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Membership includes a year's subscription to the society's journal, Frogpond (three issues yearly). In addition, members receive HSA NEWS on the fifth of each month, the annual information sheet and an annual address/email list of HSA members.
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Like us on Facebook. Share news, poems, discussions! See photos from some recent gatherings of the poetic kind.
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Check out the ".haiku" column at the HSA webpage, please. Gene Myers shares tools and tips available to haiku poets.
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View our web sampler and excerpts from previous issues of Frogpond.
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The HSA appreciates your continued support and your participation in society activities. As primary supplement to the HSA website, this monthly report strives to bring you news from the Executive Committee and the Regional Chapters.
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|  Dear Members,
Hakone Ekiden is a special attraction of New Year's in Japan. Twenty universities and colleges send groups of ten long distance runners to compete in a two-day 200 km race. It starts from downtown Tokyo, in front of the sponsor company's headquarters. Runners pass the scenic Shonan Bay, climb up and down Mount Hakone and come back to downtown Tokyo. 'Eki' means 'station' and 'den' can be translated as 'delivery.' Each runner wears a sash across his chest. This sash, a symbol of the pride of his school, is handed from runner to runner. Sometimes the runner has to give up the race due to sudden illness or an injury. If he were too far behind the first place runner, his teammate might start without the precious sash. There is a lot of drama every year. Along the route, tens of thousands of spectators cheer for the runners. They are family members, school mates, alumni, as well as local residents and Ekiden lovers. Many more cheer in front of TV screens at home. At after-race interviews, young athletes often express their gratitude for the warm encouragement from the roadside supporters. HSA is a voluntary organization with runners and supporters. In addition to officers and regional coordinators, we have a lot of volunteers. Tom Chockley is one of them. He has been an HSA 'post runner' for the past two years. Until I received an e-mail from him, I didn't know that HSA had this volunteer post. Tom told me "Essentially, the post runner mails out back issues of Frogpond to people who had forgotten to renew before the Jan. 31st deadline or to people who become new members of HSA during the current year and who should receive a Frogpond back issue." Even a tireless volunteer like Tom cannot continue forever. We will need another 'post runner' after he retires from this duty in December, 2016.
If you are interested in serving as HSA's next 'post runner,' please let me know. winter cherry blossoms from a lean frog to a lean frog the sash
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|  Dear Members,
The HSA ended 2015 in solid financial condition. Cash in Bank as of 12/31/15 was $79,217 (a healthy 2.6 times 2015 expenses) Income was higher than expenses by $12,587. This was largely due to Income from membership dues and contributions, higher than budget by $8,352. This was largely a timing issue due to the many members who kindly renewed for 2016 at the end of 2015 and the fact that January, 2015 was also a heavy renewal month. Expenses were under budget by $6,010, most notably Administrative and Meetings/Travel and Grants/Sponsorships. Mini-Grants Program
Going into 2016 the Executive Committee is continuing its program of providing "mini-grants" to HSA chapters and local groups that initiate projects that support the HSA's mission "to promote the writing and appreciation of haiku poetry in English". Recent examples are support for the Midwest haiku path and a haiku booth at a large book fair. For more information on submitting a proposal for a mini-grant, please contact your Regional Coordinator or one of the HSA officers listed on our website ( hsa-haiku.org). |
HSA 2015 Financials
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2015
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For the year ending 12/31/15
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Actual
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Beginning cash balance
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$66,630
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Dues
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34,015
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Contributions
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5,309
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Kanterman/MHL
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300
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Members Anthology Sales
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198
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Contest Fees
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1,495
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Frogpond Sales
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1,218
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Bank interest & incentive
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116
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Income
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42,652
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Frogpond Expenses
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16,313
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Newsletter Expenses
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378
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Administrative Expenses
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336
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Members Anthology Expenses
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5,231
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Contest Awards / Expenses
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1,911
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Meetings/Travel Expenses
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4,108
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Grants/Sponsorships
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1,135
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PayPal & bank fees
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655
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Miscellaneous
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Expense
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30,065
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Surplus/(Deficit)
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$12,587
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Ending cash balance
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$79,217
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Bill Deegan
Treasurer
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|  Dear Members,
Welcome to new HSA members, and welcome back to renewing members! If you are reading this newsletter from your inbox, your information has been included in the 2016 HSA database. I apologize for not sending welcome letters, but approximately 300 members join or renew after the December 31 deadline. As your new secretary, I am busy inputting that data and readying mailing lists for this monthly newsletter and for Frogpond. However, if at any time you have questions or concerns about your membership, I hope you will get in touch with me.
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|  Dear Members,
As many of you have noticed, there has been a delay with Frogpond due to the editorial transition and backlog of submissions. Those who have sent email submissions will be notified of their status by February 15th (i.e. the beginning of the next submission period). Mail submissions will follow.
