ABC Wednesday: J is for the January 2011 Partial Solar Eclipse

The story is told on the Cosmopoetry website by SARM's Astropoetry Master Club and Friends.

On January 4, 2011 the old continent and large zones of Asia and Africa were spoiled by such an eclipse. although the sky did not break anywhere the winter clouds, an entire world vibrated for this phenomenon.


Moon and Venus over Targoviste © Valentin Grigore

*****

A Jubilee For The Foucault Pendulum
by Dimitrie Olenici

I made a jubilee experiment with the Foucault Pendulum at Iasi University, 50 years after a similar one made by Ghe. Jeverdan, Ghe. Rusu and V. Antonescu to the solar eclipse of February 15, 1961 when they discovered that the oscillation period of a pendulum changes during an eclipse. My experiment, made by a pendulum of 17.78 meters installed in an inferior room, confirmed their results one more time. A high moment, although I observed this eclipse at the subsoil.

*****

The Partial Solar Eclipse In Europe
by David Asher (Northern Ireland, UK, astronomer at Armagh Observatory, famous meteor shower predictor, discoverer of asteroids, co-star in Hollywood movie Armageddon)

At dawn on the New Year's fourth day
The sun was part eaten away.
The eclipse was quite deep,
But I was asleep -
What will other astronomers say?

*****

Tanka
by Gerald England (UK, Editor of New Hope International, honorary member of the International Writers and Artists Association, laureate of the Ted Slade Award)

an eclipse tonight
posted a friend on Facebook
but by then too late
out of my window blackness
others' visions seen online

*****

Pse 2011 In Magurele (Romania)
photograph © Andreea Fazacas

*****

Brief Escape From A Hysterical Town: Bucharest, January 4, 2011
haiku by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

Over a park
the eclipse like a
bird of fire.

*****

Hanne’S Object
or
A Parallel Thought During A Partial Solar Eclipse When The Sky Is Cloudy
by Steve Sneyd (UK, director of Hilltop Press and editor of Data Dump, laureate of the Peterson Trophy)

You praise blue gas ball
galaxy - big 10° K hot
yet no stars in it to
heat this mystery you smile
"as puzzling as me to you"

*****

Vampires And Eclipses
by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

Dracula is a vampire,
said someone,
falsifying the historical truth.

In this Romanian brave ruler's Capital,
Targoviste,
no observer of the 2011 partial solar eclipse
saw Vlad Tepes Draculea
(his real name)
eating our star.
Only the Moon's "body check"
to the Sun.

*****


Eclipse Among Snowflakes In Targoviste
photo © Cristian Daniel Grigore (age17);
haiku by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

among smowflakes
which are never twins
another unique eclipse

*****

So many potential observers were frustrated by the weather conditions but they manage to contribute some superb photographs nonetheless. The above are just a small sample. See them all at European Winter Astro-Story Of The Partial Solar Eclipse 2011.

For more J posts visit ABC Wednesday.

For more views of the heavens visit Skywatch Friday.

The Purple Hours & Lisa Conesa

On my Collected Works site I've just posted The Experiment which was first published in The Purple Hours, an anthology edited by Lisa Conesa.

Steve Sneyd mentions this anthology in an article on the The Science Fiction Poetry of Robert Calver from the out of print Hilltop Press publication Gnawing Medusa's Flesh archived on the Aural Innovations website.


He writes

The one UK genre anthology of any real scope since 1969 was produced for a special purpose. Lisa Conesa, herself a poet and editor of the notable fanzine Zimri in the early and mid 70s, persuaded the organisers of the 1974 Tynecon convention to include a poetry reading - she called it a Poetry Soiree - in the program. Prior to the event, she approached a variety of writers, including SF professionals who wrote poetry, SF fans ditto, and little magazine poets, for work to include in an anthology to mark the soiree.

Handsomely designed and produced by Harry Turner, the 44-page book, entitled The Purple Hours, includes work by a roll call of British SF names - Aldiss, Ballard, Brunner, Moorcock.

