Croatia

  • Buljević, Sonja

    Sonja BuljevićSonja Buljević (1949 – 2021)

    Biography

    Sonja Buljević was a graduated librarian and a teacher of Croatian. She worked in the Grammar Schools in the towns of Rijeka and Buje (Istria). Her poetry in the Chakavian dialect was published in a number of joint collections, magazines and post-contest anthologies. She wrote haiku as well and transferred her love and knowledge of this kind of poetry to her pupils, who received a number of awards at haiku competitions. As a retired person she volunteered at the workshops of creative writing. For her success in her pedagogical lifetime’s work she was bestowed a medal of the town of Buje in 2015.

    Books published - Japanese short poems

     Čipkasta svjetlost / Lacy Light, haiku, Matrix Croatica, Buje, posthumously

    Selected haiku:

    In the wine cellar
    a bottle and a hoe
    forgotten.

    U podrumu
    boca i motika
    zaboravljeni.

    Va konobe
    bocun i matika
    zabjeni.

    (Honorable Mention, Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Competition, Croatia 2008 – in the Chakavian dialect)

    *

    Sea twilight
    fishing boats set sail
    side by side.

    Sumrak na moru.
    Isplovile ribarice
    bok uz bok.

    (Ludbreg Joint Haiku Collection, Croatia 2011)

    *

    Sat by the sea.
    Blueness above and below me
    blue everywhere.

    Sjedim pored mora.
    Plavo gore i dolje
    plavet posvuda.

    Sedin pul mora.
    Modro gore i dole
    modro sakuda.

    (IRIS No. 12, Croatia 2016 – in the Chakacian dialect)

    *

    Spring rain
    tenderly soaking
    my already wet clothes.

    Proljetna kiša
    nježno natapa moju
    već promočenu odjeću.

    (Honorable Mention, The 19th Apokalipsa Haiku Contest, Slovenia 2017)

    *

    The first snow
    fluttering – a little girl
    spreads her arms.

    Leprša prvi snijeg
    djevojčica
    raširila ruke.

    https://akitahaiku.com/2020/08/03/world-haiku-series-2019-171-haiku-by-sonja-buljevic/

  • Đuretić, Nikola

    Nikola DureticNikola Đuretić

    Nikola Đuretić was born in Osijek Croatia in 1949. He worked in publishing and for more than twenty years in London as a Senior Producer with the BBC. Thus far he published more than thirty books of prose, poetry, essays and feuilleton, of which twelve are collections of haiku. For his literary work he received numerous awards of which several for haiku Honourable mention at 16th and 24th HIA Haiku Contest, Runner up at International Haiku Contest “Vladimir Devide”, Honourable Mention at 2nd Morioka International Haiku Contest, Merit Award ITO EN Oi Ocha twice, International Sakura Award, etc.. For his contribution to Croatian culture he was awarded the highest state order for culture in 1998. A member of the Croatian Writers’ Association, he lives in Zagreb Croatia.


     

  • Gatalica, Goran

    Goran Gatalica

    Goran Gatalica

    Goran Gatalica was born in Virovitica, Croatia, in 1982 and currently resides in Zagreb, Croatia.
    He finished both physics and chemistry degrees from the University of Zagreb and proceeded directly to a PhD program after graduation. He has published poetry, haiku, and prose in the literary journals and anthologies.


     

  • Klarić, Ivanka Glogović

    Image: Lanterna magazinIvanka Glogović Klarić (1939  ̶ 2022)

    Biography

    Ivanka Glogović Klarić was a retired professor of Croatian and English. She published poems, stories and drama in the Chakavian dialect, from the time of her High School days, mostly for children. Her work was published in newspapers, magazines, on the radio and TV. She produced 12 books. In co-authorship with the composer Natalija Banov she published two books of poems put to music (with notes and CD). Ivanka Glogović Klarić also published two books with short texts about the Chakavian lexicography. Sixty of her poems were put to music, as well. She has been writing haiku for a long time. She was bestowed an award by the town of Opatija for her life’s work and achievements.

