This section caters for those pieces that push the limits of haikai-type verses and have been referred to as ku, gendai and H21.

As the word gendai means ”contemporary” I will be looking for such haiku: haiku written for, from, within the 21st century and the diverse historic and cultural reality of the writers' lives. To me contemporary haiku deals with modern life as it plays out in our age and where we are (which of course also is in the ethereal sphere of mass media and the hyper-sphere of social media) and not the poetic dreaming of an illusionary past, or the persistent use of old “rules” and misunderstandings. I will be looking for strong disjunctions and juxtapostions, a personal language, a personal (not private) outlook, verse that doesn't rely on traditional haiku-language building blocks (standard phrases, clichés), works that shows the reader something new, or something old in a new light.

As any genre often is hard to define I suggest reading  http://www.gendaihaiku.com/, http://www.roadrunnerjournal.com, http://noonpoetry.com, http://bonesjournal.com, http://isletpoetry.wordpress.com among others to get a sense of what gendai haiku can be. Of course haiku is undergoing constant evolution (it's a human expression and humans and humanity evolves grow, develop) and your take on it might be quite different from what is expressed in the journals and sites mentioned above …

Please submit up to 10 gendai haiku in the body of an email to the editor with "UtB Submission - ku" for the email subject.  
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