Please do not send inquiries before then. I appreciate everyone's patience during this delay, and can't wait to get the new issue in your hands.
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Twitter/Facebook Administrator
HSA requires a volunteer to act as Administrator of its Twitter and Facebook accounts. We tweet haiku gleaned from past issues of Frogpond, as well as occasional news and information from the President. We need someone to oversee postings to these sites and to respond appropriately to the postings of others following us.
We would like to reach a wider audience through the use of social media. We hope to attract haiku lovers and inspire others to explore the form. Of special interest are members of younger generations.
If you are interested in serving HSA in this capacity, please contact the President, Fay Aoyagi: fay.hsa.president@gmail.com. |
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Bernard Lionel Einbond
Renku Competition
The HSA Bernard Lionel Einbond Renku Competition for 2016 is calling for 20-verse submissions. Please log onto the HSA website for this and other contest guidelines. Patricia Machmiller, 2016 Second Vice President, will be coordinating the contests, and questions may be addressed to her. Please note her contact information on the website.
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|  Please see Upcoming Contests below.
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Haiku Poets of Northern California (HPNC)
The Haiku Poets of Northern California held our first quarterly meeting of the year on January 24, 2016 at Fort Mason in San Francisco. The meeting was opened by our 2015 president, Fay Aoyagi, at 1:25 p.m. The following people were present: Sue Antolin, Fay Aoyagi, Stephanie Baker, Sherry Barto, Lynda Beigel, Chuck Brickley, Richard Bruns, Bruce Feingold, Patrick Gallagher, Johnny Johnson Hafernik, Carolyn Hall, Michele Harvey, Beverly Acuff Momoi, Ren�e Owen, Linda Papanicolaou, Cheryl Pfeil, Jeremy Pendrey, Sharon Pretti, Joseph Robello, Lois Scott, Michael Sheffield, Alison Woolpert, and Joan Zimmerman. Before proceeding with our usual round of introductions and haiku, Fay announced that she will be stepping down as HPNC president to accommodate her new duties as president of the Haiku Society of America. The 2016 slate of HPNC officers was presented as follows: Garry Gay, president; Bruce Feingold, vice president; Carolyn Hall, membership secretary; Paul Miller, treasurer; and Sue Antolin, newsletter editor. Cherie Hunter Day will continue as the Mariposa
editor, Joseph Robello will forge ahead as our tireless bookseller; and Carolyne Rohrig will stay on as the contest coordinator. With that business taken care of, Fay turned the running of the meeting over to vice president Bruce Feingold in the absence of Garry Gay, who was unable to attend.
Bruce announced the results of the haiku, senryu and tanka portions of the San Francisco International Contest sponsored by HPNC. A flier with the results was passed around and any winners who were present were asked to read their winning poems aloud. Among those present, Joseph Robello and Sharon Pretti each won an honorable mention for haiku, Carolyn Hall won first place for senryu, and Ren�e Owen won an honorable mention for senryu. The complete results, including comments by each of the judges, Ce Rosenow, Carlos Col�n, and Margaret Chula, are posted on our website at hpnc.org.
Sue Antolin introduced our featured reader, Jeremy Pendrey, an attorney and poet living in Walnut Creek. Jeremy has been writing and publishing haiku since 2007, and has had work appear in Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Mariposa, Bottle Rockets, and Tinywords, among other publications. He became interested in writing haiku as a way to improve his writing generally, but quickly became hooked on the form. He has tried to look for inspiration in the outdoors, where he spends a lot of his free time, but more often seems to find it in conversation, on the commute to work, or in many other routine moments of daily life. For his reading, he grouped poems by theme, but left the themes unstated at first. He read work about his personal life, the outdoors, a stunning sequence of monoku inspired by a visit to the Guggenheim in New York, as well as a haibun. From his reading:
new neighbors
two beers and out comes
my old story
Modern Haiku, 39:3 Autumn 2008
riverbank
the long wait
for darkness
Tinywords, 14.2, Nov. 17, 2014
red light the tribe of this street corner
Modern Haiku, 45:2 Summer 2014
After a break for refreshments, browsing books for sale at the book table, and socializing, Bruce introduced our special guest, John Stevenson, a past president and treasurer for the HSA and past editor of Frogpond. Currently he is the managing editor of The Heron's Nest as well as a founding member of the Route 9 Haiku Group. Copies of his latest book Dark (Red Moon Press, 2014) were available for sale at the meeting.