    Books published - Japanese short poems:

    • Kapljice mora / Sea Droplets (Rijeka, 2002)
    • Likovno poetska mapa / Artistically poetic map (2012) 

    Selected haiku:

    A lonely child
    and a crab on the beach
    both scared to death.

    Na žalu račić
    i usamljeno dijete
    nasmrt preplašeni.

    (Second Prize, Haiku Calendar/Rokovnik Ludbreg, Croatia 2004)

    *

    A cold April morning –
    violets and primroses
    warmed up the market.

    Hladno travanjsko jutro –
    ljubičice i jaglaci
    zagrijali tržnicu.

    (One Sky to Another, Haiku anthology of the European Union, 2006)

    *

    Spider’s web
    without insects this morning
    only dewdrops.

    Paukova mreža
    bez uhvaćenih kukaca
    samo kapi rose.

    (Shamrock, Issue 6, Ireland, 2008)

    *

    A small table under a fig tree
    sardines and a glass of wine.
    A dozing old man.

    Pod smokvom stolić
    srdele i čaša vina.
    Djed je zaspao.

    Pod smokvom stolić
    Srdele I žmuj vina.
    Nonić je zaspal.

    (IRIS No. ¾, Croatia 2009 (the Chakavian dialect)

    *

    On the road wet with rain
    barefoot girl – in her hand
    the new shoes.

    Na mokroj cesti
    bosonoga djevojka – u ruci
    nove cipele

    Na mokroj cesti
    bosi nogi – a v rukah
    novi postoli.

    (Književna Rijeka No. 1, 2012 (the Chakavian dialect)

  • Maretić, Tomislav

    Tomislav MareticTomislav Maretić

    Tomislav Maretić (1951) is a MD (a specialist for infectious diseaseses) from Zagreb city, Croatia. He has been writing haiku for almost forty years and his haiku have received several awards and prizes. He lives in Gornje Vrapče, a picturesque village near the Croatian capital city with his wife and four children.


     

  • Matas, Duško

    Duško MatasDuško Matas (1933 - 2021)

    Duško Matas was a forensic psychiatrist. Most of his lifetime he lived and created in Zagreb, Croatia. His haiku were published in a number of magazines, miscellanies and post-contest anthologies in Croatian, Slovenian, Japanese, French, German, Romanian, Italian and English since 1988. He took part at most gatherings and recitals of the Croatian haiku poets and the contests for haiku in Croatia and abroad. He was selected on to the judging committee for haiku a number of times, evaluating haiku and senryu in the Chakavian dialect and Croatian. His haiku were presented in several anthologies and he received a number of awards in Croatia and abroad. He was a publisher of several haiku books as well. 

    Awards and Other Honours:

    Second Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (1998); Award, Yellow Moon Literary Competition (2000); Second Prize, Ito-En, International Haiku Contest (2000); Commended haiku, UNESCO Paris (2000); Third Prize, Haiku Calendar/Rokovnik, International Haiku Contest in English, Ludbreg (2006); Second Prize, Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Contest, English language Category (2006); Second Prize, Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Contest, Croatian language category (2004); Honourable Mention, Haiku Calendar/Rokovnik, Ludbreg (2003); Honorary Mention, The 36th A-Bomb Memorial Day Haiku Meeting Competition (Kyoto, 1999); The Ludbreg Column of Haiku Poets, a travelling recognition which has been awarded yearly at Ludbreg Haiku Meetings to Croatian Haijin since 2003. Two haiku were selected for inclusion in William J. Higginson's Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac(Kodansha International, 1996); Honourable Mention, World Haiku Festival 2010 in Nagasaki, Competition on the theme of the Atomic Bomb (2010); Honourable Mention, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (2010); work included on the Haiku Society of America's "Haiku Wall" at the Liberty Theatre Gallery in Bend, Oregon (June 3-5, 2011): Honorable Mention, The 18th Mainichi Haiku Contest 2014.

