Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,
Maybe you remember our exclusive cooperation with the FB-page My Haiku Pond Academy in which I challenged the visitors of that FB-page to create a Troiku. I was also the Judge and short before Christmas I congratulated Celestine Nudanu (Reading Pleasure) with her winning Troiku.
The Troiku Contest was to create a Troiku based on a beautiful haiku by Jane Reichhold (1937-2016):
golden shade
under the redwoods
evergreen violets
© Jane Reichhold
There were a lot of contestants and I have read really wonderful Troiku, but the Troiku by Celestine was really a beauty with a small reference to a haiku by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) which I will give here also:
a night secret
a worm under the moon
bores in a chestnut
© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)
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| Celestine Nudanu |
golden shade
under the redwoods
evergreen violets
© Jane Reichhold
golden shade
where my pillow rests
a slice of sunlight
under the redwoods
a worm burrows deeper
into itself
evergreen violets
a butterfly seeks rest
on the gravestone
© Celestine Nudanu
And these are the comments given by the judges (Michael Smeer and myself):
An amazing Troiku. Wonderfully crafted with love and honor for Jane Reichhold. Nice to read in the 2nd haiku an allusion to Basho's following haiku:
a night secret
a worm under the moon
bores in a chestnut
© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)
Celestine is a long term participant in Carpe Diem Haiku Kai and she is a very gifted haiku poetess and family member of our haiku-loving family CDHK. Celestine writes wonderful haiku as you all could have read in the "time"-kukai:
midair waltz
first snowflakes and the leaves
frozen in time
© Celestine
In 2016 Celestine published her first anthology "Haiku Rhapsodies" written under, as a first idea, her pseudonym "Afua Peprah", but later on she decided to use her own name. It has become a wonderful and successful anthology. In the weeks before publishing I had the opportunity to read her concept (and later the final print) and I was in awe. Celestine writes really wonderful. A few examples:
bursting through the mist
silver rays kiss the leaves
ah, the dew, the dew
silver rays kiss the leaves
ah, the dew, the dew
cockcrow
the stirring of leaves
heralding a new day
© Celestine
the stirring of leaves
heralding a new day
© Celestine
Back in 2016 she has asked me to write a review. I was honored, because I am just a guy who happens to have a haiku weblog to promote haiku as an art form. I will give you a highlight of my review:
[...] "With "Haiku Rhapsodies", Celestine has delivered a wonderful book full of gems. A few years ago I met Celestine online at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, my daily haiku meme. Than she was just a novice in haiku. During the years she improved her haiku writing skills and I have seen her grow ... and now ... with this haiku anthology she dives into the 'big world'.
With this anthology she has reached a milestone ... I am glad and a bit proud that she has made this anthology after several years of publishing and sharing her beautiful haiku at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.
As I read "Haiku Rhapsodies" I was overwhelmed by the beauty of her haiku and I love to bring a few haiku in the spotlight:
empty calabash
reflecting the fading sun
a beggar sits in gloom
This haiku describes a scene, which is seen very often, but it's not the fading sun here but the beggar who has the lead. It's a haiku in which I easily can recognize the spirit of Basho (one of the four greatest haiku poets ever) ..." [...]
Celestine is a very talented woman which is shown in her "Haiku Rhapsodies" shows this very well.
Well ... I hope you all did enjoy this special about Celestine Nudanu. And to make this a challenge too for you all I think I challenge you to create a troiku with the following haiku by Celestine Nudanu:
empty calabash
reflecting the fading sun
a beggar sits in gloom
© Celestine
This extra special episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 30th at noon (CET). Have fun ...!
empty calabash
reflecting the fading sun
a beggar sits in gloom
© Celestine
This extra special episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 30th at noon (CET). Have fun ...!
Share your Troiku created from the haiku by Celstine Nudanu with us all here at our Haiku Kai.
| 1. | kaykuala | 4. | Al-Bahrani | 7. | Sara | |
| 2. | Kim M. Russell | 5. | Virginia Popescu | |||
| 3. | Reading Pleasure | 6. | Dolores |
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Ow Kristjaan, what can I say? Tons of gratitude, awe and respect from a humbled and deeply appreciate woman all the way from Ghana, Africa to you.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you so much. But you know, I am only a simple woman trying my hands at haiku and all these lovely words overwhelm me.
Merci beacoup. Danke. Gracias.
A beautiful review mate. So heartfelt, with wonderful research. I was also so honoured that Celestine used one of my photos of a forest for the cover. She is a haiku poet I Revere.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Hamish. It was thrilling to use a real photo for my cover you know.
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