In his presentation John explored the challenges haiku poets face in making effective recitals of their work. John broke the topic into what he referred to as "the three P's: Poems, Plan, and Placement." In selecting poems to recite, John encouraged skepticism regarding the terms "good poem" and "good reading." Objectivity in the selection of poems is difficult when a poet is selecting his own work. An additional challenge is deciding on the ideal volume of work to create a good experience for your audience. More is not always better, he noted. John also contrasted the appeal of haiku and senryu when recited. While a senryu might bring a satisfying immediate reaction from the audience, a good quality haiku will unfold and grow, and will reward the audience with new meanings as the poem is considered further. Good haiku happen slowly. Senryu, on the other hand, blow into the room, knock you over, and leave before you know what happened. The recitation of haiku is challenging because it is difficult to allow the time between poems for each poem to unfold. When selecting poems for a recitation, it is important to consider whether a particular poem might work better on the page than aloud, as is the case, for example, when the spelling of a word is crucial to the effectiveness of the poem. The eye and the ear scan poems differently, so it is important to select poems that are especially effective when recited. Select poems you believe in and that you want to share, he said, and always allow some flexibility to skip over or make changes to the reading depending on the circumstances you encounter in the moment.
Regarding the planning of a reading, John said the time poets typically devote to planning can vary greatly, with some poets planning a reading six months or more in advance and others putting their material together at the last minute. He quoted Jonathan Fox of Playback Theater as saying, "Have a plan, but hold it loosely."
The placement of poems requires considering the room as the place where the poem exists in a particular moment. The challenges of an effective presentation include projection, diction, eye contact, pacing, use of gesture, etc. Poetry is musical speech, John said, and so an effective strategy for reciting poems might include theatrical elements. John mentioned Terry Ann Carter and Marco Fraticelli's presentation at the Haiku North America conference in the fall as an example of a masterful use of theatrical elements. Carlos Col�n's use of a performance persona (Haiku Elvis) is another example of the use of theatrical elements in haiku recitation. Some techniques to consider using in recitations to keep and hold the audience's interest are the use of multiple voices, making the audience participants in some way, and incorporating an element of unpredictability in the performance. Again, John cautioned against including too much material in a reading, noting that the more poems you read, the more certain you can be that some of them will not arrive.
The group then discussed some of the challenges of haiku recitation and several people mentioned particularly memorable readings we have experienced, including one by Vince Tripi at the 2001 Haiku North America in Boston in which he had the audience at the edge of their seats (according to Carolyn Hall) with a sense of unpredictability by repeating some poems and not others, a reading a couple of years ago by Kath Abela Wilson at an HPNC meeting in which she repeated only parts of previously read poems in a jazz-like performance accompanied by her husband Rick on flute, and a recitation by Mark Hollingsworth at a Two Autumns reading in which he "read" a series of poems and then "re-read" the same poems in a different order all without any notes at all.
We then spent the remainder of the afternoon playing a haiku game in which we each wrote a line of a haiku separately and then recited it on the spot together with other poets to create some very unexpected poems. This is a variation of the exquisite corpse writing exercise in which words are collectively assembled. John explained that this type of game takes you away from your intention to be "the great poet" for a moment. The laughter and enthusiasm of the group attested to the fun we were all having. We hope John will return again soon!
HPNC's spring meeting will be on April 17, 2016. Sharon Pretti will be our featured reader and Beverly Acuff Momoi will present a talk on the Vertical Axis in Haiku, which she gave at the Haiku North America conference this past October in Schenectady, New York. For a complete schedule of upcoming events, see our 2016-17 schedule on our website at hpnc.org.
Submitted by Susan Antolin
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Southern California
Haiku Study Group Annual Post-Holiday Gathering
Members of the Southern California Haiku Study Group gathered at the home of Deborah P Kolodji for their annual post-holiday party potluck. Each attendee brought a "haiku gift" to share, the gifts ranged from handmade popsicle ornaments on a small limb of pine with a haiku attached, a cookie cutter with a haiku attached, a small packet of dishwasher soap with a haiku attached, to various haiga art cards and a miniature writing notebook. Each person read their haiku before handing out their gifts to the other attendees.
Lynn Algood, Marcia Behar, Peggy Castro, Kim Esser, Scott Galasso, Deborah P Kolodji, Yvette Kolodji, Greg Longnecker, Janis Lukstein, Mary Torregrossa, Maja Trochimczyk, Patricia Wakimoto, James Won, and Sharon Yee were among the attendees.
January 16, 2016 Meeting
Sixteen poets gathered in the Blue Room of the USC Pacific Asia Museum on Saturday, January 16 for the monthly workshop. The following books were brought to the meeting for sharing:
Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poems (Addiss/Yamamoto)
Winter Pruning by Wanda D. Cook
Seeds by Yu Chang
Off the Beaten Path: A Year in Haiku (Boatwhistle Books)
Gathering Dusk by Ellen Compton
Laughing to Myself by Tom Clausen
Last Ginkgo Leaf by the Rochester Area Haiku Group
After a read-around of haiku, where attendees either read one of their own haiku or a haiku from one of the books, Deborah P Kolodji led a "kukai" of selected haiku from the December 2015 issue of A Hundred Gourds. The haiku were read aloud anonymously, then participants voted on their favorites. After the voting, the authors were announced and the top three haiku were discussed in detail as to why people voted on them. After the haiku discussion, participants then took time to write their own haiku on the following winter seasonal prompts:
rain
bare root
tangerines
long nights
snow-capped mountains
Haiku were then entered into an anonymous haiku workshop which finished out the workshop.