     Books published - Japanese short poems:
    Vodene trave(Water grasses), Zagreb 1991
    Vrh planine / Mountain Top, Zagreb 1998
    Ljubavna priča / Love Story, Zagreb 1999

    Collaborated haiku collections:
    Sedam putova / Seven Ways, Zagreb 2000
    Sedam novih putova / Seven New Ways, Zagreb 2003

    Collaborated haiga collection
    Olovka i kist / Svinčnik in čopić/ Pencil and Paintbrush

    Haiku by seven authors illustrated by Rudi Stopar, Sevnica, Slovenia 2010

    Selected haiku:

    lane along the stream
    following it down
    and up

    staza uz potok
    slijed ga nizvodno
    i uzvodno

    (Second Prize, International “Kusamakura” Haiku Competition, Japan 1998)

    *

    the weeds grow
    on the demined land –
    “A mine field”

    raste korov –
    na izrovanoj zemlji
    piše “minsko polje”

    (Honorable Mention, The 36th A-Bomb Memorial Day Haiku Meeting Competition, Kyoto, Japan 1999)

    *

    low flight of a bird
    a swollen stream carrying
    an empty nest

    niski let ptice
    nabujali potok nosi
    prazno gnijezdo

    (Second Prize, Ito-En International Haiku Contest, Japan 2000)

    *

    flamingo standing
    in the low tide, a movement
    a fish in the beak

    u oseki mora
    stoji flamingo, kretnja
    u kljunu riba

    (Award, Yellow MoonLiterary Competition, Australia, 2000; Antologija Haiku Europejskiego Gwiazda za Gwiazda, Krakow, Poland, 2005)

    *

    the sunset
    thins out
    the cicadas’ song

    zalazak sunca
    istanjuje
    pjesmu cikada

    (Greieri şi crizanteme, Haiku Antologie Internaţională, Editura Orion, Bucureşti 2007 Editor: Valentin Nicoliţov)

     

  • Oreč-Gavran, Zdenko

    Zdenko OrečZdenko Oreč-Gavran

    (1930 ̶ 2021)

    Zdenko Oreč-Gavran was born on 20 April 1930 in the town of Zvečevo, Croatia. He founded the Ludbreg Haiku Meetings (Ludbreški haiku susreti) in the town of Ludbreg, northeast of Zagreb. This gathering of haiku poets has been held every year since 1997 and is open to the public. The first Haiku zbornik - Ludbreg was published in 1998 and included materials from the 1997 gathering. Until 2003 miscellanies were published privately by Oreč-Gavran. The Miscellany was a major publication where poets were invited to contribute haiku to the annual publication, and the selected work was published in the Haiku Miscellany.

    Oreč-Gavran was also co-editor of the annual Haiku Calendar/Rokovnik and edited and published annual miscellanies of children's haiku. He was a member of the judging commissions for haiku and senryu. In 2006 he was awarded the annual Ludbreg column of haiku poets, transitional chalice for haiku poets. Besides haiku he was publishing prose, poetry and riddles in a number of journals and newspapers. He issued two collections of aphorisms and a book of puns from children's textbooks. He wrote haiku and senryu in Croatian and the Kajkavian Dialect. Zdenko Oreč died in Ludbreg in 2021.

    Awards and Other Honours:

    • Zbornik Haiku Konkurs 'AN4-2001'/Anthology Haiku competition 'AN4-2001';
    • Encouragement Award, Ito-En, International Haiku Contest (1997);
    • Second Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (1998);
    • Second Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (1999);
    • Marijan Čekolj i Marinko Španović: Otvoren put /Free Road: Antologija hrvatske haiku poezije [Croatian Haiku anthology] (Hrvatsko haiku društvo: Samobor, 1999);
    • 100 Croatian Haiku [An anthology for the Haiku Cards Game] (DHHP, Zagreb 2000);
    • Very good haiku, A-Bomb Memorial Day Haiku Meeting (2001);
    • Third Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (2003);
    • Second Prize, Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Contest, Croatian language category (2004);
    • Annual Ludbreg column of haiku poets award, Croatia, 2006;
    • Second Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition, Japan 2008;
    • Commendation, Pumpkin Festival Haiku Contest (Ivanić-Grad, Croatia, 2015).

