Red Salon (May 28, 2019); The Signature Haiku Anthology: Including Senryu and Tanka by Robert Epstein (Author) Middle Island Press (May 2, 2020); Haiku Enlightenment New Expanded Edition by Gabriel Rosenstock (Author), Poetry Chaikhana (December 7, 2019); Sucking Mangoes Naked. Erotic Haiku and Related Forms – Haiga, Senryu, and Tanka - gathered by Gary Blankenship and Tad Wojnicki, edited by Tad Wojnicki Hsinchu City, Taiwan Los Angeles, California; Last Train Home: an anthology of contemporary haiku, tanka, and rengay by Jacquie Pearce et al., Pondhawk Press February 26, 2021; The Awakened One: Buddha-Themed Haiku from Around the World by Gabriel Rosenstock (Author), Adjei Agyei-Baah (Author), Poetry Chaikhana (August 20, 2021).
Selected Work
winter solstice―
the forest's empty treetops
filled with stars
city bus stop . . .
a boy squats in the shadow
of his pregnant mother
a short time
for love ― my car strewn
with cherry petals
oh, snail, at my age
we should reach the hilltop
together
a falling star . . .
just when I decided
to give up
full moon―
the long sunflowers’ shadows
across the field
Credits:
“winter solstice” – The Heron's Nest Vol. 17, No. 3, Sept. 2015; “city bus stop” – The Heron's Nest Vol. 10, No. 4, Dec. 2008; “a short time” – Cherry Blossom Festival, Vancouver 2010; honorable mention; “oh, snail” – Shiki Monthly Kukai April 2014, 2nd place); “a falling star” and “full moon” - The 19th International Mainichi haiku contest 2015, honorable mention.
