Josefina
Gerlach, a 5th grade elementary school pupil, was born in 1990 in Zagreb,
Croatia. She has been writing haiku since 1998, and have, so far, won three
first prizes in Croatian children's haiku festivals. "Ever since my teacher
introduced me to haiku," she says, "I understood that there is
big life hiding in small moments." Josefina's haiku appeared from time to
time on the Internet Shiki Haiku Salon, where some poets became rather fond of
her poetry. She felt specially close to John Crook, who wrote to her letters of
encouragement and was the first to make web pages for her. Her haiku and
Smiljana's photographs are a part of John Crook's web pages, "Grains
of Rice" at http://www.haiku.org.uk
Josefina's mother Smiljana Gerlach, a photographer and a haiku poet, started
illustrating her daughter's haiku in 1999. On Feb. 4th 2002, their first joint
photo-haiga exhibition is opening in Zagreb.
Sonia
Christina Coman is a 7th-grade student at an art school in Constanza, Romania. I
also study universal literature with special interest in Japanese literature at
the PRO College in Bucharest. She has been writing haiku since she was a young
child, and is mentored by the Romanian poet, Ion Codrescu. An award-winning,
well-published haiku poet, Sonia is a member of the Constanza Haiku Society. She
says ever since she began writing haiku "...my life has changed. I have
learned to be more attentive to the life around me, the beauty of the world and
the joy we derive from living in it. Haiku makes us realise that each small
element of nature is very important. Haiku has helped me, for instance, to
discover the beauty of a the eyes of a deer, a sunrise, or dewdrops on a fresh
white rose."
Sonia's mother, Maria Coman, enjoys
collaborating by combining her own photography with Sonia's haiku.
Kayla Christine Kohlmaier is a 10 year old
5th-grade student in Florida, United States of America, born in 1991. A beginner
in haiku, she has been writing haiku together with her grandmother, Debi Bender
when visiting, and sometimes even over the phone for a little over a year.
Recently she showed a page of her published haiku to her home-room teacher, who
then gave the class lessons on writing haiku. This photo-haiku project is the
first such collaboration between Kayla and her grandmother. Kayla decided to
take the photos while her grandmother wrote the haiku. Kayla is a member of the
WHChaikujunior mailing list and enjoys sharing her haiku with others through
that forum. She looks forward to hearing from others whenever she posts her
poetry and messages.