    Haiku/Haiga Books Published:

    • Rijeke šume (Rustling Rivers), Ludbreg, 1996;
    • Školjka u pijesku (A Shell in the Sand), Ludbreg, 1998;
    • Plodovi nesanice: 1991 (Fruits of Insomnia: 1991). Ludbreg, Croatia: published privately, 1999;
    • Neprolazni susreti (Unpassable Encounters), Ludbreg, 1999;
    • Olovka i kist (Pencil and Paintbrush), haigas painted by Rudi Stopar (Slovenia); haiku by Zdravko Kurnik, Zvonko Petrovic, Julija Ivic, Dusko Matas, Boris Nazansky, Zdenko Oreč, and Rudi Stopar; in Croatian, Slovenian, English and Japanese, Zagreb, 2010.

    Selected works:

    ona mu okrene leđa
    na mjesečini
    obrisi brda u porastu

    she turns her back
    in the moonlight
    the mountain contour expands

    (Encouragement Award, Ito-En, International Haiku Contest, Tokyo, Japan, 1997)

    ljetni pljusak
    pod stablo padaju cvjetovi
    na suho

    summer downpour
    under the tree-crown the blossoms
    falling into dry

    (Second Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition, Japan, 2008)

    dostavno vozilo
    radi u snijegu ̶
    miris kruha

    a delivery van
    working in the snow ̶
    the smell of bread

    (Second Prize, the International Kusamakura Haiku Competition, Japan, 1999)

    TV-sapunicama
    ispiru sjećanja
    na prljavi rat

    with TV serials
    they are rinsing our memories
    of the dirty war

    (Awarded (very good haiku) at the 35th A-Bomb Memorial Day Haiku Meeting, Kyoto, Japan, 2001)

    sjemenke suncokreta
    padaju
    u svoju sjenu

    sunflower seeds
    falling into
    their own shadows

    (Otvoren put/Free Road, An Anthology of Croatian Haiku Poetry, Croatian Haiku Society, Samobor, 1999. (Edited by Marijan Čekolj and Marinko Španović)

    zvonki udarac
    grane o krov auta
    ispraznio kafić

    resonant sound ̶
    a bough on the car roof
    emptied the pub

    (Haiku No. 21/22, The Assocication of Croatian Haiku Poets, Zagreb, 2004 (Edited by. D. V. Rožić)

    priđoh prozoru
    da pobrojim ptice
    one odlijeću

    I come to the window
    to count the birds
    they fly away

    (Ludbreški haiku zbornik/Ludbreg Haiku Miscellany, Croatia, 2015)

    ona miluje
    svoj mobitel a dečki
    čekaju rundu

    she is cuddling
    her mobile phone ̶ the boys
    ordered another round

    (Third Prize, „Afrodita“ erotic haiku/senryu contest, Ludbreg, Croatia, 2015 (Founded by Mirko Varga)

    crna trepavica
    na praznom papiru ̶
    otvorena zagrada

    a black eyelash
    on a blank paper ̶
    an open bracket

    (IRIS No. 15, 2021, Ivanić-Grad, Croatia), Haiku translated by D. V. Rožić

    Sources:

    https://www.magicus.info/alternativci-i-korisnici/preporuci-knjigu-tehniku-alternativca/zdenko-orec
    https://czkidn.hr/results-of-a-raven-haiku-contest-rezultati-haiku-natjecaja-na-temu-gavran/
    http://dominikanac.blogspot.com/2020/11/u-spomen-36-zdenko-orec.html
    https://haikupedia.org/article-haikupedia/haiku-in-croatia/
    https://thehaikufoundation.org/poet-details/?IDclient=152

    IRIS International, Year 7th, No.7, 2021, Ivanić-Grad, Croatia

    This profile was created in collaboration with Djurdja Vukelić-Rožić and Stjepan Rožić, who took the photograph. We appreciate their invaluable help in preparing Zdenko Oreč’s biography.