Wakako Rollinger brought tea bottles which she had just received from the Ito-En Company, featuring her winning haiku:
New neighbor--
A dog keeps sniffing
another dog's history
- Wakako Rollinger
The following poets were present: Marcia Behar, Naia, Greg Longenecker, Kim Esser, Deborah P Kolodji, Scott Galasso, Toni, Pat Wakimoto, Janis Lukstein, Laura Longoria, Mary Torregrossa, Wakako Rollinger, Liz Goetz, Sharon Yee, Kathabela Wilson, and James Won.
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Los Angeles Times
Festival of Books
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will take place on the USC Campus, April 9th and 10th. The Southern California Haiku Study Group and the Village Publishing Group will be operating a booth on behalf of the Haiku Society of America and Haiku North America. Over 100,000 people are expected to attend the book fair, and we are excited to have a haiku presence.
You can help us by donating books to sell.
The proceeds from donated books will be split between HSA and HNA, unless the donator indicates a preference. Books can be shipped to Deborah P Kolodji, 10529 Olive Street, Temple City, CA 91780.
We are also interested in donations of haiku greeting cards, which could be mailed to the same address. Please indicate the approximate value of your donation for tax purposes.
We also may take books to sell on consignment. Please contact Debbie at dkolodji@aol.com if interested. Although there are thousands of potential book-buyers, a single title is likely only to sell a few copies.
We are hoping for a variety of haiku titles to keep people in the booth longer, so we can talk to them about haiku. If you will be in Los Angeles during this time and are interested in doing a "signing" or simply helping out at the booth, please contact Debbie at dkolodji@aol.com.
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KPFK: Poets Caf�
featuring Richard Gilbert
KPFK, a local radio station in Los Angeles, aired a half hour show on haiku, Wednesday, January 27, 2016. The show was co-hosted by Lois P. Jones and Deborah P. Kolodji and featured Richard Gilbert. The show description is as follows:
Haiku scholar, educator, translator and poet Richard Gilbert takes us on light-speed trajectory of the history of contemporary haiku. Perhaps the interview itself is a short form which can only hint at the depth of knowledge, experience (his friendships with Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Peter Orlovsky, Gary Snyder, et al.) and intensity of our fascinating guest. Richard will share a few personal favorites - his and others and discuss some of the more provocative aspects of modern disjunctive haiku. We'll explore some of the truths of haiku the average Westerner does not know.
A link to the show is here:
http://poetscafe.podomatic.com/entry/2016-01-27T21_35_10-08_00
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Upcoming SCHSG Events:
February 20 - Workshop, USC Pacific Asia Museum, 2-4 pm
March 19 - Combined HSA Meeting, USC Pacific Asia Museum 1 to 6 pm. Afternoon of readings and presentations. Morning/Evening Scheduling will be announced when finalized. There may be an optional ginko on Sunday.
April 9 & 10 - LA Times Festival of Books - haiku booth (USC)
April 16 - Workshop, USC Pacific Asia Museum, 2-4 pm
April 23 - Haiku Workshop,Fullerton Arboretum 11:00-12:30 am
April 30 - A Garden of Verses, Haiku Station, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, 10-3
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Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Beloved Issa: the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society's 2015 Retreat
The Society's 2015 retreat, Thursday November 12 thru Sunday 15, was held at the Asilomar State Beach and Conference Center on the Monterey Peninsula.
Thursday: For those who could attend early afternoon, a nature walk with readings from Rachel Carson's works was led by Ranger Lisa Bradford through the grounds and dunes to the beach. Afternoon registration was hosted by Amy Ostenso and Phillip Kennedy. YTHS President Alison Woolpert led off the evening program with a acknowledgement of the 40th anniversary of the Society and it activities in celebration, and Betty Arnold, Retreat Chair, previewed the program of the Retreat events. The Retreat's featured presenter, David Lanoue, presented an account of his long-term engagement with the masterful Japanese haiku poet Issa, including the translation of 10,000 of Issa's haiku. Patricia Macmiller introduced the silent auction of books and objects that serves as a fundraiser for scholarships to the retreat. The evening concluded with a demonstration of brush painting by Patricia and Carolyn Fitz, in which they painted on fabric from behind so the audience saw the painting, The Poet's Journey, magically take shape.
