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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,
A long, long time ago, when gods and goddesses lived in Japan's archipelago, there was a sun goddess named Amaterasu Omikami (Mighty Goddess Of The Shining Sky). One day, after lamenting her brother's misbehavior, she hid herself inside a stone cave. The sky went dark and many evil things began to happen. To lure her out of the cave, other gods asked a female goddess to dance. Some of her dance was outrageously funny and her audience laughed so hard. Out of curiosity, the sun goddess peeked out and was eventually enticed out of the cave. There was another goddess named Konohana Sakuya Hime (Princess Of Blooming Blossoms). 'Konohana' (this blossom) is another name for a plum blossom. It was based on the following waka from Kokin-shu. 難波津に咲くやこの花冬ごもり今は春べと咲くやこの花 naniwazu ni saku ya kono hana fuyugomori ima wa haru be to saku ya kono hana
blossoms bloom in Naniwazu-
these flowers that hibernated now find spring has come... and these blossoms start to bloom The goddess of spring was called 'Saohime' (Princess Of Sao). Mt. Sao is located to the east of Nara, the ancient capital. Since east was considered the direction of spring, this goddess was named after this mountain. I might add that the goddess of autumn is 'Tatsuta Hime' (Princess Of Tatsuta) because Mt. Tatsuta is located to the west of the capital - the direction of autumn. At the joint meeting of HSA and the Southern California Haiku Study Group in Pasadena on March 19, I felt I had met our own goddesses of spring. Genie Nakano opened the meeting with her dance and haibun performance. Susan Antolin followed the act presenting 'Haiku Aesthetics.' I then gave a speech titled 'Writing With You-ness,' followed by haiga presentation and reading by Naia. A more detailed report is found in this newsletter. spring afternoon the goddess's robe hung on a branch
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|  Haiku San Diego
(Southern California)
March 13, 2016, Haiku San Diego (HSD) Regular Monthly Meeting. Attendees: Naia (facilitator), Donna Buck, Susan Campion, Scott Galasso, Carol Judkins, Denise Lizarraga, Claudia Poquoc, and Karen Stromberg.
Members of HSD met on a perfect spring day, enjoying the patio setting of a local coffee house.Our topic was The "Simple" Haiku: Complex Crafting and the Impression after the Words Fall Away. Naia handed out a reference sheet listing types of crafting under the general headings of 1) Structure and 2) Techniques.HSD members participated in an exercise to study pre-selected published haiku and identify the structural elements and techniques each poet used in his/her published haiku. We also discussed whether or not we perceived the types of crafting as subtle or heavy-handed and the potential for edits, if any. We found that we were better able to identify many elements of "Complex Crafting" that leave us with a moment of revelation in ways we seldomly explore in more depth. Each of us realized there are some elements and techniques we regularly overlook and, therefore, are less likely to use when writing our own haiku.During the final segment of our meeting we participated in an anonymous haiku workshop, with special emphasis on the crafting elements and techniques contained in each entry as well as potential missed opportunities.Note: The sources of the various haiku we studied during the first hour were The Heron's Nest (March 2013 and December 1999), Modern Haiku (Summer 2011), Frogpond (Winter 2014), and The Virgilio Contest (HSA annual contest, 1996 winning haiku). Authors were revealed after our exercise was completed. Naia Temecula, CA submitted by Deborah P Kolodji
Southern California
Haiku Study Group
On Saturday, March 19, the Southern California Haiku Study Group (SCHSG) hosted a Haiku Society of America regional meeting in Pasadena at the beautiful USC Pacific Asia Museum. Deborah P Kolodji presided over the day's events, which began with a well-attended lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen across the street from the museum. The official program began at 1 p.m. in the auditorium of the museum with a brief business meeting led by HSA President Fay Aoyagi, appropriately and enthusiastically attired in a hat and t-shirt bearing the HSA logo, both of which are available for purchase on the HSA website (a link to the Haiku Society of America Gift Shop is on the right hand column of the HSA homepage). Fay mentioned upcoming HSA events in Portland, Oregon in August and in Hot Springs, Arkansas in the fall. Anyone with questions or concerns they would like to address to Fay should contact her via email at fay.hsapresident@gmail.com.  