  • Pavlinović, Dejan

    Dejan Pavlinovic photo by Sinisa SunaraDejan Pavlinović

    Born 1968 in Pula, Yugoslavia
    Living in Pula, Croatia

    Dejan Pavlinović is an English and German teacher, part-time tour guide and member of the indie band The Chweger. He has been writing haiku since 2007. He has published 3 haiku books:  Mliječnom stazom/Down the Milky Way (2016), Nexus Haiku(co-authored, 2021), Linije života/Life Lines/生命線 (2024).

    Blog:https://smilingcricket.blogspot.com


     
  • Primorac, Vera

    Vera PrimoracVera Primorac (1942 ̶ 2022)

     

    Biography

    Vera Primorac graduated from grammar school and the School for teachers in the town of her native town Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and graduated in the Croatian language and literature from the Pedagogical Academy. Most of her teaching years she worked at the Grammar School “Braća Šimić” in Mostar. She worked as a teacher in France as well, where she continued to write and paint on silk. She had a number of joint and independent exhibitions in France, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    Vera Primorac wrote poetry from her early childhood, publishing it in a number of literary journals, both in print and digital. For decades she published prose: aphorisms, columns, short stories, reviews and essays. She published ten books, her lyrics being translated into several languages. She edited twenty books of prose and poetry. For her haiku she received over twenty top international and domestic awards. Chosen by Krzysztof Kokot (Poland), she was on the list of the European Top 100 Haiku Authors in 2010 ̶ 2011. She was on the editorial staff of the Anthology of the Croatian Haiku Poetry, An Unmown Sky (1996 ̶ 2007). She was a member of several literary and haiku associations and as a member of Matrix Croatica, the Viškovo Branch, she was awarded the Plaque of the Municipal Viškovo, for her literary attainments and promotion of Croatia in 2009.

    Awards and Other Honors:

    Haiku sequence Award, Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Contest (2007); Award, A Little Haiku Contest by IRIS haiku magazine no 3/4, (Ivanić Grad, Croatia); Selected haiku (by Kōko Katō), Basho Festival Haiku Contest (2009); Two second prizes, The 13th International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (2008); Comendation, Apokalipsa haiku magazine contest (Slovenija, 2005); World Haiku 2010 No.6, World Haiku Association; Third Prize, International Kusamakura Haiku Competition (2006); First Prize, Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Contest, Croatia language category (2008); Second Prize for haiku sequence, Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Contest (2010); named one of the top 100 European haiku poets by haiku.forum.pl.; work included on the Haiku Society of America's "Haiku Wall" at the Liberty Theatre Gallery in Bend, Oregon (June 3-5, 2011); Honorable Mention, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Award (2011)); Honorable Mention, Haiku Contest of the Journal of Romanian-Japanese cultural interferences HAIKU (2012).

     

    Books published - Japanese short poems:

    • Utočišta, Društvo haiku pjesnika Rijeka, 2006;
    • Tragovi, Društvo haiku pjesnika Rijeka, 2007;
    • Miris zemlje.Matica hrvatska ogranak Viškovo, Viškovo, 2008;
    • Dvije obale/dva kraja, hrvatski jezik i čakavsko narječje, Viškovo, 2013.

