Tag: Babishai 2017 haiku shortlist

ANTHONY ITOPA OBARO; BABISHAI 2017 HAIKU SHORTLIST

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Anthony Itopa Obaro, from Lokoja, says that the Babishai 2017 haiku shortlist is an array of breathtaking haiku that speaks volumes of the imaginative powers of its authors. He further says that he loves the oems just as much as he loves egusi soup. #Babishai2017

What drew you to enter for the competition?

I  felt that by participating in the competition of this magnitude, my writing could stand a chance of enjoying wide readership, If I did well.

Do you have  a particular personal story with haiku?

Yeah. I have been writing since my teens, but knew nothing about haiku until last year when I read the interview Agyei-Baah granted with Babishai Niwe on haiku. I developed interest in haiku since then, and have been writing haiku for roughly a year now.

What do you feel  towards the shortlist in general?

The shortlist is an array of breathtaking haiku that speaks volumes of the imaginative powers of its authors.

 

What motivation do poets need to keep writing in this ridiculously competitive world that vies for their attention?

Writing isn’t likely to fetch all writers much money, for sure. But, I suppose, the writer’s passion to write, and the prospect of his writing enjoying a measure of readership are the two main factors that ensure his pen is busy every other day.

 

If your 2017 submission was food, what would it be?

Wow!   Maybe pounded yam and egusi soup. I love this Nigerian delicacy as much as I love my poems on the shortlist.

Read his haikus here:

 

harmattan

unseen broom sweeping

everywhere

 

 

downpour

waterfalls from rooftops

pouring into buckets

 

We at Babishai, congratulate him again. The winners will be announced at the #Babishai2017 Poetry Festival dinner on Sunday 6 August at Humura Resort, Kitante Close. Cards are on sale at 40,000/- Call +256 703147862. The full festival programme is here.

#BABISHAI2017 POETRY FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

The full winning haikus are here:

http://bnpoetryaward.blogspot.ug/2017/07/the-babishai-2017-haiku-shortlist.html

 

 

NNEDIMA EZENWA-OHAETO; BABISHAI 2017 HAIKU SHORTLIST

Nnedimma Ezenwa-Ohaeto is from Akwa, Anambra State in Nigeria. She says that her brother, Chinua, motivated her to write and enter for the Babishai 2017 haiku prize.

What drew you to enter for the competition?

I don’t think it is “what” but “who”: it has always been my brother, Chinua, who always wants me and our other siblings to write, express ourselves and enter for competitions. He loves competitions. Making it into the shortlist has been a great joy to me. My entries― although my first time of trying haiku― were edited by Chinua, who gave it its taste and quality.

Do you have a particular personal story with haikus?

Yeah, I do. It was really difficult, for me, writing haikus because it was my first time. I remember how I birthed them: one particular night, I couldn’t sleep, and in the bid of wanting to kill time by doing a thing rather than just lying in my bed, I picked a paper and wrote just three, and one of them got me onto the shortlist.

What do you feel towards the shortlist in general?

Wooow! But I feel great. I feel appreciated. I feel I can write more. I feel my tiny and shy voice can make a difference.

 

 What motivation do poets need, to keep writing, in this ridiculously competitive world that vies for their attention?

Motivation poets need, for me, to keep writing: read more, listen to their feelings, and allow themselves be absorbed by their environment(s). In this way they can reflect their inner selves and society in which they find themselves through their outputs.

If your 2017 haiku submission were food, what would it be?

It would be fried rice decorated with chicken.

 

Her 2017 haiku submission is here:

 

crickets’ chirps

break the quiet of night:

an old man deserts his armchair

 

We at Babishai, congratulate her again. The winners will  be announced at the #Babishai2017 Poetry Festival dinner on Sunday 6 August at Humura Resort, Kitante Close. Cards are on sale at 40,000/- Call +256 703147862. The full festival programme is here.

https://www.babishai.com/2017/07/17/babishai2017-poetry-festival-programme/

The full winning haikus are here:

http://bnpoetryaward.blogspot.ug/2017/07/the-babishai-2017-haiku-shortlist.html