Award-winning writer and poet, Alan Summers, will make a special haiku selection as part of this year’s IAFOR Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award.
Japan Times award-winning writer and Pushcart Prize nominated poet, Alan Summers, is to be a Guest Judge of this year’s IAFOR Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award. His selection of five haiku will be published online and in the IAFOR haiku anthology, alongside Drago Štambuk’s selection of the Grand Prize Winner, Runners Up and Commended entries.
The conference theme of The Asian Conference on Literature, Librarianship & Archival Science 2016, which will host IAFOR Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award Ceremony, is “Justice”. Alan will base his selection on this theme, choosing haiku which he feels reflect on ideas of justice, or indeed, injustice. He will write a short written commentary explaining the merits of each of his selections.
The theme of justice is open to interpretation according to an individual’s own life experience, moral compass, opinion and emotion. From small, personal justices or injustices witnessed in every day life, to those in the natural world, in history, in religion, and to those in the world at large that deal with issues of social and human rights, law, crime and punishment, the theme provides ample food for thought.
The theme is not intended to inspire haiku swamped by authors’ definitions or ideas of justice, but is instead designed as a starting point for reflection.
All haiku submissions (regardless of theme) will be considered for Drago Štambuk’s Grand Prize, Runners Up and Commended entries.
Those submitting haiku relevant to the theme of “Justice” should select “Justice” on the theme dropdown of the submission form. This will aid Alan Summers’ Guest Judge selection, however all submissions will be considered.
Submit haiku to the IAFOR Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award 2016 here.
Alan Summers is a Japan Times award-winning writer and Pushcart Prize nominated poet, recently featured in NHK World TV show, Europe Meets Japan – Alan’s Haiku Journey. He is based in Chippenham, UK, and runs With Words, which organises literature and education projects, often based around haiku. Alan has twice been a featured haiku poet at Mann Library, Cornell University, US, as well as the World Monuments Fund (New York) haiku contest judge. He is the former General Secretary of the British Haiku Society and has been a co-founding editor of two magazines. Alan was a Special Feature Editor for Lakeview International Journal of Literature and Arts, Bones Journal (contemporary haiku) and is currently Associate Editor for Prune Juice magazine.
He has been published in over 100 haiku anthologies in 14 countries, including the Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years (W. W. Norton 2013). His latest collection Does Fish-God Know contains contemporary and gendai-style haiku with short verse published by Yet To Be Named Free Press. His forthcoming book is titled Writing Poetry: The Haiku Way and is due out Summer 2016. Alan blogs at Area 17.