    Selection of haiku:

    spring adorned
    by crimson sour-cherries
    behind both ears

    rumenom višnjom
    proljeće se okiti
    iza oba uha

    (Third Prize, International “Kusamakura” Haiku Competition, Japan 2006)

    *

    from an old photo album
    smiling at me tenderly
    childhood

    iz starog fotoalbuma
    nježno mi se smiješi
    sjetinjstvo

    (Two Second Prizes, The 13th International “Kusamakura” Haiku Competition, Japan 2008)

    *

    with drops
    of rain
    a rain of petals

    s kapljicama
    kiše
    kiša latica

    (Special Merit Award, The 20th Itoen “Oh-I-Ocha” New Haiku Contest, Japan 2012)

    *

    a ruined house
    knitted all around
    in the cobwebs

    razrušena kuća
    premrežena unaokolo
    paučinom

    (Commended work, The 42nd A-Bomb Memorial Day Haiku Contest, Japan 2008)

    *

    autumn evening
    rain poured music
    into the gutters

    jesenja večer,
    kiša ulila glazbu
    u oluke

    (Ploc la revie du haiku No. 31, France 2012)

    Sources:
    https://thehaikufoundation.org/poet-details/?IDclient=138
    https://akitahaiku.com/2011/11/12/3-11-haiku-from-vera-primorac-croatia/
    http://www.worldhaiku.net/poetry/si/vera_primorac/1st.html

  • Škrgulja, Vida Pust

    https://www.centarkulture.com/vida-pust-skrgulja/Vida Pust Škrgulja

    (1952 - 2021)

     

    Vida Pust Škrgulja was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1952. She graduated in Latin and History of Art from the Department of Philosophy at University of Zagreb, and spent her working years as a teacher of Latin and Arts in high schools in the towns of Ivanić-Grad and Križ, Croatia. Beside her teaching career and family, being a mother of four daughters, she spent her time on a number of activities, promoting arts and culture. By founding the association Amici hereditatis (Prijatelji baštine; Friends of heritage) in Ivanić-Grad, she started the process of founding the first museum in this town and was its first director. Through the decades she set up a number of exhibitions for local artists.

    Škrgulja started writing haiku in the 1970s and was among the first haijin in Ivanić-Grad.

    In 2003 together with Djurdja Vukelić Rožić and Stepan Rožić they inaugurated the Kloštar Ivanić Haiku Meetings (Kloštar Ivanić haiku susreti) and later in 2006 also founded the Haiku Association “Three Rivers” in Ivanić-Grad. Vida Pust Škrgulja was on the editorial board of the magazine IRIS and a judge for haiku and haiga contests. She wrote haiku in Croatian, Slovenian, Latin and English, and her work was featured in numerous miscellanies, anthologies and journals in Croatia, Slovenia, United Kingdom, USA and Japan. She has won several national and international awards as well. Vida Pust Škrgulja was bestowed Lifetime Achievement Award by the town of Ivanić-Grad in 2007. She died in Ivanić-Grad, Croatia in 2021.

    Book published:

    Sedam prozora / Seven Windows by Vida Pust-Škrgulja, Ljerka Poštek-Jelača, Djurdja-Vukelić Rožić, Marica Behtan-Cecelja, Franko Bušić, Stjepan Rožić and Robert Stipić. Ed. by Djurdja Vukelić Rožić, Kloštar Ivanić, Croatia: Agapa, 2002.

    Some awards and honours:

    • Encouragement Award, Ito-En, International Haiku Contest, Tokyo, Japan, 1997;
    • Third Prize, The International Kusamakura Haiku Competition, Japan, 2000;
    • Award (third choice), WHC R. H. Blyth Award, 2002;
    • Lifetime Achievement Award by the town of Ivanić-Grad, 2007.

    Selected works:

    snježno jutro
    u košari na polici
    proklijao češnjak

    snowy morning
    in the basket on the shell
    the garlic has sprouted

    (Encouragement Award, Ito-En, International Haiku Contest, Tokyo, Japan, 1997)

    lastavice lete
    nad ljetnom kućicom
    uhvaćenom u čaši vina

    swallows fly
    above the summer house
    caught in a glass of wine

    (Third Prize, The International Kusamakura Haiku Competition, Japan, 2000)

    obasjano suncem
    na plavome dnu ̶ stablo
    uz jato riba

    lighted by the sun
    on the blue bottom ̶ a tree trunk
    among fish

    (Letni časi haiku magazine No. 16, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2002)