Fay Aoyagi Fay's announcements were followed by a dance and dramatic haibun performance by SCHSG member Genie Nakano. A skilled performer, Genie punctuated her performance with several well-timed moments of humor and included a wide range of material, including a series of tanka. Debbie then introduced Susan Antolin, who presented a talk entitled "Haiku Aesthetics: A Look at Understatement" that she had previously given at the Haiku North America conference in Schenectady, New York in October. She argued that the ideal of understatement in haiku is a useful measure for evaluating the effectiveness of both traditional and contemporary haiku and discussed various ways understatement can be achieved. After a brief break for refreshments and socializing, Fay presented a workshop on "Writing from You-ness" in which she encouraged us to allow ourselves into our haiku. She quoted from the introduction to her first book, Chrysanthemum Love, in which she wrote, "I don't write haiku to report the weather. I write to tell my stories." She also noted that, contrary to what many haiku poets believe, metaphor can be used in haiku. To inspire us in writing our own haiku, Fay presented a variety of sample poems with interesting season words including hazy moon, lilac, asparagus, east wind, butterfly, mother-child grass, and father-child grass. She also spoke about what she refers to as "the three B's in haiku: Between the lines, Behind the lines and Beneath the lines." She likened this idea to Japanese bunraku plays, in which the people manipulating the puppets in full view of the audience become nearly invisible as the audience's attention is on the lifelike movement of the puppets. In a similar way, the poet can be invisible (though still present) between, behind and beneath the lines of the haiku. Fay closed her presentation by passing a microphone around so that everyone could read aloud one or more of the haiku they had just written. Next up was a haiga reading by Naia, an active SCHSG member and accomplished visual artist, who showed slides of watercolor paintings and photographs (all done by her), while reading each haiku aloud accompanied by recorded music. It was a polished and inspiring performance!  NaiaAfter Naia's reading, there was an open mic reading in which anyone was welcome to read a handful of haiku or tanka at a time while Rick Wilson performed on flute. The day provided plenty of inspiration, food for thought, and haiku camaraderie. A lovely day! submitted by Susan Antolin
Several Southern California Haiku Study Group members met at Abricott Restaurant to welcome Frogpond editor, Aubrie Cox, and associate editor, Jim Warner, to Southern California. Aubrie and Jim were in town for the AWP conference being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. There was some haiku at AWP - Roberta Beary was featured at the Rattle reading on Friday, April 1st, and Aubrie did a book signing of her haiku chapbook, "out of translation," at the Kattywompus press table. Kathabela Wilson and Deborah P Kolodji both participated at off-site AWP readings for the Coast to Coast Poetry Collective, Kathabela reading from Mariko Kitakubo's new book of tanka, Indigo, from and Deborah reading from her upcoming book of haiku, "highway of sleeping towns" from Shabda Press. Hummingbird Press editor CX Dillhunt read a few haiku from an issue of Hummingbird as well as having copies of haiku chapbooks by former editor Phyllis Walsh for sale. Upcoming events for Southern California include a HSA/HNA haiku booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the USC Campus, April 9th and 10th, a haiku workshop at the Fullerton Arboretum on April 23rd (11 am to 12:30), a haiku station at a Garden of Verses at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont on April 30th, and a ginko/haiku reading at the Whispering Pines Tea House and Friendship Garden in Glendale on May 15th.
submitted by Deborah P Kolodji, SCHSG Group Moderator
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Tom Tico (1943-2016)
It is with great sadness that we share the news that Tom Tico passed away on February 4, 2016 at the age of 73. Tom was a founding member of HPNC, a co-editor of the San Francisco Haiku Anthology, the author of Spring Morning Sun (Belltower Press, 1998), and a skilled and widely admired poet. He began writing haiku in the 1960s and continued writing and publishing his work up to the end of his life. A lifelong resident of San Francisco, Tom once said, "Why do we have to write about nature separate from our lives? Why go to the country? I'm writing about what I know, these streets where I was born, where I have lived my whole life. All the nature I need is right here, in the Panhandle." He will be truly missed. Three of his poems from the San Francisco Haiku Anthology (Smythe-Waithe Press, 1992):
In the mission garden,
the old fountain overflows
with morning-glories
Beside the tenement
a box of broken glass
filled with autumn sun
With the children gone
the fall wind opens and closes
the playhouse door ____________________________
Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Ginkgo Walk
With our rain gear, picnic supplies, and camera in tow, my wife Roz and I arrived at the East Bay Regional Park Botanic Garden for the YTHS Meeting at 10:45 AM on Saturday March 12, 2016. Given the weather forecast, I was dubious that anyone from YTHS would come. We waited around for twenty minutes after the scheduled start time of 11 AM, and while there were many other visitors in the Garden, no one from YTHS appeared. But since we were there (Roz was scheduled to lead a weekend Docent Tour at 2 PM, which did get rained out), we decided to do our own Ginkgo Walk around the Garden. It wasn't really raining, just occasional drizzles. With my camera, I took all of the pictures above. I did not include any manzanita pictures, but most of them were in full bloom all over the Garden. The Garden walk and the wet weather inspired this haiku: Old haiku poet feels the rain, stands up and jumps - splashes of water. Hopefully, next year the Garden Tour will not be a washout, although we are grateful for all of the rain.
