THE
TWO BABISHAI 2016 POETRY AWARDS
CATEGORY 1-THE BABISHAIKU 2016 POETRY AWARD
Guidelines for
submissions:
·
"We are looking forward to Africa
themed haiku i.e. haiku about African sights and sounds. Haiku must contain
clear images, settings and juxtaposition. Haiku must be concise and as brief as
possible (though 17 syllable haiku are welcome).
·
In short, we encourage experimental
haiku and but submissions should be three-
line haiku structure or form. Please note one single haiku cannot contain all
the highlighted features above, and hence are to be used as mere
guidelines."
·
It is open to ALL African poets (LIVING
IN AFRICA), who will not have published a full-length collection of poetry by
May 2016
·
Submissions should be original, in
English. Submit using Times New Roman, single-spaced and size 12.
·
Send the three Haikus to
bnpa2016@babishainiwe.com as a word attachment. Include the poem’s title on the
poem but DO NOT include your name or contact details on the haiku itself
·
If you submit in this category, you are
not eligible to submit for the second category of the Babishai Poetry Award
·
The subject line should read, BABISHAIKU
2016
·
Include your name, email address,
country or birth and country of permanent residence, telephone number and the
titles of your poems in the body of the email
·
The submissions will be accepted from
February 29th 2016 to May 22nd 2016
·
There is no theme, be as creative as
possible
·
The long-list will be announced by July
2016
·
More details on the face book page,
Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation, on Twitter @BNPoetryAward and the website, www.babishainiwe.com
·
The top three winners will receive 150
USD each and participate in the 2016 Babishaiku mentorship programme
THE JUDGES
The
chief judge of the #Babishaiku 2016 Competition is:-
Adjei Agyei-Baah
Adjei Agyei-Baah is
the co-founder of Africa Haiku Network and Poetry Foundation Ghana. He also
doubles as the co-editor of “The Mamba”, the official haiku journal of Africa
Haiku Network. He holds MA. TESL (Teaching English As A Second Language) and
MBA in Strategic Management and Business Consulting from University of Ghana
and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology School of Business
respectively. He currently teaches English language and Literature in English as
a part-timer at University of Ghana Distance Learning Center, Kumasi Campus and
Ghana Baptist University College, Kumasi. Adjei is an inventor and a champion
of “Afriku” (African Haiku) – an
avant-garde haiku type that focuses on the unique images, sounds and settings
of Africa. He is a widely anthologized poet both at home and abroad, and have
written and presented eulogies such as“Ashanti” and “In the Grey Hair of
Soyinka”to King of Ashanti, OtumfuoOsei Tutu, and Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Prize
laureate respectively. And his all-time favorite piece “For the Mountains”was selected
by BBC to represent Ghana (in a poetry postcard project)in the last Commonwealth
Games held at Glasgow, Scotland, 2014.
In the haiku circles,
his works have appeared in reputable journals and literary websites such as Shamrock,Akita Haiku International Haiku
Network, The Heron’s Nest, Cattails,
Acorn, Frogpond, World Haiku Review, , A Hundred Gourds, Brass Bell Haiku
Journal, Asahi Haikuist Network, Yay Words, Indian Haiku Kukai, Mainchini Daily,Presence,
European Kukai Kai, Africa Haiku Network, Wild Plum, Prune Juice, Boston Poetry
Magazines, Poetry Space-UK, Poetry Foundation Ghana, The Kalahari Review,
Luminary Review etc.Besides, some of his published African haiku (which he pursues
as a specialty) have received honorable mention from the desk of reputable editors
and judges fromCattails, World Haiku Review and 4th Japan-Russia
Haiku Contest, 2015 andwith others translated and
recorded into music.
He is a member of
Haiku Northwest, United States and United Haiku and Tanka Association (UHTS),
United States and currently been mentoring young Africa poets who have interest
in haiku with his African brotherandpartner, Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian with
their new founded organization (Africa Haiku Network), with its core mission of
promoting haiku across the Africa continent.
Adjei in his career as
a teacher has acted as a poetry judge on many senior high school poetry and
spoken word contests and his latest in similar role was the guest poet at Carpe
Diem Haiku Kukaifor the month of August, 2015.Adjei is the Winner of Akita
Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Award, 3rd Japan-Russia Haiku
Contest, 2014 and look forward to more laurel in the haiku/ Afriku field which
has become so addicted beyond redemption.Adjei
launches his two maiden collections “Afriku “-Haiku & Senryu from
Ghana (Red Moon Press, 2016) and Embers
of Fireflies (Author House, 2016) this year.
**********************************************************
CATEGORY 2
BABISHAI 2016 POETRY AWARD SECOND
CATEGORY
Guidelines for
submissions:-
·
It is open to ALL African poets (living
anywhere in the world), who will not have published a full-length collection of
poetry by May 2016
·
Submissions should be original, in
English and not more than 40 lines each. Submit using Times New Roman,
single-spaced and size 12. Local languages are accepted only if English
translations are sent alongside them
·
Send three poems to bnpa2016@babishainiwe.com
as a word attachment. Include the poem’s title on the poem but DO NOT include
your name or contact details on the poem itself
·
The subject line should read, BNPA 2016
·
Include your name, email address,
country or birth and country of permanent residence, telephone number and the
titles of your poems in the body of the email
·
The submissions will be accepted from
February 29th to May 22nd 2016
·
There is no theme, be as creative as
possible
·
If you submit in this category, you are
not eligible for the Babishaiku Award
·
The long-list will be announced by July
2016
·
More details on the face book page,
Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation, on Twitter @BNPoetryAward and the website, www.babishainiwe.com
·
The top two winners will receive 700 USD
and 300 USD respectively
·
The top ten will be part of the 2016
Babishai mentorship programme and participate in various festivals across the
world
For any inquiry, email
babishainiwe@babishainiwe.com
There will be an entire panel of judges for this
category led by Stephen Partington and Isaac Tibasiima. In a few days, we’ll
have a Q and A with the entire panel, their expectations and so on.
Stephen Derwent Partington.
Poetry is his primary hobby and
passion. He began to write poetry at school. He describes his poetry as
accessible. His early writing was full of Modernist allusions and foreign
languages, but as he accessed more contemporary poetry this disappeared.
He’d probably also describe it as
hybrid in the sense that while he has sought to fit into the Kenyan (and wider
African) traditions of broadly Anglophone verse, lots of influences from his
pre-Kenya days remain. He has been published widely in various anthologies and
also,
published in; . Two collections,
one in Kenya (SMS and Face to Face) and one from the UK (How to Euthanise a
Cactus).
Isaac
Tibasiima
Isaac Tibasiima is a
Doctoral Researcher and Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Literature,
Makerere University. He has previously taught in the Department of Languages at
Uganda Martyrs University. His research interests are in oral and written African
Poetry in general and Ugandan poetry in particular. He is also interested in
researching Competition Music Performance and how this especially is a
portrayal of a performance of power, national identity and regionalism in
Eastern Africa. Currently, he teaches on the Oral Literature research project
at Makerere University. Isaac is a writer, especially of poetry and believes
poetry should speak to the soul and have a changing role in mankind and
society, leaving them better than before. He believes in experimenting with
voices because this gives poetry its unique taste of reality and gives poets
the chance to do what Plato hated the most about poetry: to be impersonators.
Isaac loves reading, especially contemporary African writing and teaching is a
passion he has had since his primary school days. His main aim as a teacher and
researcher is to leave a very strongly positive mark on not just around him but
the whole of humanity.
FOR ANY INQUIRY, CONTACT babishainiwe@babishainiwe.com
Good job, colleagues. hope to contribute a couple of haiku.
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