It also includes four poems by Robert Calvert - "The Clone's Poem", "The Gremlin", "The First Landing On Medusa", and "The Starfarer's Despatch". Calvert was also among those who read at the poetry soiree itself, along with Brian Aldiss, and South African-born poet Jeni Couzeyn, who wrote a series of poems inspired by Aldiss stories, although she did not appear in The Purple Hours.

My Collected Poetical Works site is intended to be a complete collection of my poetry and will eventually include all my published poems and a selection of unpublished work. I suspect it will take three years before we get to pieces written after the millennium!

Global Astronomy Month 2010

The latest anthology page from our friends at SARM is Global Astronomy Month.

Valentin Grigore writes

Many people wanted another international year of astronomy because they felt that astronomy is not only a simple science and the sky is not only a simple study object, so the Global Astronomy Month came naturally.

GAM meant a special living under the starry canopy connected to the coming of the spring, when the sap of the Earth meets the sap of the Sky, and this union arouses all and gives life.

We had a month with many celestial events:
a splendid lunar circuit
(begun and ended with the full moon),
the planet Saturn like a "planet with handles"
(just as Galileo Galilei had seen it four centuries ago),
beautiful conjunctions,
and a supplementary sky gift,
the Lyrid meteor shower.

And sky lovers also organized a solar week, a lunar week, star parties and even remote astronomy programs.

We felt more,
although we had to confront
the barrier of light pollution,
a measure of human ignorance.

Our souls should reflect the light of the stars
just as it really is,
because astronomy is not only a simple science,
and the sky is not only a simple study object.

The sky is all!

The website has hundreds of photographs of the events they organised plus contributions from around the world.

UK contributions include:

Pluto is turning red
they tell us. Warns us of what
force melts its cold face?

Steve Sneyd

My own haiga which first appeared on Spring Haiku 2010.

and

BENEATH THE ASH CLOUD

Across a clear sky
Unsullied by vapour trails,
A meteor streaks.

John Francis Haines

24th April 2010 was

INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMY DAY

Let's celebrate cosmology,
planetology and astrometry,
galactic and extragalactic astronomy,
astrophysics and astrochemisry,
stellar astronomy,
astrobiology and astrophilosophy.

Aesthetically,
this itemization of the profound branches
of the "queen of sciences"
appears like a succession of rhymes.

But only watching and feeling the sky
we can celebrate astronomy
through astropoetry.

Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

The Coordinator's Last Words are

SARMs Astropoetry Master Club tried successfully to release this project before May 18th and May 24th, the birthdays of Steliana Gheorghe (1934-2009) and Costica Gheorghe (1927-2007), in order to honour their decisive role in the existence of the international contemporary astropoetry movement.

SARM's Astropoetry Master Club and Friends tried to make in this project not only the largest-ever web page of astropoetry and astropoetic images, but also a record of beauty regarding the cosmic reflection in the human soul.

And after all Astropoetry to the Global Astronomy Month 2010 represented the most beautiful gift for when I turned 50 years.

Andrei Dorian Gheorghe,
2010 May 14th

See it all by visiting Global Astronomy Month

Planet X

I recently got this message from John Hartley with a request to pass the information on to All of Space!

Bad Timing

Mayan calendar
Ends in two thousand and twelve
My mortgage paid off

JC Hartley

Intrigued by stories that Nibiru, the fabled Planet X, is due to return to our solar system in the year 2012, messing with the Earth's axis, and wreaking wholesale havoc through tsunami and climatic change, and/or ushering in a new age of enlightenment, it occurred to me that here was material for a volume of Planet X related poems.

For those unfamiliar with Planet X theory there are websites, and individual blogs, ranging over the scientific, the compellingly scholarly, the cheerfully debunking, and the just plain bonkers. Some commentators locate Planet X as a servant of two masters, orbiting between our own sun and its dark twin; some go so far as to identify the system ruled by this dark star as the realm of the fallen angels.