- David Sherertz
 Coast Fawn Lily (Erythronium revolutum) Mottled leaves reminiscent of the markings of a fawn. There were four different species of fawn lilies in the Garden in bloom on 03/12/2016.
 Flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) Many different currants blooming throughout the Garden. This one was growing at the edge of Wildcat Creek, which was flowing vigorously.
 Wake Robin (Trillium chloropetalum) Five different species of trillium were in bloom in a variety of places in the Garden. This one is native to the Garden.
 Silver Bush Lupine (Lupinus albifrons) A lupine in full bloom in the second week of March. Evidence of ample rain mixed with periods of warmth and sun this Winter.
 California Pipevine (Aristolochia californica) This is its flower, which comes out before the leaves. Its common name comes from the shape of the flower, reminiscent of a Meerschaum pipe.
 Adobe Lily (Fritillaria pluriflora) The bulb beds in the Garden had quite a variety of lilies, shooting stars, and other rare California native bulbs in bloom. They are camera shy.
 California Newt (Taricha torosa) This newt was in the parking lot near the restrooms. Concerned that its location might flood with standing water, I coaxed it away to the bushes.  East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden (Hortus EBRP)The Garden has only California native plants. The rain held off until early afternoon, except for brief drizzles. Wildcat Creek was roaring through.
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Midwest
Study Groups
Ohaio-ku Study Group
The first meeting of the Ohaio-ku Study Group will meet Saturday, April 9 from 10am-noon at the Cuyahoga Falls Public Library in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. http://cuyahogafallslibrary.orgThe study group is open to anyone, from beginners to seasoned haiku poets. Each session will include writing exercises, discussion of published haiku, work-shopping of our own writing, and time for attendees to write and share their work.
The group will meet the second Saturday of every month.
Questions may be directed to Julie Warther at wartherjulie@gmail.com. ______________________
New Haiku Blog
John Martone has started a new blog, http://otatablog.wordpress.com that will be devoted to haiku and short poems. The first three months have featured Mara Rosolen, Tom Montag, John Perlman, Scott Metz, David McMurray and Philip Rowland, among other fine poets. April will be devoted to Haiku from Italy. submitted by John Martone
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Indianapolis Haiku Group
The Indianapolis Haiku Group (IHC) will meet on Sunday, April 24th, from 2-5pm.
IHC is a place for writers to share, read, write and workshop haiku, senryu, tanka,
haibun, tanka prose, haiga and collaborative forms. The location varies each month.
Please contact group facilitator Kyle D. Craig at kcra4ig@gmail.com if you are interested in attending.
submitted by Kyle D. Craig ______________________
University Center for Poetry, will have its third gathering on April 16, 2016 from 1-3, C302 Snyder Hall. (Campus parking is free on Saturdays.) All are welcome, from beginners to seasoned poets. Sessions include read-arounds, aesthetic explorations, haiku exercises, writing time, collaborative play, and sharing. Check out the Center for Poetry website at http://poetry.rcah.msu.edu/index.htmlor contact Michele Root-Bernstein at rootbernsteinmichele@gmail.com for more information.
Bonus for haiku enthusiasts:
The Michigan State University Science Festival will host a Haiku Hike on Sunday, April 17, 2016 from 11:00 - 12:30, starting in Rm 127 of the Chemistry Building. All ages! For more information, see http://www.sciencefestival.msu.edu/Event/View/187
submited by Michele Root-Bernstein
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Forgive me Southeast HSA members for being a little out of touch as we transition from my 'reign' (sounds so regal - haha) to that of Robyn Hood Black's. That doesn't mean things haven't been going on in our region! If you are doing something in your state, please email me at terri.l.french@knology.net. In March, I and HSA member Peggy Bilbro judged the Birmingham Public library's Twitter Haiku contents, in both the adult and youth categories. The BPL partnered with the Japan-America Society of Alabama (JASA) and the Southeast Chapter of the HSA to sponsor the contest as part of the annual Sakura Festival, the primary event of which took place at the Japanese Gardens at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on Saturday, March 19, 2016. Awards were given to the top three winners in both categories. Friday, March 4, HSA member and Reinhold University professor, Laurence Stacey and I were the featured guests at the Birmingham Public Library's annual event, 'Bards, Brew & Haiku.' There were, of course, haiku readings, sake and beer tasting, music, and a round of Robert Moyer's wonderful game 'Exquisite Syllable' (check out the Haiku Foundation's March 15 post to learn more about this game).  Saturday, March 5, Laurence and I conducted a very well attended workshop at the library. Thank you to Haruyo Miyagawa, former head of BPL's Arts/Literature and Sports Department for the invite. This was my third year and Laurence's first. He did a wonderful job talking about the fundamentals of haiku writing.
