Haiku Society of America
.haiku column
The Haiku Society of America is pleased to host this ongoing column.
.Haiku: a place to share tools available to haiku writers and fellow haiku fans (like how to use Twitter, Facebook and Scribd for building community, self-publishing and marketing). The column will also feature interviews, blog spotlights and occasional multimedia presentations.
Gene Myers
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.haiku column 07
.haiku column number 7 • 4-16-2012
by Gene Myers
Today is National Haiku Poetry Day
This month's column is going to start with Peg McAulay Byrd. This is appropriate because Peg was the first person to welcome me into the haiku world. At the last Dodge Poetry Festival in Newark, New Jersey, I was determined to find and join any and every haiku society I could find.
I had cash in my wallet and checks on hand, just in case. I was going to subscribe to all of the magazines on display and buy lots of books.
I wasn't exactly overwhelmed, at first. There was only one group that day to join. They sat at one table, where I met three women.
The group was the Haiku Society of America, and I joined. But the HSA was out of anthologies that day, so I didn't strike it rich in that sense, either. The three women I met were Penny Harter, Rita Gray and Peg.
Because the HSA was out of anthologies that day, Peg mailed her own copy to me at my home with a nice note welcoming me to the HSA.
I'm very happy to say that Peg was indicative of the kind of people that I have met through reaching out and joining The Haiku Foundation and the Haiku Society of America. In this way, I have been overwhelmed.
Today is National Haiku Poetry Day. National Haiku Poetry Day is a project of The Haiku Foundation and people like Peg will be gathering in cities across the country to observe it. In this column, I often focus on the tools available to us as writers.
But it's days like today that show that people are the greatest resource, and groups like the HSA and The Haiku Foundation are invaluable because of each and every member, people who go out of their way to share their love for haiku with others.
For more information on National Haiku Poetry Day, visit <http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/blog/>
Is there something you would like to see in a column? Email me at <poetgene@gmail.com>.
• .haiku column number 7 • 4-16-2012 •
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