Anyway you get the picture. With a bit of research, or else just by making it up, there should be enough to go on to supply poems dealing with ecology, chaos theory, hard science, hard science fiction, soft science fiction, astrophysics, metaphysics, theology, ethnography, and stuff about personal relations.

In line with the rising curve in production values of Othername Press titles the book will incorporate original commissioned illustrations, and hopefully an introduction/foreword from someone suitably hip from the scientific community.

Submissions can be sent by snail mail to Othername Press, 14 Rosebank, Rawtenstall, Rossendale, BB4 7RD, UK, or by email (in the body of the text, attachments will not be opened; put Planet X in the subject line), to othernamepress@yahoo.co.uk.

Please enclose SAE for return of postal submissions & acknowledgement of acceptance if required, but please be patient as the final shape of the book may take some time. I also work and study and have considerable claims on my time, as do we all. There is no limit to the number of submissions, but please, no Norse sagas. Payment by copy as usual.

building

The theme for the British Haiku Society's Members Anthology 2008 was BUILDING.

My contribution was West window first published here as a haiga.

87 members contributed to this year's anthology which was edited by Charles Christian.

Copies of the 28 page chapbook are available (UK price £3:00 inc p&p – Rest of World price £4:00 inc p&p – payable via PayPal) from the publishers Ink Sweat & Tears.

A Haiku Video

Poem Studios in association with Brooks Books brings you the first full length feature film about English Language Haiku and The Short Poem. The film features Sonia Sanchez and some of the top haiku poets of the 21st Century.



This is just a trailer for a full length DVD and book, HAIKU: The Art of the Short Poem a film haiku anthology edited by Tazuo Yamaguchi & Randy Brooks, published by Brooks Books, who also produce the magazine Mayfly.

News from The Stinging Fly.

Vol 2 #10, Summer 2008, is now out. There are six new short stories, five long book reviews and a healthy smattering of poems; featured poet is Grace Wells and cover photography is by by Gerry McCloskey. Full details at http://www.stingingfly.org/current.html

The magazine is helping out with the Oxfam Books' Poems for 2009 Competition. The competition is to find six poems for next year's calendar. Closing date is Tuesday July 17th 2008. This year's stellar line-up of guest poets are Moya Cannon, Patrick Deeley, Eamon Grennan, Vona Groarke, Dave Lordan and Eiléan Ní Chuileanáin. The competition judge is Patrick Deeley. Further details, entry form and competition rules are on the Oxfam Ireland website. All funds raised from the competition and from the calendar will go towards funding Oxfam Ireland's various overseas aid projects.

In September they are publishing their second short story anthology, a follow-up to THESE ARE OUR LIVES (2006). The twenty new short stories were chosen from more than 400 stories received late last year. The new book will feature stories by Ragnar Almqvist, Evelyn Conlon, Danny Denton, Damien Doorley, Michael J. Farrell, Mia Gallagher, D. Gleeson, Rosemary Jenkinson, James Lawless, Colm Liddy, Viv McDade, Emer Martin, Gina Moxley, Helena Nolan, Jim O'Donoghue, Donal O'Sullivan, Breda Wall Ryan, Ingo Schulze, Tom Tierney and William Wall.

The Stinging Fly
PO Box 6016
Dublin 8
Ireland
ISSN 1393-5690
€7
visit the website of The Stinging Fly

Read reviews of earlier issues on NHI Review

caucasus carcass

caucasus carcass is one of the latest publications by Atlantean Publishing.

It is a collection of "Reissian Haiku" - so-called because it derives from the work of poet Ed Reiss and the poems are in the style of haiku. "in the style of" is a fair enough description. The main rule of the form is that only letters with no ascenders [d, f, h, l] or descenders [g, j, p, y] can be used in their composition.

This restriction actually produces some excellent poems, particularly the ones by Steve Sneyd and D J Weston who are the major contributors to this anthology.

