Naviar Lab Contributions 2019

We continue ou colllaboration with the Haiku Foundation with a beautiful poem by Madhuri Pillai, an English (hons) graduate who studied journalism and has worked as a journalist. Madhuri discovered haiku in 2011, and since then her work has been published in major international haiku journals. Apart from her love of books and writing, she is a passionate advocate for animal and human rights. She lives a quiet life in Melbourne with her family.

About this poem, Madhuri says:

“In my twenties I lived in a little mining town called Nhulunbuy in Arnhem Land in Northern Territory of Australia, Nhulunbuy was leased by a Swiss Mining Company called Nabalco for 100 years for mining bauxite. I would drive for miles on dirt road, through the bush, thick with eucalyptus to the Aboriginal settlement called Yirrkala. Driving through the bush, through its silence and secret inhabitants was itself an experience. The aboriginals were always warm and hospitable.  I am so glad you picked this haiku, for me it’s a tribute to their wisdom and tenacity.“



Seven days to make music in response to the assigned haiku: to participate visit http://www.naviarrecords.com/about/naviar-haiku

Deadline: 30th January 2019

haiku by Madhuri Pillai https://madhurip.wordpress.com

picture by Jeremy Bishop https://unsplash.com/@jeremybishop

My winds are at night [naviarhaiku264 - night wind]

Jeffrey Yamaguchi creates projects with words, photos, and video as art explorations, as well as through his work in the publishing industry. We collaborated with Jeffrey back in 2016 and I’m very happy to have the chance to publish another one of his haiku. I strongly recommend you check out his recent book about creative inspiration 52 Projects: Random Acts of Everyday Creativity.

Seven days to make music in response to the assigned haiku: to participate visit http://www.naviarrecords.com/about/naviar-haiku

Deadline: 6th March 2019

haiku and picture by Jeffrey Yamaguchi http://jeffreyyamaguchi.com

Crossed Hairs [naviarhaiku269 - Before the crossroads]

Initially a prose writer, Masaoka Shiki dedicated most of his life to haiku and is usually credited with reviving this Japanese poetic form.

He advocated realistic observation by “sketching” (shasei) poems and going out into nature with notebooks, thus abandoning the traditional subjects of haiku of the time. His advice for an aspiring poet was, “Use both imaginary pictures and real ones, but prefer the real ones.”



Seven days to make music in response to the assigned haiku: to participate visit http://www.naviarrecords.com/about/naviar-haiku

Deadline: 8th May 2019

haiku by Masaoka Shiki (Translated by Janine Beichman) http://jti.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/shiki/beichman/BeiShik.utf8.html

picture by Bulb Creative https://unsplash.com/@bulbcreative

Less Than Cool [naviarhaiku278 - coolness]

Jason Richardson is a Leeton-based musician and poet who’s collaborated with Naviar many times over the last few years: in 2014 his music was part of the sound installation we made for the State of Origin exhibition in London, and in 2017 we curated together the exhibition Crossing Streams in Narrandera.

Later this year Jason will be exhibiting his haiku, photographs and music as part of an exhibition at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery.

Seven days to make music in response to the assigned haiku: to participate visit http://www.naviarrecords.com/about/naviar-haiku

Deadline: 15th May 2019

haiku and picture by Jason Richardson http://showcasejase.blogspot.com

Water tight [naviarhaiku279 - Ripples on water]

One push of the door, a single step
And the corridor seems to stretch
As far as the eye can see.

Takuboku Ishikawa is best remembered for his emphatic and introspective tanka: his poems were accepted by the one of the most important tanka journals of the early 20th century, “Myojo”, when he was only 16.
Takuboku Ishikawa’s two major collections of tanka, “Ichiaku no Suna” (“A Handful of Sand”) and “Kanashiki Gangu” (“Sad Toys”), came out in 1910 and 1912. “Sad Toys” was published posthumously in June 1912, two months after he died of tubercolosis at the age of 26.

Seven days to make music in response to the assigned haiku: to participate visit https://www.naviarrecords.com/about/naviar-haiku

Deadline: 18th December 2019

haiku by Takuboku Ishikawa https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/takuboku-ishikawa

picture by Mukund Nair https://unsplash.com/@m_k_nd

Door Ajar [naviarhaiku310 - One Push of The Door, a Single Step]

frozen trough
I cup the warm breath
of my horse

Debbie Strange is an internationally published short-form poet, haiga artist, and photographer whose creative passions bring her closer to the world and to herself. She has a deep reverence for nature, and her work often reflects that affinity. Debbie maintains a publication an awards archive at http://debbiemstrange.blogspot.com which also includes hundreds of haiga, and reviews of her books.

Seven days to make music in response to the assigned haiku: to participate visit https://www.naviarrecords.com/about/naviar-haiku

Deadline: 25th December 2019

haiku by Debbie Strange http://debbiemstrange.blogspot.com

picture by Jonathan Knepper https://unsplash.com/@jknepp

Peaks & Troughs [naviarhaiku312 - frozen trough]

A drummer and a thief

25 years of drumming experience, interested in on-line projects to collaborate.
Percussion, electronic drum programming, acoustic drums.

Naviar Lab Contributions 2019

Carlos R