*********** HAPPY NEW YEAR **********

AND WELCOME TO THE

^^^^^^^ PUB CHATTER 6TH EDITION ^^^^^^

!!! PLEASE REMEMBER TO ADD THIS BOOK TO YOUR LIBRARY !!!

Welcome to the first issue of the Pub Chatter 6th Edition!! We have a new format and some new features for you.  Things may change over the next few weeks as I am still working out just how I want to spice things up.  If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see in the Chatter, please feel free to PM me or leave me a comment.  Each month we will have a new theme and we will be featuring a different poetry form.  The monthly theme and form will be not only featured here but it will tie into our contests and Poem-a-Week challenges.

Random Prompt - Write an adventure based poem about the photo above.

HAIKU

Here are some examples of haikus, by one of the most revered haiku masters Yamaguchi Sodo.

Author: Yamaguchi Sodo (1642 – 1716)

[Japanese]
Me ni wa aoba/Yama hototogisu/Hatsu gatsuo

[English]
The green leaves for eyes
The little cuckoo in the mountain
The first bonito of the season

******************************

Author: Yamaguchi Sodō (1642 – 1716)

[Japanese]
me ni wa aoba / yama hotogisu / hatsugatsou

[English]
A view of greenery,
a wild cuckoo,
the first bonito

**********************************

Author: Yamaguchi Sodō (1642 – 1716)

[Japanese]
yado no haru / nani mo naki koso / nani mo are

[English]
In my hut this spring,
There is nothing –
There is everything!

Poets Pub

JANUARY CONTEST –Another Day, Another Adventure

Our first contest of the new year is open for submissions.  Please see our contest book for full details.

SOCIAL MEDIA –

We now have three new social media accounts.  We encourage everyone to like/follow us, it will help you to stay in the loop.

Poets Pub Facebook Page - www.facebook.com/Poets-Pub

Poets Pub Twitter - https://twitter.com/pub_poets

Poets Pub Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/poets_pub/

POEM-A-WEEK –

Our Poem-A-Week Challenge started anew, January 1st, 2020.  We are going to work it a little different this year.  Each week in the Chatter we will give you a prompt for the Poem-a-Week Challenge.  So, you will need to check back each week to get your new prompt. 

We will also have a participation sticker as well as a completion sticker and certificate for those who choose to join and complete the challenge.

If you have been a part of this challenge in 2019 and wish to continue, let us know and we will put you on the participants list for 2020. 

To participate in the challenge, all you need to do is create a book on your own profile or use one of your existing books, then let us know what book it is and start writing.  You can also send in your poems to include in our collection here.  Please PM us if you take on the challenge so we can add your name to the participants list.

*Please Note that the cover for the Poem-A-Week Challenge book has been updated.

Week one prompt – Write a haiku about your favorite season.

Don't forget to send your poems in so we can include them in our collection!

storytellers-saloon

Our December prompt is up and we invite everyone to stop by and participate!!

We already have our first entries for December, stop by and let the authors know what you think.

If you haven't stopped by to read our Write the Story entries yet, I would highly recommend that you take a moment to check them out!!  Then consider send us your entry as well!! If you know anyone that might be interested in this challenge, please, don't hesitate to pass on the information.

Every month I will be posting a new short story writing prompt along with several words to use in the story.  The stories will completely vary in genres.  Please check out our contest book for full details!

Lyttlejoe's Busted Gulch Volume 13:

AJ and Loren got married!! It was a lovely ceremony, and everyone pitched in to make it a family affair!  A little bird helped Bella with her secret Santa gift and a beautiful new bow was left at Chechi's door.  Ruechari had an interesting day taking care of Jacob, it seems he is down and out with a cold.  Raven was able to pull of his secret Santa gift, a puppy for Strop and Ronan.  The Denver family had the first of their family meetings and it went much better than had been hoped.  Brandy and Colton stopped for the night and exchanged a few words.  Brandy admitted she had tricked Bruce into thinking they had actually got married.  Gyn worked hard to get her secret Santa presents ready, hand sewn gifts for Ron and Josie.

If you want to find out what's next, head on over to The Storytellers Saloon and check out Lyttlejoe's Busted Gulch Volume 13!!  Don't forget to add it to your reading list, new chapters are posted daily!

flash-fiction-forum

We are having our FFF Write-off to determine the Master of Flash for 2019. Starting today and lasting into January of 2020, we will be inviting past winners of FFF monthly competitions to send us a new story to add to the Masters of Flash collection. The collection already will include all the winning entries from all contests since September 2018, when the FFF was introduced.

Each winner will have the opportunity to send us a new story of their choice to include in the collection. We then encourage all writers to reach out to their followers and have them check out the entries in the competition, as the winner will be determined by fan votes.

The winner will be announced at the end of January 2020.

As part of the Pub-Verse of sites, we encourage all Pubbers to drop by the FFF and take a look. The Flash Fiction Forum has struggled to gather new followers and we ask all Pubbers to support one of their sister sites.

Random Prompt - Write a 10 line poem inspired by the photo above.

Featured Form - Haiku

Many of you may be familiar with this month's featured poetry form, the haiku.  A Haiku is a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world. However, in the original Japanese form they do not count syllables, they count the sounds that each word makes; counting the syllables is an English adaptation.  That is why when you read some of the oldest and most famous Japanese haikus the syllable count is different. 

On the surface this poetry form seems very simple, but in reality, it is a complex form that takes time to master.  The philosopher Roland Barthes had this to say about haikus, "The haiku has this rather fantasmagorical property: that we always suppose we ourselves can write such things easily."

The original intent of a haiku is to simply imply, infer or suggest a more complex idea or feeling.  It is important to not use words that describe feelings or images (i.e. beautiful, glorious, fearful).  It is not the poet's job to limit the reader's interpretation of the haiku, but merely present a factual suggestion and leave it to the reader for interpretation.

Check back next week for more information about the HAIKU!

Random Prompt - Write an adventure based poem based on the photo above.

Well there you have it!! Our first Chatter of 2020!! I hope you all enjoy the new look and format!! We have loads more to bring to you in the coming weeks. Please don't forget to add this book to your library and reading lists.

I hope everyone has a safe and productive week!! Remember to keep those pens and keyboards flying!

Cheers from your Mystres of Chatter
MystresMyna