My favourites (all by D J Weston) are

rain runs on us,
on crosses, moss, our names -
our veins are ice

*

war-zone mess
enemies cower in ruins
no-one wins

*

warm summer comes
as sun-cream oozes over me
sere verses simmer

the last, although it has eight "m"s, has only one "n". I don't think there is a single poem here that doesn't include at least one "n" and most have several.

It is certainly good value at just £1.

I have to confess to being much less happy with editor D J Tyrer's collection THE ATLANTEAN. It is called "Collected Haiku" but hardly any of these compositions are haiku by almost any stretch of the imagination. He says he

came to haiku fairly late, initially as a challenge, then for the practical reason of needing occasional filler material for his magazines

and unfortuneatly he seems to have bought into the notion that any collection of seventeen-syllables split into three lines can automatically be called a "haiku".

There are a number of good short poems, clerihews, brief jokes, proverbs here:

Ten-sixty-six: fight!
Invade blood-red foam sword slash
King dead new king now

*

Too much sun skin cracks
Red-raw, head hurts, lotion
Rub it in and trust

*

a snowfall in March
how strange! cry amnesiacs
forgetting past snows

*

editorial
letters of comment reply
debate if you dare

so I do dare, because I care. Tyrer is a writer who could do so much better if he didn't try to shoe-horn his verse into something it doesn't fit. Whether he would be better discovering more about haiku (which takes years rather than weeks) or better honing his skills in other directions is for the author to decide.

Atlantean also publish five magazines titles including Bard (latest issue #64) and Awen (latest issue #51)

Atlantean Publishing
38 Pierrot Steps
71 Kursaal Way
Southend on Sea
Essex
SS1 2UY
UK

visit the website of Atlantean Publishing

Read reviews of earlier issues of Bard.
Read a review of another collection by D J Tyrer.

World Haiku 2008

World Haiku 2008 is the fourth in a series of annunal anthologies edited by Ban'ya Natsuishi and published by the World Haiku Association.

If your language is English, you read the book forward for a total of 107pp - the haiku are all in English or the writer's native language (except for the Japanese) with a translation into English. If your language is Japanese, you start at the back and read forward for 114pp - this section contains the original haiku of the Japanese contributors and translations into Japanese of the others.

Between the two sections are six pages of haiga. All the images are grey-scaled which in some cases is possibly to the good, though a few would probably be better seen in colour.

As well as the haiku and haiga there are four essays. Ban'ya Natsuishi writes about the FUTURE OF WORLD HAIKU. I won't attempt to summarise his essay, but will give you some quotes which should give readers an idea of where he is coming from and going.

Why are we interested in haiku writing, not as a classical short poetry peculiar to Japan, but as a contemporary short poem which may be creative in any language, in any country? Why is haiku writing still creative in our own days?
...
One of the most typical misunderstandings [I have encountered] is that a person inspired by a trivial moment can write a good haiku.
...
Everybody knows that haiku is a short poem, but the fact that a verbal universe made by an excellent haiku is boundless is not so well known. ... Basho's haiku as a basis for our haiku is written from a moving and free viewpoint, and it can build up a dynamic and vast universe including contrasting elements. These charachters are extremely suitable to contemporary art and literature and explains why haiku is always avant-garde, why it always has a feeling of freshness to it.
...
Free form poems may be connected with modern democracy in the West, therefore fixed form is anachronistic in the West. ... What is the difference between free form haiku and free short poem in 3 lines? ... Nobody can give a perfect reply to this problem.
...
Haiku is shorter in line, more suggestive, tight, and intense in expression, and it contains more concrete images. In haiku, each word is filled with more potential power. ... haiku is always the essence of poetry.
...
we [would] rather promote haiku writing in any language, in any country, than make up a world-wide definition of haiku to narrow its possibilities.

Authors from Cuba, Latvia and Romania also provide astute essays on the history and present state of haiku in their respective countries.

The submission deadline for the 2009 anthology is 2nd May 2008. Only members of the WHA may submit work. Membership cost varies depending on where you live in the world. See the WHA website.

Read a review of World Haiku 2006.