    jutarnji vlak
    snježnim se ljestvama penje
    sve brže i brže

    morning train
    climbing the snowy ladder
    faster and faster

    (Award (third choice), WHC R. H. Blyth Award, 2002)

    dječji se smijeh
    uvukao
    u gitaru na zidu

    the children's laugh
    crept into
    the guitar on the wall

    (Sedam prozora/Seven Windows, joint haiku collection, Ivanić-Grad, Croatia, 2002)

    na dnu škrinje
    svežanj pisama i
    svilena vrpca

    at the bottom of the chest
    a bundle of letters and
    a silk ribbon

    (Blithe Spirit Vol 14 No 3, September 2004)

    na dnu srebrne čaše
    u staretinarnici
    tragovi crnog vina

    at the bottom of a silver cup
    in an antique shop
    stains of red wine

    (World Haiku 2006 No 2, WHA Japan)

    noć bez zvijezda
    u jednom prozoru
    treperi svjetlo

    starless night
    in one of the windows
    flickering candle-light

    (Shamrock, Issue 6, Focus on Croatia, 2009)

    umor večeri
    rasplinu se pogledom...
    zvjezdano nebo

    evening fatigue
    scattered in the gaze...
    a starry sky

    (To the memory of Vladimir Devidé, the Kloštar Ivanić Joint Haiku Collection, Croatia, 2011)

    stara singerica
    u ladici unuk sakrio
    svoje blago

    in the drawer of
    an old sewing machine
    my grandson's treasure

    (Igračke/Toys, post contest anthology, the Haiku Association „Three Rivers“, Ivanić-Grad, Croatia, 2017)

    starac, drščući
    u vrećama otpada
    traži darove

    a trembling old man
    in search of Christmas gifts
    through the bags with waste

    (IRIS No. 11, the Haiku Association „Three Rivers, Ivanić-Grad, Croatia 2017)

    Haiku translated by the author.

    Sources:

    - Anthologies Nepokošeno nebo/An Unmown Sky 1 and 2, Croatia, 2011 and 2018

    - IRIS International, Year 7th, No.7, 2021, Ivanić-Grad, Croatia

    https://www.centarkulture.com/vida-pust-skrgulja/

    http://www.worldhaiku.net/poetry/si/v.pust.skrglja/v.pust.skrglja.htm

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EE3cAFpXfs

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy3yUjkGncM

    https://lokalni.vecernji.hr/gradovi/cudesan-svijet-fosila-mamuta-morskih-hridi-i-podzemnih-spilja-u-muzeju-ivanic-grada-5707

    https://www.magicus.info/alternativci-i-korisnici/preporuci-knjigu-tehniku-alternativca/vida-pust-skrgulja

    https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/381501

    https://haikupedia.org/article-haikupedia/haiku-in-croatia/

    https://tri-rijeke-haiku.hr/?cat=8&lang=en

    This profile was created in collaboration with Djurdja Vukelić-Rožić and Zdenko Vanjek, who took the photograph. We appreciate their invaluable help in preparing Vida Pust Škrgulja’s biography.

  • Španović, Marinko

    Marinko SpanovicMarinko 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:

  • Stamenković, Mile

    Mile Stamenković

    (1952-2000)

    Mile Stamenković was born in 1952 in Ogulin, Croatia. He was a medical doctor, gynaecologist and had a Master’s Degree in Medical Sciences.  He died in Rijeka in 2000. Mile was also a prominent writer and haiku poet and his poems and haiku have been published in magazines and anthologies in Croatia and abroad. He was a member of The Croatian Haiku Association and The Haiku Society of America.

    Mile Stamenković started writing poetry more intensely from 1974 onward and won his first prize in 1977 in the ‘Goranovo proljeće 77’ poetry competition. From then on his poems appeared in many national and international magazines. His haiku were featured in some of the most prestigious haiku journals, anthologies and haiku-calendars (Blithe Spirit, Azami, Woodpecker, Modern Haiku, Haiku Headlines, Hobo, Paper Wasp, The Daily Yomiuri, KŌ, Frogpond, Timepieces). His haiku was also included in Haiku World, an International Poetry Almanac by W. J. Higginson, 1996.

