Haiku Society of America Haibun Renku Awards for 2011

Haiku Society of America Renku Awards
in Memorial of Bernard Lionel Einbond

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HSA Renku Awards for 2011

Merrill Ann Gonzales and Paul Miller
judges

Grand Prize

Twelfth Night

Diana Webb, Leatherhead, England
Frank Williams, London, England

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Twelfth Night
(a nijuin renku)

twelfth night
glitter returned
to the frosted trees

Diana

from the torn refuse bag
remains of a goose

Frank

nursery rhyme tunes
again and again
weave through his work

Diana

ringing through the pub
‘one hundred and eighty’

Frank

full moon circle dance
half the way round
and then the other

Diana

clusters of toadstools
line the low bank

Frank

halloween,
phantom boats
glide down the stream

Diana

in the chamber of horrors
you propose we live in sin

Frank

a bridal gown
from the charity shop
you’re joking

Diana

for uncle’s birthday
an exploding cigar

Frank

dad and the kids
spend the afternoon
combing the beach

Frank

moon viewing obscured
by a sudden storm

Diana

an unknown noise
sends a rabbit dashing
across the meadow

Frank

who owns a stopwatch
for the race against time?

Diana

your name
on the gravestone
now worn away

Frank

christening mugs
along the mantelpiece

Diana

her brand new
designer umbrella
patterned with drops

Diana

frog spawn covers
our little pond

Frank

white gleam
among the wood chips
cherry petal

Diana

the dawn chorus
starts whilst dreaming

Frank

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The Haiku Society of America sposors this annual award for renku of 36, 20, or 12 stanzas.

See the contest guidelines for the HSA Renku Awards.

For more information about the goals of this contest, download a copy of the HSA Renku Contest Committee Report (pdf) published in Frogpod XIII:2 (May 1990).

Awards by year:

| 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |

 

xxxx judges commentary:

Grand Prize - Twelfth Night

Judging renku is different from judging other kinds of poetry. The judges must take into consideration not only the poetic value of each link, but also, and often more importantly, how the members of the group interact with each other across links, in addition to how they do or don’t (usually with good reason) follow the format’s many traditions and rules.

This year’s submissions were interesting and exciting in all those ways, and included both traditional and contemporary formats that included many delightful links. We would like to thank all the participants for the opportunity to read their work.

While the winning renku is a fairly traditional Nijuin, that was not the reason we chose it. We felt a strong, playful rapport between the poets, started nicely in the hokku and wakiku, and then carried throughout the remainder of the verses. There were a good variety of voices and tones, some nice seasonal runs, and a pleasant expanse of topics. After careful examination and discussion of all the submissions we have decided to award the First Prize to "Twelfth Night" by Frank Williams and Diana Webb. Our congratulations to the winners!

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