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I believe I have a treat for you today. We’re off to Croatia, yes, in the summer when the weather is beautiful and we’re going to meet with Dejan Pavlinović one of Croatia’s pre eminent haiku poets. He’s going to read from a couple of his solo works, one of which has just launched, yes, you are one of the first people to hear this work, Life Lines.
DEJAN PAVLINOVIĆ was born in 1968 in Pula, Croatia, but spent part of his childhood in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Today he is an English and German teacher, part-time tour guide and member of the indie band The Chweger from Pula. He serves on the Iris haiku magazine editorial staff, and he is the founding editor of the Haiku HR Facebook page. He runs the Pula Gymnasium Haiku Club in his school and conducts haiku workshops for students and adults. He judges haiku competitions for both children and adults. He has been writing haiku since 2007. His work is featured in two Croatian haiku anthologies.
His poems have been published in Croatia and abroad, awarded and commended on Croatian and international haiku competitions (Kusamakura Haiku Competition, ITOEN, Vladimir Devide Award, The Betty Drevniok Award, Mainichi Haiku Contest, Vancouver Cherry Blossom, Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum Haiku Contest, R.H. Blyth Award, Santoka Haiga Contest, Ukiah Haiku Festival, Sōka Matsubara International Haiku Contest…). Likewise, his poems have been published in various national and international haiku magazines, newspapers, websites and anthologies (Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Blithe Spirit, Presence, IRIS haiku magazine, The Haiku Foundation, Chrysanthemum, Seashores, Senryu To, World Haiku Review, NHK TV Haiku Masters, Poetry Pea Podcast, A Hundred Gourds, The Asahi Shimbun, Haikuniverse, Under the Basho, The Mamba Journal, Failed Haiku, Ephemerae, Cattails, Wales Haiku Journal, Blo͞o Outlier Journal, Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, My Haiku Pond, World Haiku, Scarlet Dragonfly, Sketchbook…).
Pavlinović’s haiku were featured on the Mann Library Daily Haiku page of Cornell University (Ithaca, New York) during the month of April 2023. He publishes his haiku both in English and Croatian on his Smiling Cricket Haiku blog. In 2016 he published his first book, Mliječnom stazom / Down the Milky Way, a collection of haiku poetry written in both Croatian and English (foreword and afterword by Jane Reichhold and Djurdja Vukelic Rozic, and blurbs by George Swede and Chen-ou Liu).
In 2021 he published Nexus Haiku, a co-authored and co-created bilingual collection of haiku, senryu, haiku sequences and rengay, where all poems were composed equally and collaboratively during a period of three years by Michael Dudley, Tomislav Maretić and Dejan Pavlinović. The Croatian Literary Society from Rijeka awarded Nexus Haiku the “Borivoj Bukva” prize for the best haiku collection published in Croatia in 2021. Pavlinović publishes his second solo book Linije života / Life Lines / 生命線 in 2024, a collection of haiku poetry written in Croatian, English and Japanese (foreword by Nina Kovačić, and blurbs by Michael Dudley and Ikuyo Yoshimura).
LIFE LINES – A BRIEF BOOK DESCRIPTION:
LINIJE ŽIVOTA / LIFE LINES / 生命線 is Pavlinović’s third (second solo) collection of haiku poetry comprising 100 haiku poems, including those published, awarded, and commended in various domestic and international competitions. The book has 156 pages, and is trilingual (Croatian, English, and Japanese), with the English translations of the poems done by the author himself, as he writes and publishes in both Croatian and English, while the Japanese translations are the work of Japanese poet Ikuyo Yoshimura. The foreword was written by the distinguished Croatian haiku poet Nina Kovačić, and the book features short reviews by renowned Canadian poet Michael Dudley and translator and poet Ikuyo Yoshimura. Additional contributors include Sanela Pliško (co-editor), Matko Plovanić (cover, layout, and design), and Thierry Dubois (illustrations). The book is published by TONDAK in 2024.
“Precise and perceptive, the expressive haiku of Life Lines meaningfully explore the complex intersections of love and loss, of delight and grief, of acceptance and reflection. Comprehensive in scope and arranged in a thematic four-part structure, each attentive section of poems evokes a myriad of resonant mind and heart responses to life’s interconnected seasons.” (Michael Dudley)
“Pavlinović’s book Life Lines contains haiku characterized by careful choice of words, balanced style, clarity, rhythm, and atmosphere. His haiku are striking and insightful, cleverly organized into an original concept. The artistic expression and aesthetic values of Dejan Pavlinović’s haiku confirm and enhance his status as one of the most compelling and creative contemporary authors, not only on the Croatian haiku scene.” (Nina Kovačić)
“The love for family is like the flow of a river. Whether it’s a small stream or a mighty river, both bask in the sunlight and, at times, pour into the vast ocean with intense rains. Family ties connect that love from generation to generation, eternally. Through Dejan Pavlinović’s collection of haiku poetry, you can acknowledge the enduring love within a family.” (Ikuyo Yoshimura)
LIFE LINES BOOK SPECIFICATIONS:
Title: LINIJE ŽIVOTA / LIFE LINES / 生命線
Author: Dejan Pavlinović
Publisher: TONDAK
Language: Croatian, English & Japanese
Price: 14 EUR + shipping (3 EUR)
Pages: 156
Size: 140 x 205 mm (5.51″ x 8.07″)
Binding: perfect softbound with flaps
Year of publication: 2024
ISBN: 978-953-46031-1-6
INFO & BOOK ORDER:
Dejan Pavlinović: dejan.pavlinovic(at)gmail.com
Web/Blog: https://smilingcricket.blogspot.com
The Chweger (indie band): https://www.youtube.com/user/thechweger
