Iulian, Dan

Dan Iulian

Born: 1955, Obirsia Olt, Romania
Living in: Bucharest, Romania
Contact: dan_iulian09 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Dan Iulian (pseudonym of Iulian Ciupitu) is a retired engineer. He loves the arts, nature and travels. Since 2011, he meets the world of haiku and joins of the Romanian Kukai Group. Prizes for haiku in English, French, Italian and Romanian languages. Publications in country and abroad.

Murtha, H. Gene

H. Gene Murtha

Born 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Lived in New Jersey, USA
19 October 1955 – 9 October 2015

Španović, Marinko

Marinko Španović

(1955-2011)

Marinko Španović was born in Samobor, Croatia in 1955. He has been writing within the literary group ‘Katarza’ in Samobor since 1975. His haiku have been published in many haiku journals and magazines, such as South-West, Daily Yomiuri, Mainichi Daily News, Feasta, Woodpecker, and others. Marinko edited over 30 haiku collections and anthologies, and wrote a number of book reviews. He was a selector and a translator to and from English, presented in many anthologies. Marinko has published six books: two books of poetry and four bilingual haiku collections. He was also an editor at Sparrow (Vrabac) – the magazine of the Croatian Haiku Association. Marinko was not only one of the most presented Croatian haiku poets but he also won numerous awards and honours both national and international.

Marinko Španović died unexpectedly in Samobor on 8 July 2011.

Awards and Other Honours:

Third Place, 300th Anniversary of Basho's 'Oku No Hosomichi' and Days of Japanese Culture and 'NHK' Japanese TV (1988);
Mainichi Haiku Contest (1998);
Toranomon Haiku Newsletter by Sakuzo Takada (1999), 101 Haiku (edited by Sakuzo Takada and Fusao Maki); Favourite Haiku, Tom Noyes, Azami Yutaka Ikokku Santo (1998);
Commendation by Polish Haiku Society for haiku cyclus Slavonske šume/Forests of Slavonia and for long time collaboration (2000);
Choice of haiku, The Herb Barrett Award (Hamilton, Canada, 2000);
Mainichi Daily News Haiku Column (June 2001);
Commendation, Haiku Calendar/Rokovnik, Ludbreg, Internationl Haiku contest in English (2001);
Honourable Mention, HIA 4th haiku contest (2002);
Award, Ito-En, International Haiku Contest (2003);
First Prize, Haiku Day, Dubravko Ivančan (Krapina, 2003);
Third Prize, Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Contest, Croatian language category (2003);
Commendation, The 39th A-Bomb Memorial Day (2005), Third Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (Kumamoto, Japan, 2005);
22nd Prize, Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Contest, Croatian language category (2005);
Honourable Mention, Mainichi Haiku Contest (2005);
First Prize, Haiku Day, Dubravko Ivančan (Krapina, 2006);
Genkissu! Spirits Up! World Wide Hekinan Haiku Contest Award in Japan (2007);
Second Prize - Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Contest, Croatian language category (2010).

Books and some other publications:

Planinski vjetar / Mountain Wind, Edition Matsuo Basho, Haiku poetry, Razvigor, Požega (Ex-Yugoslavia, 1988);
Duga / The Rainbow, Haiku poetry, Edition Matsuo Basho, Dom kulture Odžaci (Ex-Yugoslavia, 1989);
Poljubac svjetlosti / Kiss of Light (Hrvatsko haiku društvo: Samobor, 1995);
Brbljanje o neizrecivom / Gassing about the Unspeakable (Hrvatsko haiku društvo: Samobor, 1998);
Otvoren put/Free Road, Anthology, editors: Marijan Cekolj, Marinko Spanovic, Samobor 1999);
haiku selected for inclusion in William J. Higginson's Haiku World, An International Poetry Almanac (Kodansha International, 1996);
10 haiku selected for inclusion in A. Duhaime's Canadian Anthology, Haiku Without Borders (1998); haiku selected for inclusion in Knots: The Anthology of Southeastern European Haiku Poetry [edited by Dimitar Anakiev and Jim Kacian] (Prijatelj, Slovenia, 1999; distributed by Red Moon Press).

Selected work:

dječji crtež
iste su boje tenk
vojnik i sunce

a child's drawing:
the same color for tank,
for soldier, and sun

(Haiku in Wartime (Croatian Haiku Association, 1992); also in Frogpond 22:2 (1999)

*

nastupa zima;
očevim češljem gladim
svoju kosu

winter setting in;
with my dad's comb
I stroke my hair

(Third Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (2005)

*

proljetna kiša
poskakuje poklopac
zakipjelog graha

spring rain—
the lid is hopping
over boiling beans

(Third Place, 300th Anniversary of Basho's 'Oku No Hosomichi' and Days of Japanese Culture and 'NHK' Japanese TV (1988)

*

pružajući ruku
kojom prosi, skriva drugu
koje nema

extending a hand
the beggar hides the other
he hasn't got

(William J. Higginson: Haiku World, An International Poetry Almanac (Kodansha International, 1996)

*

ledeni siječanj
kosti drveća škrguću
u zubima sunca

iced January
trees’ bones gnashing
in the sun’s teeth

( 7. haiku dan/7th Haiku Day - Dubravko Ivančan, Krapina 2006 - 1. nagrada/1st Prize)

*

božićno jutro:
tri ljeta od očeve smrti
miriše škija

Christmas morning;
three years from my dad’s death
the smell of his tobacco...

(Haiku Calendar/Rokovnik, Ludbreg 2001, Internationl Haiku contest in English – Commendation)

*

munja terasom
a potom grmljavina
napuni prazne čaše

lightning on the terrace

afterwards the thunder fills
... our empty glasses...

(Mainichi Daily News Haiku Column, June 2001)

*

slijepčev štap
osluškuje vodu
u lokvici

a blind man’s stick
listening to water
in the puddle

(Ito-En, International Haiku Contest, Tokyo, Japan, 2003 - 5th Place Award)

*

Isa Isa oh,
kako je teško
voljeti muhe

Issa Issa
it’s so hard to love
the flies

(101 Haiku edited by Sakuzo Takada and Fusao Maki, Toranomon Haiku, Newsletter by Sakuzo Takada, 1999)

*

zimsko jutro
sestra je osmijehom
proširila nebo

- Winter morning
my sister widens the sky
with her laughter

(Woodpecker, magazine for sharing haiku, Leeuwarden, Netherlands, No. 2/2002)

Sources:

Strange, Debbie

Debbie Strange

Born 1955 in Canada
Living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Debbie Strange is a maker of poems, music, photographs, and art. She has an affinity for birds and water, and feels most at peace when exploring nature with her husband. Debbie's creative passions are her solace and salvation, connecting her more closely to the world and to herself.
website: http://www.debbiemstrange.blogspot.ca

Watson, Roger

Roger Watson

Born: 1955 in Aberdeen, UK
Living: Kingston-upon-Hull, UK
Roger Watson is a biologist, nurse and academic editor working at the University of Hull, UK. He was born and raised in Scotland and has lived in many parts of the UK and Ireland. He travels extensively in China and the Far East. He is married with eight children.
Haiku blog: https://haikuflyku.blogspot.co.uk/

1955