Monday, December 24, 2012

My poetic year 2012

Michael Dylan Welch asked on NaHaiWriMo, how was your poetic year? Until then, I had not given any thought to taking stock of my year "poetically" and initially I was a little reluctant to look back, almost sure that there was nothing much to look back upon, but taking a tentative peek, I found it was not that bad, after all!

 The year started very well with my participation in A River of Stones, January mindful writing.It was a rewarding month-long experience and subsequently I had one poem included in the collection A Blackbird Sings by Fiona Robyn and Kaspalita. Maybe I could have had more included, had i submitted more poems instead of prose-pieces as it turned out to be  an anthology of short poems. Just a thought. But anyways, I really enjoyed writing the small stones everyday and posting them on the blog (and sticking them on the fridge door which was very well-received by the family)! Look forward to doing that again in the coming year...

Onto February, and THE (february) NaHaiWriMo which again i enjoyed hugely.A book edited by Michael Dylan Welch with selected poems from that month's posts is still in the pipeline.

March saw me participating in Doodle-ku by Aubrie Cox which has been one of the highlights of this year for me. The awesome doodles/sketches done by Aubrie must have brought out the best from all the participants.I have got tucked in there some of my best work this year, if it's alright to say so and the credit goes entirely to Aubrie Cox for inspiring them. Eventually selected ku from the posts along with her doodles were compiled by Aubrie in the collection Things with Wings and I had 15 poems included in that, but even a few of those that were not included remain close to my heart.It was a wonderful month of poetry!

Winning the XIV Calico Cat haiku contest  by Origa in May, held in memory of Hortensia Anderson was another treasured moment for me this year.This was my first ever participation in that contest and I was delighted to win! (View it here)

I was also thrilled  to win the 1st Haiku My Photo Challenge contest   by Chrissi Villa, judged by Kirsten Kliff the same month and no less happy to be adjudged runners-up in the2nd HMPC contest too, later this year in August. (View it here and here)

 Sometime in April I had  participated in theVancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational  and received an HM for my haiku.(View it here).

The biggest surprise of the year came when one of my tanka was included in the anthology Take Five:Best contemporary tanka, Volume 4 edited by M.Kei. I am still relatively new to tanka and the poem that was selected was my first tanka ever to be published, so I was simply delighted! It was such an honor to share the space with all the tanka greats.

There were the usual publications in The Heron's Nest, Frogpond, Moonbathing, A Hundred Gourds and Acorn and i continued to take part in NaHaiWriMo, albeit sporadically. But there was no way I was going to miss the August NaHaiWriMo with 31 different prompters.That was again an extremely challenging, but strangely fulfilling month. Though by the end of August my health had deteriorated so much that even sitting upright for more than 15 minutes had become a huge effort and I had to take a break for an indefinite period. Plans for all the contests I wanted to enter or journals where I wanted to submit had to be abandoned. So when With Cherries on Top, an e-book compiled by Michael Dylan Welch, with selected poems from August NaHaiWriMo posts was finally out in November,it was so gratifying to have 5 poems included in it.(View it here)

Throughout the year I had continued to participate in the Shiki Kukai Contests, but my best showing remained the 2nd place in both the formats in June Kukai.(See it here) Though it was compensated somewhat by the 1st place in International Kukai No. 9, administered by Rita Odeh and John Daleiden, that came at the fag end of the year. (View it here)..

Last but not the least, participation in Cara Holman's December haiku share on her blog Prose Posies...sharing and reading each others' poetry has been a great enriching experience!

So , in a nutshell, this has been my poetic journey in 2012. Many goals remain unfulfilled, but that is good, because otherwise what would remain to look forward to, to strive for in the coming year?

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