Friday: David Lanoue gave his keynote address, in which he presented inter alia the key characteristics in Issa's haiku, tender compassion, perceptive openness, willingness to laugh, bold subjectivity, literature reference, free flowing imagination, and child's consciousness. David urged the attending poets to observe these guidelines in writing haiku during the afternoon ginko. On reconvening after the ginko we shared the poems we had written with Issa's characteristics in mind. At the end of the afternoon Patricia closed the silent auction and the winners collected their treasures.
In the evening the poets in attendance were provided a moving presentation of Issa's poems, narrated and accompanied with rhythm instruments by David Sherertz, Patricia Macmiller, and Betty Arnold, with a dramatic accompaniment of interpretive dance by Ellen Brooks. Then honored guest from Japan, Emiko Miyashita, presented Impressions of Dreams: World Children's Haiku Volume 13, an illustrated book featuring a collection curated by Emiko of haiku and drawings from children from around the world. Next, the Society's 2015 anthology The Plover and the Moonstone edited by Patricia Machmiller and designed by Patrick Gallagher, was presented, and copies were distributed to the members in attendance. Subsequently Gregrory Longenecker, Chair of the Society's 2015 Tokutomi Memorial Haiku Contest, presented the results of the Contest. Many present were delighted to hear that their poems had been noted for merit by the judge, Marie Mariya. The evening was concluded by a presentation of spectacular photo haiga by Edward Grossmith.
Saturday: In the morning Carolyn Fitz led a workshop experience in simple sketching with brush. In the afternoon Emiko Miyashita led a kukai in the tradition of her Japanese haiku group, Ten'i. The afternoon concluded with an introduction to renku by Patricia Machmiller After dinner the participants enjoyed a renku party until late hours.
Sunday: The renku from the previous evening were read by the verses' authors. Then those who had done brush painting during the conference shared their haiga, and there was a round of haiku written at the conference. Betty Arnold and Alison Woolpert provided a summing up of the retreat and expressed appreciation for each of the presenters and organizers. Finally, Alison introduced Patrick Gallagher as the 2016 President of the Society, and Patrick closed the conference with thanks to Betty Arnold and all those involved with the conference.
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YTHS December 2015 Meeting A very merry gathering of YTHS took place at Judith and Lou Schallberger's warm inviting home on the evening of Dec. 12th (a very merry large one indeed, with 29 attending*).
After enjoying the delicious beauty of the holiday pot-luck and lively conversations, the group circled in the living room. There, the tradition of members bringing holiday card-haigas for each person continued. Members took turns giving out their cards and then reading out loud their haiku.
Once again, we were all treated to Judith's artistic touches and skilled hostessing (aided by husband Lou's good natured support) which she so generously consistently gives to YTHS.
*Roger Abe, Mimi Ahern, Betty Arnold, Dyana Basist, Ann and Kae Bendixen, Carolyn Fitz, Patrick Gallagher, JoAnn and Ed Grossmith, Cynthia and Rob Holbrook, June and Scott Hymas, Alan Leavitt, Patricia and Al Machmiller, Bev and Kat Momoi, Jeff and Yukiko Tokutomi Northon, Linda Papanicolaou, Judith and Lou Schallberger, Clysta Seney, Carol Steele, Sandy Vrooman, Alison Woolpert, and Joan Zimmerman.
--submitted by Mimi Ahern
YTHS January 2016 Meeting
It's a Saturday morning at the Asian Museum in San Francisco. Six members of YTHS (Mimi Ahern, Patrick Gallagher, Linda Papanicolaou, David Sherertz, Clysta Seney, and Alison Woolpert) gather for a docent-led tour of "Looking East-How Japan Inspired Monet, Van Gogh, and other Western Artists" ( http://www.asianart.org/exhibitions_index/looking-east).
Following the tour, members individually revisit the exhibit, and then gather for a sharing of museum-inspired haiku.
Sitting close together over tea at a table in the museum caf�, they experience the sharp absence of their beloved Dojin Patricia Machmiller, who two days before, while walking in a crosswalk near her home, was hit by a car. In the hospital and now healing, they sign a card for Patricia. Alison includes her haibun below.
"Looking East" Show,
San Francisco Art Museum"
As we stand in front of the block print the docent tells us that the eagle is a symbol of power and perseverance-and the strength of a samurai warrior. 
the "Eagle
on a Pine Branch in the Rain" painting
-winter accident 
--submitted by Mimi Ahern
photo by David Sherertz
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California Regional News Central Valley Haiku Club
CVHC From Year's End
to Year's beginning...
As Fall of 2015 deepened into Winter, and the holidays consumed the last of the year, the Central Valley Haiku Club was kept busy.
On Saturday, October 24th, with the sparkle of sun rays glinting off the waters that surround the Gekkeikan Sake Factory's meeting rooms, members Yvonne Cabalona, Mark Hollingsworth, Bill Owen, and Leslie Rose shared haiku, senryu, and haibun before a gracious audience of members, friends and family members. It was, as always, a lovely culmination to our months of writing.
