Dear Friends and Followers:
Those of you who are serious about learning to write haiku the right way, might want to attend workshops every once in a while. Be aware that there is a certain style to haiku with literary devices. Haiku are not just random thoughts and pretty images. The majority of haiku posted online isn’t haiku at all, though it is being identified as such by the person who wrote it.
I have many haiku events scheduled these next few months, but I wanted to call your attention to two, in particular, one in the Chicago Metro area and one in Chapel Hill, NC. the latter is sponsored by the North Carolina Haiku Society, and is a day-long event. Don’t miss this free event if you live in the Raleigh area or close to it. It is an annual event, and it is fabulous, with different guest speakers each year.
Please read below and come to both events, if you can.
Discover The Fun Art of Haiku and Senryu
Saturday, April 11, 2015, 1:30-3 p.m.
Deerfield Public Library, 920 Waukegan Rd., Deerfield, IL
Be creative and capture the moments of your life! Write and publish very short, insightful poems about nature, the seasons, and human nature. There will be an informative presentation by Charlotte Digregorio, author of Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All, Second Vice President of the Haiku Society of America, and poet of 33 awards. Each participant will write a poem and read it to the audience, if desired. Four winning poems will be announced. Each winner will receive an issue of Frogpond, journal of the Haiku Society of America. Free program, but to pre-register, visit http://www.deerfieldlibrary.org.
The North Carolina Haiku Society’s 36th annual Haiku Holiday Conference will be held Saturday, April 25 at Bolin Brook Farm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Haiku poets Charlotte Digregorio and Terri L. French will be the guest presenters. All haiku readers and writers are welcome!
Presenters
Charlotte Digregorio is the author of Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All and four other award-winning non-fiction books. She has won 33 poetry awards and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Digregorio has taught languages and writing at universities for 35 years. She has been a writer-in-residence at schools throughout the U.S., and she often speaks at national conferences. She holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from The University of Chicago and Pomona College, respectively. Her haiku have been translated into six languages, and she is the Second Vice President of the Haiku Society of America. She has given dozens of haiku workshops and readings. Her poems are exhibited in public venues, including art galleries, botanic gardens, stores, restaurants, and on Chicago‘s public transit.
Terri L. French and her husband, Ray, live in Huntsville, AL. She is a licensed massage therapist and has been writing haiku and its related forms seriously for the last eight years. Terri has served two terms as the Southeast Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America, and she edits the senryu and kyoka journal, Prune Juice.
Lenard D. Moore is the Executive Chairman of the North Carolina Haiku Society. He is a past president of the Haiku Society of America and was the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for Eastern North Carolina from 2007 to 2009. Lenard is the founder of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective (CAAWC). In 2014, Lenard received the highest honor that North Carolina can bestow upon a citizen: the North Carolina Award, for his contributions to literature. His latest collection is A Temple Looming.
Lenard will lead the workshop in the afternoon.
Schedule
Saturday April 25, 2015
Haiku Holiday is from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
8:45: 9:25 a.m. Registration, coffee, tea, and pastry
9:30 to 9:45 a.m.– Opening Remarks by Host Jean Earnhardt and Executive Chairman, Lenard D. Moore.
9:45: to 10 a.m.– A haiku reading.
10 to 11:30 a.m.– Finding Your Distinctive Voice in Haiku: Charlotte Digregorio. We often read haiku that sound very similar in theme and imagery. How do we write original haiku that haunt the consciousness of readers and attract them through sound and other devices? Participants will learn to bring all of their identities/roles into their haiku and use their different voices. We will explore self-awareness and how to experience things around us that are missed by other poets. Ideas for daily exercises will be provided to cultivate self-awareness and observational skills. A sampling of haiku by longtime poets will be offered to help us find fresh approaches to common themes/styles.
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.– Lunch: Please bring a bag lunch. Drinks will be provided. Self-guided ginko (haiku walk) and Other Activities: Some of us will follow the usual trail for the ginko as we have done in the past. Others take the opportunity to talk with NCHS members about haiku.
1 to 2 p.m.– Come to the Dark Side of Senryu: Terri L. French. In this workshop we will deal with senryu’s darker side. Aging, death, abuse, divorce, crime, war—those moments and circumstances in life that can result in pain and suffering. Senryu can be a therapeutic tool in dealing with the bleaker events of life. By using subtle humor, wit, and irony, we can conquer the dark side. It doesn’t mean we don’t feel the pain; it means we won’t let it defeat us. After exploring some of these senryu the group will engage in a renga which alternates “light” and “dark” verses. Note: There will be a surprise guest appearance at this workshop.
2 to 3:30 p.m.– Haiku workshop led by Lenard D. Moore. You can workshop a haiku that you wrote today, or you can bring previously-written work to discuss.
3:30 p.m.– Meeting adjourns
Special Instructions
Please bring a bag lunch. Check the weather and dress accordingly. Haiku Holiday is held rain or shine. Please consider bringing one favorite haiku on a 3 x 5 card. The haiku should be by someone other than yourself. Be sure to include the poet’s name on the card, if you know it. The haiku can be on any subject. We’ll post these cards around Jean’s house for people to read during the day. If you are going to participate in a workshop, bring previously written, unpublished haiku—or you can dash one off after the ginko (haiku walk).
Membership in the North Carolina Haiku Society is encouraged but not required. There is no membership or registration fee, but small donations will be gratefully accepted.
Host
Jean Earnhardt retired in 1995 after 20 years as a hospital PR/marketing director. She received her undergraduate degree in English from Carolina in 1952 and a Masters in Liberal Studies from Duke forty years later. While raising two sons she sold freelance features and photographs to newspapers and tried her hand at short stories and poetry. She lives on Bolin Brook Farm, an old farmstead that has been in Jean’s family for 12 generations.
Location
The first Haiku Holiday took place at Bolin Brook Farm near Chapel Hill on Jan. 26, 1980. Since then, all of the annual meetings have been held at Bolin Brook Farm, thanks to Jean Earnhardt, gracious host.
Bolin Brook Farm is a beautiful place, but you might need a little help in finding it. Be sure to leave yourself plenty of time to get there. Here is Jean’s address and contact information: Jean Earnhardt 600 Bolin Brook Farm Road Chapel Hill, NC 27516, 919-929-4884, jjearn@bellsouth.net.
Contact
The main contact for this event is Dave Russo. Please use the Contact page on the North Carolina web site to send him an email, http://www.nc-haiku.org