Haruyo had just returned from Japan as part of a friendship doll exchange between the children of Japan and the US. The 88-year-old friendship doll, Miss Iwate, had a recent makeover in Japan in September of 2015. On March 20 there was a welcome home celebration for Miss Iwati as she returned to Birmingham.
Enjoy the warmer weather and get out there for a haiku hike!
- Submitted by Terri L. French
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Japan America Society: Otsukimi
On the last Saturday of September, Lee Giesecke was featured speaker at the Japan American Society's moon viewing, held this year at the Ekoji Buddhist temple in Fairfax Station, Virginia. The evening began with an obento supper and included performances by Nen Daiko, the temple's taiko drum ensemble, Akihiro Kawauchi on the shamisen, and musicians of the Washington Toho Koto Society. Throughout the evening everyone was free to explore the temple's Three Treasure Garden. Haiku writing was a major part of the evening, and Lee had been asked to teach the guests to write haiku. He was allotted only 10 minutes, however, so the assignment was Herculean-especially as most of the writers were new to haiku. Still a brief overview was possible. Lee provided some classic poems as examples as well this haiku of his own turkey released all night in the pine her dark silhouette (from bottle rockets 8:1, 2001). The response was rewarding. Many haiku were written and were read at the end of the evening. We are sorry not to be able to publish a selection-there was no time to get permission from the authors.
Towpath Meetings October's Towpath was hosted by Ellen Compton. We had the pleasure of welcoming guest poet Patrick Gallagher, here on a brief visit. Patrick and Roberta Beary had both attende
d Haiku North America at Union College in Schenectady, so were able to give us an informal summary of the programs.
December's host was Mark Brager. We welcomed guest poet Julie Bloss Kelsey, down from Germantown especially for the meeting. It was also a pleasure to meet (in person, at last) Mark's son Nathan - the creator of our video for last year's Haiku Poetry Day celebration.
Having survived late January's Snowzilla, Towpath members gathered for the February meeting at Elizabeth Black's, where we welcomed new member Lidia Ceballos Yoshida. Originally from California, Lidia now lives in Arlington where she continues her work in science.
Roberta Beary Reading On March 13, Roberta Beary read at The Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Her program included works from Deflection, her collection of haibun and haiku sequences (Accents Publishing, 2015), as well as haiku from The Unworn Necklace (Snapshot Press, 2007). A highlight was the visual presentation of Caretaker I & II, a sequence from Deflection, set to music, and featuring abstract art by Roberta's brother Kevin Beary. (The photo of Roberta is by Nathan Beary Bluestein.)
- submitted by Ellen Compton
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On March 28th, the Boston Haiku Society and Kaji Aso Studio sponsored a reading of contemporary haiku with members of the Society and guest poet, Don Wentworth.
The Haiku Poets' Society of Western Massachusetts welcomes three new members: Holly Spaulding, Tom Seymour and Jeannie Martin. We look forward to their participation and poetry.
Notice: For the past 6 years many of you have received a greeting on April 17th from the Haiku Poets' Society of Western Massachusetts in celebration of National Haiku Poetry Day. The cards, designed and edited by Patricia Harvey and Wanda Cook, have been enjoyable but time consuming to produce. This year, time got away from us, and we just couldn't catch up. So, instead, we send you our greetings, but without the frog.
Happy National Haiku Poetry Day!
Haiku Poets' Society
of Western Massachusetts
- submitted by Wanda Cook
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DISCOUNT CODE
for
Haiku North America
25th Anniversary Anthology
Have you ever attended Haiku North America and contributed to any HNA conference anthology? Then you're entitled to a $10-off discount for Fire in the Treetops, the special 25th anniversary anthology celebrating these biennial conferences. The book, published by Press Here in 2015, is 7x10 inches, 416 pages, and includes 1,053 haiku, compiled from all HNA conference anthologies, including new poems for 2015. Also included are an extensive introduction and 13 appreciation essays focusing on haiku from each of the conferences, from 1991 to 2015, plus cover and interior artwork by Christopher Patchel. To get your discount code, please email Michael Dylan Welch at WelchM@aol.com. Or, to learn more about the book, please visit http://www.graceguts.com/press-here (click the contributor list link to find out how to easily use your code). Get your copy soon. Discount codes expire 30 June 2016.  "The poets whose work appears here comprise a veritable who's who of English-language haiku. . . . Fire in the Treetops chronicles the florescence of North American haiku and we might well consider the index of poets to be its pantheon." -Charles Trumbull
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Ignatius Fay
HSA NEWS Editor
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