Then, as December arrived, we wrote "closed" to another Jerry Kilbride Memorial English-Language Haibun Contest. The submissions were sent to the judges for their consideration.
A funny thing happened on our way to our favorite "feeding trough" and the site of several years' worth of meetings...We arrived to celebrate our usual December holiday meeting, that marks the end of our year, to find that our restaurant had closed its doors. In search of a place to gather, a nearby restaurant was chosen, but the din of diners and workers made visiting difficult. We will definitely miss the Eastern Empire and are currently still searching for a meeting spot replacement.
By January, the winners of our Haibun Contest had been chosen. There were many commendable submissions, but, in the end, three entries caught and held our attention. Two of the entries were given Second Place prizes each: Sidney Bending for his comical "Soft Shoe" and Renee Owen for her poignant piece "Under the Sea". First Place was awarded to Margaret Chula for her colorful and sensuous "Dusky Rose". As Yvonne, our president, commented: "There are stories and poems in each of us and every year we look forward to, and are appreciative of your submissions." So we hope that this next year's contest will see more folks writing and submitting entries.
As we enter February, we will be meeting for the first time in this New Year at the Gekkeikan Sake Factory in Folsom at 12:00 on Saturday, February 13th. Should you be in our neighborhood, you are cordially invited to join us to share writings and laughter.
Respectfully submitted,
Leslie Rose
CVHC Secretary
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| Mid-West 
Julie Warther
MSU HAIKU STUDY GROUP
TO START THIS FEBRUARY
Dates: February 20, March 19, April 16, 2016
Time: Saturdays, 1 - 3 pm Where: On the Michigan State University campus in Snyder Hall, C302. Snyder Hall is a Residence Hall at 362 Bogue Street, off of Grand River Avenue. You can look it up on this map: http://maps.msu.edu/interactive/Why and Who: https://centerforpoetry.wordpress.com/tag/michele-root-bernstein/Led by Michele Root-Bernstein, who is looking forward to this opportunity to celebrate haiku in the Midwest. Feel free to contact her at cuttlefishmuse@gmail.com if you are ever in East Lansing and would like to join in the fun! Submitted by Michele Root-Bernstein
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| South 
Carlos Col�n
Mississippi Mud Daubers
Haiku Group
The Mississippi Mud Daubers, which includes among its members haiku poets living in southwestern Illinois and the greater St. Louis area, met at Sacred Grounds Coffee House in Edwardsville, Illinois on December 18, 2015. Members present included: Ruth Bell; John J. Dunphy; John Han; Lois Mitchell; Richard Keating; and Ben Moeller-Gaa.
John J. Dunphy, John Han, Richard Keating and Ben Moeller-Gaa shared work for critiquing. Richard Keating has a new book coming out: Pere Marquette State Park: An Unofficial Guide to Its History, Natural History, Trails and Drives. Two of Ben's chapbooks, Wasp Shadows and Blowing On A Hot Soup Spoon, are now included in the American Haiku Archives. John Han translated Eating Alone And Other Disorders, from Korean into English for distribution in India. Maple-Colored Moon: Seasonal Haiku, a collection of 100 of John's poems, will be published in India. John continues to edit Cantos, the literary magazine of Missouri Baptist University where he serves on the faculty.
Ruth Bell ran into a student she taught at Lewis and Clark Community College 25 years ago at the coffee house. The student told us that Ruth made him believe in himself as a writer. Ben and John J. Dunphy will have poems in the Red Moon anthology of the best haiku published in 2015. John Han told John J. Dunphy that he is specifically mentioned in the Wikipedia article "Haiku in English." Genuinely overwhelmed, John J. Dunphy told his fellow Mud Daubers that his career as a poet has officially peaked, and now it will be downhill all the way.
-- submitted by John J. Dunphy
for the Mississippi Mud Daubers
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Jim Applegate is trying to finish the last 'small canyons anthology' and is about 25 pages short. He needs a three line bio and enough haikuest poems to fill the rest of the pages. Any type of poems Haiku, senryu, tanka, haiga, etc. will be considered. Please send email to japple@dfn.com as soon as possible. Santa Fe Haiku Study Group
The Santa Fe Haiku Study Group, organized by Charles Trumbull and Sondra Byrnes, first convened in February 2015. This lively group has since met monthly; we read our haiku, Charles Trumbull generally makes a presentation on some aspect of haiku, then we critique one another's haiku. At recent sessions, we have also had haiku readings by prominent haiku poets Roberta Beary, John Brandi, David McKee, Miriam Sagan and Lew Watts. I know most of these people and will try to come up and join them when I can. Thanks for your interest. Jim Applegate |
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Notice to
New England
HSA Members
New England Letters is finally back after its hiatus, and it can be in your inbox each month. NEL features the poetry of New England authors, literary commentary from readers, updates on local meetings and events, and recognizes the achievements of our regional poets. If you are not on the mailing list and would to sign up for this free newsletter, just send in your request to willowbranch32@yahoo.com with the subject line: NEL Subscription. The Haiku Poets' Society of Western Massachusetts finished its 2015 Speaker Series with readings/talks by Brad Bennett (MA) and Stanford M. Forrester (CT). Each event was followed by a small reception and a great deal of lively conversation. In Memoriam
Gloria Ayvazian (MA) and Virginia Settle (MA) passed away at the end of 2015. Both were long time members of the Haiku Poets' Society of Western Massachusetts. These two spirited women will be missed.
