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   Check our schedule of upcoming events.
Haiku Books for Sale
   Please check out these special haiku books we're offering for sale.
Poems by Haiku Northwest Members
   Read poems by our members, with short biographies.
   Learn more about the book, read sample poems, and more.
   Our annual haiku retreat every autumn is the highlight of our year. Our next retreat will take place October 26–29, 2017, with the sense of taste as our focus, with a special celebration of our tenth anniversary. We'll get 2017 info added soon, but for now, please see the 2016 information page, registration page, and schedule.
   Read results and commentary from all contests since 2004.
   Lean about and connect with our Haiku Northwest officers.
   Lean about our sister organization, with selected haiku in Japanese and English.

Haiku Northwest meeting at the Bellevue Regional Library, August 7, 2008. Left to right are Curtis Manley, Helen Russell, William Scott Galasso, Ida Freilinger, Bryson Nitta, Tanya McDonald, Connie Hutchison, Dejah Leger, Susan Miller, Terran Campbell, Joshua Beach, Angela Terry, Marilyn Sandall, and Herb McClees. Photo by Michael Dylan Welch. Come and join us!
 
   Read about our meetings (usually on the fourth Thursday of the month).
Joint Haiku Meetings in Washington State
   Read the history of Haiku Northwest meetings with other Washington haiku groups.
   Our haiku podcast from the Northwest Folklife festival and other performances.
   Click to see see photos of some of our recent activities.
   View or download our current Haiku Northwest information sheet (PDF format).
   Explore useful haiku links.
   Our sister organization that meets monthly in Port Townsend, Washington.
   Poems by members of the Rainier Haiku Ginsha read at the national HSA meeting in June 2010.
   Learn how to contact us and find other useful information.
   If your question isn't answered here, please let us know.
 
Founded in 1988
 
 
About Haiku Northwest
Haiku Northwest is an enthusiastic and friendly group of poets from the greater Puget Sound area of Washington state, meeting monthly usually in Bellevue (just east of Seattle). We are dedicated to writing, studying, and appreciating haiku and related genres of poetry written in English. Our members include both new and established haiku writers, many of whom have had their work published in journals and anthologies throughout the world (the group won the first place Merit Book Award from the Haiku Society of America for its anthology, To Find the Words, published in 2000). We also welcome beginners.

Haiku Northwest began in 1988 under the leadership of Francine Porad (who passed away in September of 2006) to foster haiku writing in the Pacific Northwest and to provide local writers with current information about the local, national, and international haiku community and its publications. Haiku Northwest is part of the Washington region of the Haiku Society of America (HSA). Haiku Northwest holds monthly meetings and publishes regional anthologies of haiku and related poetry. Most of the group's members live in the Seattle area, but many haiku poets from the Puget Sound area and farther afield also attend Haiku Northwest meetings. The Haiku Northwest group has no membership dues, and visitors are always welcome to attend all events.
  
“In our poems and discussions, the group tries to get beyond the cloud of surface facts, to see the deep stillness within the everyday.” —Anne Voegtlen
  
Original site established on AOL Hometown on February 14, 2004.
Site established at this location on October 8, 2008.
Webmaster: Michael Dylan Welch (WelchM@aol.com).
Haiku Northwest logo: Susan K. Miller.
All poems appearing on this site are the copyright of their respective authors.
Site Copyright © 2004–2017 by Michael Dylan Welch.
Haiku Northwest Announcements
Click any of the following links to read recent Haiku Northwest news or other site additions. To join our email list (about two or three messages per month), send an email request to haikunw1988@gmail.com.

