Aleksandar Nejgebauer - Haiku Club
Anthology Haiku Competition "AN5 - 2002"
For the fifth international haiku competition “AN5
- 2002” announced in April 2002 by the Yugoslavia-Japan Friendship
Society, the Novi Sad University Section and the “Aleksandar Nejgebauer”
Haiku Club, 114 authors sent their works, 88 of them from Yugoslavia and
26 from other countries (SAD 6, Romania 6, Australia 3, Croatia 3, India
2, Japan 1, New Zealand 1, GB 1, Hong Kong 1, Scotland 1, Macedonia 1).
In the category “Haiku in Serbian” 87 participants entered their
works, in the category “Haiku in English” 53 participants and
in the category “Haibun in Serbian” 29 participants. One of
the authors entered a haibun in English outside the competition.
Prof. dr Vladislava Felbabov has translated the awarded poems in the category "Haiku in Serbian" and various other texts into English. She has translated from English into Serbian the poems awarded in the category "Haiku in English". She has also edited some of the haiku poems sent for the competition in English, by those participants from countries where English is not the native language.
Anthology haiku competition "AN5 - 2002" will be edited in April 2003.
Here are the reports from the judges: Dragan J. Risti}, Prof. Vladislava Felbabov and Nevena Simin.
Nebojša Simin
in Serbian
in English
HAIKU IN SERBIAN
Judge: Dragan J. Ristic (Nis, Yu)
1st Prize:
(Rosana Dvorzak, Stapar, Yugoslavia)
Zamirisala
mlada zova kraj crkve.
Idu svatovi.
Fragrant elder bushes
by the church.
Wedding parties.
2nd Prize:
(Svetlana Bjelica, Belgrade, Yugoslavia)
Na stazi
zmija u prolazu --
stojim i cekam.
On the path
a snake in passage --
I stand and wait.
3rd Prize
equally devided between two poets:
(Rajna Begovic, Belgrade, Yugoslavia)
Sitni koraci
pozuruju krupne.
Prvi skolski dan.
Small steps
hurrying long ones on.
First day of school.
and
(Svetomir Djurbabic, Nis, Yugoslavia):
u nocnoj tisini
otegnut pisak voza --
neka stara tuga
The quiet of the night
a train's long whistle
some old sorrow
1st Prize:
(Bojana Djordjevic, Smederevo, Yugoslavia)
brzi voz
projuri kroz bulke -
pdnese latice
An express train
speeds through poppies -
scattering petals
2nd Prize:
(Ana Brajkovic, Uzice, Yugoslavia)
Stazom kroz trnje
stizem pod stari orah --
veverica pre
Along a thorny path
I reach the old walnut --
the squirrel is quicker
3rd Prize:
(Janja Raonic, Pljevlja, Yugoslavia)
Uvelo lisce.
Iz stijene izrasla
bijela crkva.
Autumn leaves.
Sprung from a cliff
a white church.
Judge: Prof. dr Vladislava Felbbabov (Novi Sad, Yu)
The Haiku Competition 2001 for poems in English organized by the Aleksandar Nejgebauer Haiku Club has received a large number of contributions from haidjin from all over the world. A total of more than 200 hundred haiku poems were entered by 53 participants from 11 countries: Romania 6, USA 6, Croatia 3, Australia 2, India 2, New Zealand 1, Japan 1, GB 1, Hong Kong 1, Scotland 1, while the largest number of participants were from Yugoslavia. These numbers reveal that the internet presentation of the Novi Sad Competition and its renown have spread even to countries on the other side of the globe. The number of haiku poems entered bespeaks the fact that in the large number of very good and excellent poems, which it was a pleasure and joy to read, it was also very difficult to select the several best ones. Yet, this is expected of me as a judge, this year, like the previous ones, so I suggest that the following poems should be awarded, specially commended and commended:
1st Prize
For 1st prize I would suggest the poem
(Jamie Edgecombe, Japan)
Cigarette’s red flash
lighting up her face,
getting dark quickly
2nd Prize
I suggest that the 2nd Prize should be jointly awarded to the poems
(Kathy Lippard Cobb, USA)
News of his death —
I pluck a rotten tomato
from the vine
and
(Ross Figgins, USA)
Between hunched wings
a wet parrot watches the rain —
without comment
3rd Prize
For the 3rd prize I would suggest the poem:
(Angelee Deodhar, India)
Through the trees
a bevy of girls
— Tibetan prayer flags
Special Commendation
Of the poems which, during the selection process, entered the most narrow circles, I would suggest for special commendation:
(Zinovy Vayman, USA)
New Year morning
a crow gulps
loose snow
and
(Iulian Damacus, Romania)
Having no milk
the little boy is learning
the art of tea
and
(Radivoje Rale Damjanovic, Yugoslavia)
The moon — in the garden
the dwarfs fallen asleep.
Snow white, where are you?
and
(Philip D. Noble, Scotland)
Front grass
almost the map of Italy
in melting snow
and
(Rick Klaus Theis, USA)
Poison air propels
plastic bag down concrete streets —
urban tumbleweed
Commendation
I would suggest for commendation the following poems in which traditional images and motifs have been combined in an inventive way:
(Bogoljub T. Mihajlovic, Yugoslavia)
On a dried branch
the orange moon
has moved into its nest
and
(Kirsty Karkov, USA)
twilight at sea
homebound trawlers tow
long shadows
and
(Marian Hussenbux, GB)
a thyme flower droops
under the bee
noon chimes
and
(Ljubinka Tosic, Yugoslavia)
Around the house
dog’s barking drives away
the thick fog
and
(Verica Zivkovic, Yugoslavia)
A cat bolts across
a field of dandelion down:
stalks left nude, shivering.
Commendation for Children's Haiku
As in the case of previous competitions I would like to single out for commendation poem submitted by a boy 13 years old. His masterful haiku
(Filip Stojanovski, Yugoslavia)
Near the road
an old man offers us grapes
and a black puppy dog
show the talents coming onto the haiku poetry scene.
Linked haiku
I also have to make special mention of linked haiku poems:
(Tomislav Andrejic Senjanin, Yugoslavia: died in October 9, 2002)
A nightingale’s nest
in the crown of a white birch
— full of chirping
Innumerable fans
making me cooler, cooler
in a birchtree temple
In a stormy night
a shivering birch tree
lit up by lightning
HAIBUN IN SERBIAN
Judge: Nevena Simin (Novi Sad, Yu)
1st Prize:
(Micun Siljak, Pljevlja, Yugoslavia)
"The Dam on the Piva" - "Brana na Pivi"
2nd Prize,
equally devided between two haibuns:
(Ljiljana Djuricic, Belgrade, Yugoslavia)
"Stray Dogs" - "Psi lutalice"
and
(Dejan Bogojevic, Rajkovic, Yugoslavia)
"Sunrise in That Village" - "Izlazak sunca u tom selu"
3rd Prize:
(Zorica Pavlovic, Uzice, Yugoslavia)
"On the Station Platform" - "Na peronu"
Haibun outside the competition
(Liz Fenn, USA)
"To Mow or not to Mow, that is the Question" -
"Kositi ili ne kositi, pitanje je sad"