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The first meeting of 2016 for Haiku Northwest (the Seattle/Eastside group) was held at 3rd Place Commons in the Lake Forest Park Town Center on Thursday, January 28. Since we had to cancel our December meeting due to flooding, falling trees and downed power lines, the first order of business was the election of officers for 2016, with results as follows: President, Angela Terry; Vice President, Michelle Schaefer; Secretary, Tanya McDonald; Treasurer, Dianne Garcia; and Webmaster, Michael Dylan Welch.
Following that, we had an exercise using 8 randomly generated words as writing prompts, and then sharing some of our results. The evening ended up with a few rounds of haiku which we had brought to read and critique.
The next meeting for Haiku Northwest will be on Thursday February 25. Several exciting events are coming up as well.
On February 28, the Bagley Wright Lecture Series is bringing poet Judy Halebsky to Hugo House in Seattle for a talk about haiku and her own poems, as well as her travels in Japan, interest in Basho and butoh, and the connection of these forms to time, landscape and tradition. As President of Haiku Northwest, Angela Terry has been asked to do the Q&A, which is exciting as it gives Haiku Northwest a chance to increase its visibility in the larger Seattle poetic community.
And on April 17, Haiku Northwest will be hosting International Haiku Poetry Day at the Seattle Arboretum's Japanese Garden from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, with a variety of presentations, readings and fun events scheduled.
Regards, Angela Terry HSA Washington Region Coordinator
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The Robert Spiess
Memorial Haiku Awards
for 2016
Modern Haiku is pleased to announce the Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Awards
Competition for 2016. The purpose of this competition is to honor the life and work of Bob Spiess, editor of Modern Haiku from 1978 to his death on March 13, 2002.
Email entries will now be accepted as well as postal entries.
Theme: Haiku are to be written in the spirit of the following "Speculation" (Robert Spiess, A Year's Speculations on Haiku, Modern Haiku Press, 1995):
As haiku poets, we can learn much from such sources as the traditional masters' haiku and from contemporary haiku publications; but our best teachers are wind and rain, oaks and anemones, rivers and mountains, minnows and giraffes, eagles and earthworms, children and God's fools.
Deadline: In hand no later than March 13, 2016.
Rules: The competition is open to everyone but the staff of Modern Haiku, the competition coordinator, and the judge. Entries must be in English. Each entry must be the original, unpublished work of the author, and should not be under consideration in a contest or for publication elsewhere. For purposes of this competition, appearance of a haiku in an Internet journal, on a Web site, in a blog, or in any other public media is considered publication, but posting haiku on a private email list is not. Of course, entries should not be shared in an Internet journal, Web site, blog, private or public email list, or any other public media during the term of the competition.
Submission guidelines: Poets may submit a maximum of five haiku written in the spirit of the above Speculation, accompanied by the applicable entry fee.
Postal entries should be typed or printed legibly on one sheet paper. The poet's name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address (if any) should appear in the upper left-hand corner above the haiku. Send postal entries to: Billie Wilson, 1170 Fritz Cove Road, Juneau, AK 99801-8501 USA.
Email entries are to be submitted as follows: (1) on the Modern Haiku subscription page:
scroll down to the Donate button;
(2) make a donation of up to $5 [$1 for
each entry];
(3) when you receive your payment confirmation number, copy and paste it into an email with your haiku and your name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address;
(4) send the email to Billie Wilson at
Please keep a copy of your submission; entries will not be returned. Please follow the instructions carefully: entries that are incomplete or that do not comply with the instructions will be discarded.
Entry fee: $1 per haiku, cash, check, or PayPal (U.S. funds); make checks payable to Modern Haiku; for email entries, follow the instructions above.
Adjudication: A judge will be selected by Modern Haiku; the judge's name will be announced at the time of the awards. Judging will be double-blind, and the judge will not know the identity of the entrants. The judge's decisions are final.
Selection criteria: The judge will look for entries that hew to Western norms for haiku as published in Modern Haiku and other leading English-language haiku journals and that best capture the spirit of the theme Speculation above. There are no rules as to syllable or line count.
