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   Check our schedule of upcoming events.
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 2014 retreat took place October 16–19, 2014, and featured Alan Pizzarelli. Our next retreat will be October 1–4, 2015, and Randy Brooks will be our featured guest.
   Read results and commentary from all contests since 2004.
   Lean about and connect with our 2014 Haiku Northwest officers.

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 © 2004–2015 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

  • Meeting Summary for February 21, 2015 On Saturday, February 21, 2015, Haiku Northwest held its first quarterly meeting of the year. We met at Seattle’s Washington Park Arboretum at 10:30 and strolled through the Winter Garden, pausing to sniff winter-blooming shrubs, bask in the sunshine, and jot down a few haiku. It was a sunny day, and although the wind reminded us it was February, we were able to eat lunch outside at the Graham Visitor Center. At 12:30, a dozen of us headed to the Montlake Library. Following announcements, introductions, and sharing a few haiku written during our walk, Tanya McDonald gave a workshop on gendai (modern) haiku. It included the history of gendai haiku in Japanese, a brief exploration ...
    Posted Feb 22, 2015, 11:02 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • Haiku Northwest’s First Quarterly Meeting Coming on February 21 Haiku Northwest's next event is its first quarterly meeting of the year. We’ll meet on Saturday, February 21, 2015 at the Washington Park Arboretum and at the Montlake Library in Seattle. At 10:30 a.m., we’ll gather at the Graham Visitor Center at the Arboretum and walk from there through the winter garden (bring a lunch). Then at 12:30 p.m. we will meet at the Montlake Library, which will include the sharing of haiku written on the morning walk (and elsewhere) and a workshop on gendai haiku led by Tanya McDonald. See you there!
    Posted Feb 12, 2015, 9:19 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • Meeting Summary for January 22, 2015 On January 22, Haiku Northwest held its first meeting of 2015 in the Stadler Meeting Room in the Third Place Commons in Lake Forest Park, Washington. Ten people attended. Our featured reader was William Scott Galasso, who has been involved with Haiku Northwest since the days when our founder, Francine Porad, facilitated the group. Scott read a collection of his haiku from the past three years. After his reading, we took a short break and then passed around poem sheets for critique.
    Posted Feb 12, 2015, 9:16 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • Announcing the 2015 Francine Porad Award for Haiku Haiku Northwest is pleased to announce the twelfth annual Porad Haiku Award. Deadline: Postmarked by August 15, 2015. Prizes: $100, $50, and $25. Poems will be published on the Haiku Northwest website, and announced at Haiku Northwest’s annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway, to be held October 1–4, 2015. Judge: Carolyn Hall, former editor of Mariposa and Acorn haiku magazines, and officer of the Haiku Poets of Northern California. Fees: $1 per poem (unlimited entries). Please read the complete submission guidelines.
    Posted Feb 12, 2015, 2:44 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • 2015 Haiku Northwest Event Schedule The 2015 schedule of Haiku Northwest events is now online. This year we will schedule four quarterly meetings, on weekends, to supplement our regular monthly meetings. We hope this will attract new members, and perhaps also attract members of other Washington State haiku groups to join us more often.
    Posted Dec 10, 2014, 12:22 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • Haiku Northwest T-Shirts At the November 13, 2014 Haiku Northwest meeting, we distributed our very first T-shirts, and had a mailing party to prepare shirts for mailing to those who had ordered them. Shirts were $15 plus $5 for shipping, and featured a design by Dejah Léger adapted from her cover design from our 25th anniversary anthology, No Longer Strangers. If you're interested in getting a T-shirt, please contact any Haiku Northwest officer.
    Posted Nov 14, 2014, 3:32 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • Meeting Summary for November 13, 2014 Eleven people braved the chilly weather to attend the November 13, 2014 Haiku Northwest meeting at the Bellevue Regional Library in Bellevue, Washington. A few folks came early to help prepare our new Haiku Northwest T-shirts for mailing. After announcements, we held elections for 2015 officers. Everyone on the ballot was elected unanimously. Haiku Northwest officers for 2015 are as follows: President: Angela Terry Vice President: Michelle Schaefer Secretary: Tanya McDonald Treasurer: Dianne Garcia Webmaster: Michael Dylan Welch Following the election, Angie gave us a writing exercise. She passed around brochures for paint colors and encouraged us to write haiku using the names (or inspiration from the names) of the paint chip colors. When we shared a few of ...
    Posted Nov 14, 2014, 3:33 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
Showing posts 1 - 7 of 32. View more »

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 [coming soon], 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, plus photos of attendee faces and name badges.
 
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.
 
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.