Haiku Northwest News Blog

  • April 2017 Meeting The April Haiku Northwest meeting was held on Thursday April 27 at the Kirkland library. It was called to order by Michelle Schaefer, our president, and nine other members were in attendance: Jim Bloss, Ida Freilinger, Dianne Garcia Connie Hutchison, Nicholas Klacsanzky, Tanya McDonald, Angie Terry, Michael Dylan Welch, and Mark Williams. After introductions and announcements, Michelle provided us with the writing prompt of “forces of nature,” from Wallace Stevens: “In the world of words, imagination is one of the forces of nature.” This prompt included the names and descriptions of different forces of nature, such as erosion, gravity, hail, rain, and others. We read aloud from a handout of published haiku, and a recording of thunderstorm sounds on Michelle ...
    Posted May 28, 2017, 5:47 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • March 2017 Meeting Haiku Northwest held its monthly meeting on March 23, 2017 at the Bellevue Library. Tanya McDonald, our vice president, called the meeting to order, with seven other members in attendance: Connie Hutchison, Jim Bloss (attending for the first time), Ida Freilinger, Dianne Garcia, Curtis Manley, Angie Terry, and Michael Dylan Welch. After announcements and introductions, Angie brought up the plans for the Pacific Northwest regional annual meeting on June 3, which will include a haiku walk and picnic at Discovery Park with time to wander through the park’s visitor center, readings by attendees at the Magnolia library, and a workshop by Michael Dylan Welch. Curtis Manley will also read from The Crane Girl, his new children’s book ...
    Posted Mar 26, 2017, 11:12 AM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • Doris H. Thurston Has Died It is with sadness that we report that Doris H. Thurston died on March 7, 2017, at the age of 93. She was a longtime member of Haiku Northwest, and hosted many meetings of the Port Townsend Haiku Group and Haiku Northwest at her inviting home in Port Townsend, Washington. Please see her memorial page.
    Posted Mar 17, 2017, 11:25 AM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • February 2017 Meeting The February 2017 Haiku Northwest meeting took place on Thursday, February 23 at 7:00 pm in the Stadler Room at the Lake Forest Park Town Center at Third Place Commons. The meeting was called to order by our new president, Michelle Schaeffer, with six others in attendance: Ida Freilinger, Connie Hutchison, Ron LaMarsh, Tanya McDonald, Angie Terry, and Michael Dylan Welch. Since Ron was a new member, attending for the first time, we made introductions.         Angie Terry announced that the Pacific Northwest region of the Haiku Society of America will hold its annual meeting on Saturday, June 3, with a morning haiku walk at Seattle’s Discovery Park, time to visit the visitor center and have a picnic followed ...
    Posted Feb 25, 2017, 6:14 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • New Haiku Northwest Officers At our January 2017 Haiku Northwest meeting we elected new officers for 2017, who have now been listed on the Haiku Northwest Officers page. The Officer History page has also been updated. Please contact any officer if you have questions or suggestions.
    Posted Feb 24, 2017, 8:25 AM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • Haiku Northwest on KSER Radio Haiku Northwest was featured on radio at 6:30 pm on February 9, 2017. We appeared on the Poets West radio show, hosted by J. Glenn Evans, KSER radio, 90.7 FM. The performance was originally recorded in 2008, and introduced by Michael Dylan Welch. Poems by various Haiku Northwest members were read by William Scott Galasso, Connie Hutchison, Curtis Manley, and Marilyn Sandall, with guitar accompaniment by Dejah Léger. It's a particular pleasure to hear the voice of the late Marilyn Sandall. To listen, go to the KSER Radio Replayer, find February 9, then look for the Poets West show at 6:00 pm. After you click to listen to that hour, advance to the 32:12 mark ...
    Posted Feb 9, 2017, 9:17 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • January 2017 Meeting Haiku Northwest held its first meeting of 2017 on Thursday, January 26 at the library in Kirkland, Washington, with eight people in attendance. We shared news, announcements, candy, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. Haiku Northwest has received several out-of-print haiku books from a member’s collection, and we discussed valuation and ways of offering them for sale. Treasurer Dianne Garcia will do further research on the subject. Because we had to cancel our December meeting due to snow, we held our election of 2017 officers at this meeting with the following slate being unanimously elected: President – Michelle Schaefer Vice President – Tanya McDonald Treasurer – Dianne Garcia Secretary – Angela Terry Webmaster – Michael Dylan Welch Congratulations to Michelle as our new ...
    Posted Jan 28, 2017, 5:57 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
Showing posts 1 - 7 of 57. View more »

Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2015
Our 2015 haiku retreat featured Randy Brooks over the weekend of October 1–4, 2015. Additional speakers and featured readers included Lorna Cahall, Patty Hardin, Katharine Grubb Hawkinson, Erica Akiko Howard, Chuck Kraining (executive director of the Seabeck Conference Center), Annette Makino, Dorothy Matthews, Tanya McDonald, Jacquie Pearce, James Rodriguez, Ce Rosenow, Michelle Schaefer, Carmen Sterba, Angela Terry, Sandy Thompson, Richard Tice, Michael Dylan Welch, Janet Whitney, Kathabela Wilson, Elizabeth-Ann Winkler, and others. Our activities included another renkurama, a “Haiku Handshake,” the announcement of the 2015 Porad Award winners, beginning and advanced workshops, haiga presentations, readings (including one in the Cathedral in the Woods), t’ai chi and hokey-pokey breaks, nature walks, an erotic haiku workshop (since touch was our theme for the weekend), plus our usual silent auction, bookfair, and anonymous workshops. We also enjoyed a sumi-e and haiga exhibit coordinated by the Haiga Adventure Study Group of Puget Sound Sumi Artists, and our fourth annual talent show. See the 2015 retreat schedule. See photos from our 2015 retreat [coming soon], plus photos of attendee faces and name badges [coming soon].

Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2014
Our 2014 haiku retreat featured Alan Pizzarelli over the weekend of October 16–19, 2014. Additional speakers and featured readers included Donna Beaver, Susan Callan, Terry Ann Carter, Susan Constable, Aubrie Cox, Christopher Herold, Deborah P Kolodji, Chuck Kraining (executive director of the Seabeck Conference Center), Carole MacRury, Tanya McDonald, Margaret D. McGee, RaNae Merrill, Bob Moyer, Kathy Munro, James Rodriguez, Michelle Schaefer, John Stevenson, Angela Terry, Richard Tice, Jessica Tremblay (our cartoonist-in-residence), Karma Tenzing Wangchuk, Michael Dylan Welch, and others. Our activities included another renkurama, a haiku labyrinth, the announcement of the 2014 Porad Award winners, a daytime nature walk and a night haiku walk with lanterns, plus our usual silent auction, bookfair, and anonymous workshops. We also enjoyed a sumi-e and haiga exhibit coordinated by the Haiga Adventure Study Group of Puget Sound Sumi Artists, and our third annual talent show. See the 2014 retreat schedule. See photos from our 2014 retreat [coming soon], plus photos of attendee faces and name badges [coming soon]. See a report of the 2014 retreat, Jessica Tremblay’s summary of the weekend (in words, photos, and comics), Rick Clark’s blog report, and Aubrie Cox’s interview about Seabeck with Michael Dylan Welch.

Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2013
Our 2013 haiku retreat featured Canadian haiku poet Marco Fraticelli over the weekend of October 10–13, 2013. Additional speakers and featured readers included Michael Dylan Welch, Angela Terry, Kathabela Wilson, Richard Tice, Jessica Tremblay (our cartoonist-in-residence), Margaret D. McGee, Tanya McDonald, Susan Constable, Vicki McCullough, Annette Makino, Kozue Uzawa, Terry Ann Carter, Dianne Garcia, Nancy Dahlberg, James Rodriguez, Alice Frampton, Carmen Sterba, Johnny Baranski, Jacquie Pearce, and others. Our activities included another renkurama, a haiku labyrinth, the announcement of the 2013 Porad Award winners, a couple of outdoor haiku walks, and our usual silent auction, bookfair, and anonymous workshops. We also enjoyed a sumi-e and haiga exhibit coordinated by the Haiga Adventure Study Group of Puget Sound Sumi Artists, and our second annual talent show, coordinated by Dejah Léger. See the 2013 retreat schedule. See photos from our 2013 retreat, part 1 and part 2, plus photos of attendee faces and name badges.

Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2012
Our 2012 haiku retreat featured Paul Miller, incoming editor of Modern Haiku, over the weekend of October 11–14, 2012. Additional speakers and featured readers included Michael Dylan Welch, Tanya McDonald, Angela Terry, Cara Holman, Terri L. French, Jim Swift, Carole MacRury, Johnny Baranski, Margaret McGee, Dianne Garcia, Barry George, and others. Our activities included another renkurama, a panel discussion, the announcement of the 2012 Porad Award winners, a couple of outdoor haiku walks, and our usual silent auction, bookfair, and anonymous workshops. We also enjoyed a sumi-e and haiga exhibit coordinated by the Haiga Adventure Study Group of Puget Sound Sumi Artists, plus their hands-on haiga workshop, and our first-ever talent show, coordinated by Dejah Léger. See the 2012 retreat schedule. See photos from our 2012 retreat, photos of attendee faces and name badges, and Annette Makino’s blog posting about finding her tribe at Seabeck.
 
Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2011
Our 2011 haiku retreat featured John Stevenson, editor of The Heron's Nest, over the weekend of October 13–16, 2011. Additional speakers included Michael Dylan Welch, Tanya, McDonald, Susan Constable, Cara Holman, and Angela Terry, with activities such as our first renkurama, the creation of a beautiful holographic (handmade) retreat anthology, a presentation on weathergrams by Barbara Snow, the announcement of the 2011 Porad Award winners, a couple of outdoor haiku walks, and our usual silent auction, bookfair, and anonymous workshops. See the 2011 retreat schedule. See photos from our 2011 retreat.
 
Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2010
Our 2010 haiku retreat featured Charles Trumbull, editor of Modern Haiku, over the weekend of November 4–7, 2010—and we added an extra day, to start on Thursday evening. This gave us more time for renku and other activities, more time between events, and a more relaxed weekend. We're already looking forward to our 2011 retreat, confirmed for the weekend of October 13–16, 2011, so please mark it on your calendar now! Our accommodations are The Firs, Hemlock, and Madrona. We'll again be meeting in the Colman building, which can accommodate 80 people upstairs and 60 people downstairs, plus it has its own lounge, kitchen, and bathrooms. See the 2010 retreat schedule. See photos from our 2010 retreat. See blog posts by Deborah P Kolodji: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4.
 
Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2009
Haiku Northwest held its second annual haiku retreat on the weekend of October 16–18, 2009 at the Seabeck Conference Center. Our featured speaker was Penny Harter, and additional speakers included Christopher Herold, Michael Dylan Welch, Ce Rosenow, Debbie Kolodji, Richard Tice, Margaret D. McGee, and more. See the 2009 retreat schedule. See photos from our 2009 haiku retreat. And see the cool video!
 
Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2008
Haiku Northwest held its first annual haiku retreat on the weekend of October 10–12, 2008 at the Seabeck Conference Center. Our featured speaker was Emiko Miyashita, visiting from Japan, and additional speakers included Christopher Herold, Margaret Chula, Alice Frampton, Michael Dylan Welch, and more. See the 2008 retreat schedule. See photos from our 2008 haiku retreat.

Haiku Society of America National Meetings
Haiku Northwest hosted a national meeting of the Haiku Society of America June 21–23, 2013—click here for more information. We also hosted previous national meetings on February 12, 2012; June 25–27, 2010—click here for more information; and June 27–29, 2008—click here for more information.
 
Yahoo Discussion Group and Mailing List
Haiku Northwest has a Yahoo discussion group for news and announcements, open to all. Messages arrive two or three times a month. We also have a private mailing list, which we also encourage you to join to receive our announcements. If you are interested in joining the private mailling list, please contact Tanya McDonald. We welcome your input, and invite you to get involved.