Check our schedule of upcoming events. Poems by Haiku Northwest Members Read poems by our members, with short biographies. Seabeck Haiku Getaway (see the 2013 retreat schedule)
Our annual haiku retreat every autumn is the highlight of our year. Our 2014 retreat dates are October 16–19, 2014, and will feature Alan Pizzarelli. Watch for more details!
Read results and commentary from all contests since 2004.  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 (on the fourth Thursday of the month for most of 2012). 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
 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 © 2004–2014 by Michael Dylan Welch. | Haiku Northwest Announcements Click any of the following links to read recent Haiku Northwest news or other site additions.
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.
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