Awards: First Prize: $100 plus a signed copy of The Heron's Legs (1966, out of print). Second Prize: $50 plus a copy of Bob's The Shape of Water (1982);
Third Prize: $25 plus a copy of Bob's Some Sticks and Pebbles (2001). Up to five poets will be awarded Honorable Mentions and each will receive a copy of Bob's A Year's Speculations on Haiku (1995).
Notification: Winners will be notified by email or phone before the general
announcement. Winning entries will be published in the summer 2016 issue of
list of the winners, please indicate that on your e-mail entries or send a stamped, self-addressed envelope (SASE) with your postal entries. The winners will be announced when the summer issue of Modern Haiku is released. Submitted by Billie Wilson
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The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society 2016 Kiyoshi & Kiyoko Tokutomi Haiku Contest
In-hand Deadline: May 31, 2016
Prizes: $100 $50 $25
Contest Rules:
* Haiku must be in English.
* Haiku must each have 17 syllables in a 5-7-5 pattern.
* Each haiku must use only one kigo from the contest list.
* Haiku with more than one recognized kigo will be disqualified.
2016 Contest Kigo List
New Year: Year of the Monkey, first laughter
Spring: flowering dogwood, May Day
Summer: Queen Anne's lace, chickadee
Autumn: dragonfly, oak gall
Winter: frost-nipped/frost-tipped artichoke, Orion
Email entries, PayPal payment & all guidelines are available on the YTHS web site: http://youngleaves.org/.
This year's Contest Chair, Gregory Longenecker may be contacted at: 2016TokutomiContest@gmail.com
Submitted by the Contest Chair,
Gregory Longenecker
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The Winners of the 2015 Kiyoshi & Kiyoko Tokutomi Haiku Contest
This year's judge was Marie Mariya, a haiku poet, literary critic, a member of the Association of Haiku Poets and the Haiku International Association and author of One Grain of Cosmos, a book on haiku criticism.
First Prize
Elaine Whitman, Pacific Grove, CA
Second Prize Priscilla Lignori, Montgomery, NY
Third Prize Ferris Gilli, Marietta, GA
Honorable Mentions (No Particular Order)
* Meik Bl�ttenberger, Hanover, PA
* Brett Brady, Pahoa, HI
* Toni Homan, Elk Grove, CA
* Phillip Kennedy, Monterey, CA
* Marietta McGregor, Stirling, Australia
* Desiree McMurry, Franklin, MO
* Joseph Robello, Novato, CA
* David D. Sherertz, Berkeley, CA
* Joan Zimmerman, Santa Cruz, CA
Submitted by the Contest Chair,
Gregory Longenecker
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Call For Submissions
Every Chicken, Cow,
Fish and Frog:
Animal Rights Haiku
Call for Submissions for Every Chicken, Cow, Fish and Frog: Animal Rights Haiku. Seeking haiku, senryu, tanka and monochrome haiga related to the theme of animal rights, broadly conceived.
Please send poems to Robert Epstein / Miriam Wald at taylorepstein@earthlink.net or SASE to: Robert Epstein, 1343 Navellier Street, El Cerrito, CA 94530. Paperback Print Edition. No compensation for inclusion in anthology. Deadline extended to 4/1/16.
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Bernice Hunold, 1919-2016
The Haiku Poets of Northern California were saddened to learn of the passing of Bernice Hunold, a former and enthusiastic member of HPNC. She was 97 years old.
Bernice had a very interesting career as a children's book editor and author. She worked for Macmillan Company on Harris-Clark readers, writing original stories as well as selecting and adapting material as texts for lower grades. She was the children's book editor for Abelard-Schuman Ltd. and then for Parents' Magazine Press. She was a weekly columnist for "Books for Children" in the Saturday Review Newspaper Syndicate during the 1950s. Bernice wrote nine children's books including Half-as-Big and the Tiger (1961), Tag-along (1962), Grandpa's Policeman Friends (1967) and two works of literary criticism including Pride and Prejudice: notes and criticism (1965).
Bernice and her noted photographer husband, Ray Hunold, joined HPNC in approximately 2001, eager to learn to write haiku. The following are a few of her many poems published in Mariposa from 2002 to 2009.
My pill box empty.
Where has September gone?
(2002)
Spreckels Lake
my husband on a far bench
looking small
boy with a paper hat
sized for the future
(tan-renga 2004)
end of summer
each driver claims
the right of way
(2005)
holding hands--
through the harp of the bridge
a clear light
(2005)
on and on
the train
the broken promise
(2006)
winter snow
the path home
has disappeared
(2006)
all
the blueberries
went in the pail
I was such
a good girl
(2007)
fog-bound Alcatraz
she sharpens her thoughts
with a pencil
(2009)
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Ignatius Fay HSA NEWS Editor
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