    Mile published and illustrated two books of poetry in 1976 and 1993, and a collection of haiku, Breaths of July's Linden Forests, waka and renga in 1995. In 1998 he co-edited with Jadran Zalokar a trilingual anthology of haiku poetry (in Croatian, Italian and English) - Hvatanje sjenke vjetra/ Catturare l'ombra del vento/ Grassping the Shadow of the Wind. In the same year in Rijeka, Mile Stamenković hosted the first meeting of haiku poets from that region. 

    Books published:

    • Poezija i ilustracije, (Poetry and illustrations), 1976;
    • Poezija i ilustracije, (Poetry and illustrations), 1993;
    • Dahovi srpanjskih lipika / Breaths of July's Linden Forests, waka and renga, 1995;
    • Hvatanje sjenke vjetra / Catturare l’ombra del vento / Grasping the Shadow of the Wind, regionalna antologija haikua / Regional Haiku Collection, Rijeka 1999.

    Selected haiku:

     

    Uništen prostor -                                             Destroyed area -
    vjetar se zaustavio                                          the wind has stopped
    pod divljim kestenom.                                   under the horse-chestnut.

    (An Award, 33rd A-Bomb Memorial Day Haiku Meeting Competition, Kyoto, 1999)

    *

    Vjetar u šašu.                                                    Wind in the reed.
    Divlje guske gledaju                                        The wild geese look                       
    u vodu...                                                             into the water...

    (Vrabac/Sparrow No. 7-10, 1994-1995)

    *

    Next to the flutter
    of the wings, the buildings
    had flown through.

    (In the Prime Selection for the best Croatian haiku of the year - Second Annual Haiku Competition 1994 of the Croatian Haiku Association) 

    *

    to be waist deep
    in water:  neither man
    nor – fish.

    (Haiku World, An International Poetry Almanac William J. Higginson; Kodansha International Tokyo-New York-London, 1996, p. 125)

    *

    A demolished town.
    The wind howls not knowing
    where it would go.

    (Calendar-book the Timepieces: Haiku Week-At-A-Glance 1997)

    *

    an owl hooting…
    the moon slowly siling
    down the windy night

    (Hvatanje sjenke vjetra/Catturare l'ombra del vento/Grasping the Shadow of the Wind, Regional Haiku Anthology. StaM, Rijeka 1999)

    *

    In the deserted town
    hungry war victims
    feed the pigeons.

    (Knots: The Anthology of Southeastern Europe Haiku Poetry.ed. by Dimitar Anakiev, Jim Kacian, Tolmin, Slovenia: Prijatelj Haiku Press, 1999)

    *

    A distant offing.
    Shimmering under the Sun
    some fish and shells.

    Daleka pučina.
    Na suncu se ljeskaju
    ribe i školjke.

    (Karolina Riječka 2004 - 2005)

    *

    The morning guest
    shaking down the snow
    of his worn out coat.

    Jutarnji gost
    otresa snijeg sa svog
    istrošenog kaputa.

    (Nepokošeno nebo/An Unmown Sky (Antologija hrvatskoga haiku-pjesništva 1996-2007/Anthology of Croatian Haiku Poetry 1996-2007), ed. by Đurđa Vukelić-Rožić, Ivanić Grad, 2011)


    Sources:

    This profile was created in collaboration with the Croatian poet and editor Đurđa Vukelić-Rožić. We are very grateful for her support and dedication! 

  • Vukelić-Rožić, Djurdja

    D. V. RozicDjurdja Vukelić-Rožić

    Born (1956) born/lives in Croatia.
    The principal editor of IRIS International webzine. (ISSN 1849-8639)). She publishes short stories, poetry and haiku in Croatian, Kajkavian and English. She edited and translated a number of collections and anthologies including An Unmown Sky (2011) and An Unmown Sky 2 (2018).
    e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.