Haiku Society of America

Haiku Society of America Region

This region includes Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

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Regional Member News & Events 2014

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Hello Haikuists:

Heads up! I will be resigning as Midwest Regional Coordinator of the HSA at the end of the year. I have served for five years, and although I will miss it a lot,  it's time to move on to some different activities. I am running as Second Vice President of HSA. If elected, this will give me a chance to continue serving the HSA and promoting haiku, and it will also allow me to vary my schedule and learn some new things. Regardless, I hope everyone will keep in touch from time to time!

And, the great news  is that Julie Warther of Ohio is running for Midwest Regional Coordinator. She's an active haikuist and is enthusiastic about getting involved and serving the HSA.

On another note, just a couple of reminders for those of you living within reasonable commuting distance of the Chicago metro area: 

There will be a critique meeting Monday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Winnetka (IL) Public Library, 768 Oak St., Winnetka. The Library is right across the street from the train station, and if you drive, there is plenty of free street parking near the library and there is a library parking lot. As usual, it will be a great opportunity to get all your haiku critiqued and to get some publishing credits, besides. Critique has helped a lot of people refine their haiku for publication in some great journals.

Also, I'd like to remind all of you about the Sunday, Nov. 9 haiku program at the Glenview (IL) Public Library. I will be giving a haiku workshop that includes an audience haiku contest. And, this will also be a great opportunity for you to view Lidia Rozmus' Japanese art exhibit that is running that weekend until January. Please see the attached flyer and be sure to pre-register for the program. I hope to see some of you there.

I'd like to thank everyone for their interest and participation in our Midwest events! In the past five years, many new people have joined us and enriched our haiku activities. And, many longtime members have held regular haiku meetings in their area which has helped us spread the word about haiku! The latter is one of the great things about the HSA--there is no shortage of loyal volunteers! Grateful thanks to our regular meeting leaders: John J. Dunphy, Gayle Bull, Marsh Muirhead, Francine Banwarth, Jerome Cushman, Bill Pauly, Mike Rehling, Julie Warther, Sharon Hammer Baker, Elinor Huggett, and Lee Gurga.

All Best Wishes,

Charlotte Digregorio

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Dear Haikuists,

For those of you who've asked for more meeting options in the Chicago area, they'll be plenty of opportunities this year.

Experience the delight of capturing your life's moments by writing haiku--short, insightful poems of about one to four lines, from 7 to 8:45 p.m., Tuesday, July 15, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16 at the Winnetka Public Library, 768 Oak St., Winnetka, IL. Free and open to the public, the programs are sponsored by the Haiku Society of America, and will be led by Charlotte Digregorio, Midwest Regional Coordinator.

There will be a discussion about the style and content of the form and how to publish it, along with a critique of participants' poems. Participants may bring up to ten poems to share. Those without poems are welcome to listen and learn. Registration is required. Contact the HSA's Midwest Region, 847-881-2664.

Please note two upcoming August events and please RSVP:

Saturday, Aug. 16 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Winnetka (IL) Public Library, 768 Oak St., Winnetka, there will be a three-hour critique. You can bring poems to share or just come to listen and learn. 

There is free parking both at the Library and across the street in the Village Hall area. As the time gets closer, I will know how many people will be attending and how many copies of your poems you should bring. 

Critique is always beneficial for attendees, and many report having gotten poems published that we worked on collectively.

Saturday, Aug. 23, at 8 p.m. at Madame ZuZu's Tea House, 582 Roger Williams Ave., Highland Park, IL, I will be hosting a  poetry open mic. It is sponsored by Highland Park Poetry. Please attend and bring your best poems to share, whether haiku or other forms. (Read only tasteful poetry!) Madame ZuZu's has a nice ambiance, and many area poets and residents show up regularly.

Hope to see you soon.

Charlotte Digregorio
Midwest Regional Coordinator
Haiku Society of America

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We will have the following April and May events:

1) "Haiku at High Tea," sponsored by the East On Central Association, to be held at Madame ZuZu's Tea House, 582 Roger Williams Ave., Highland Park, IL, Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. I will speak on haiku and senryu the first hour, followed by the audience writing and reading their haiku and senryu. Please RSVP to me,  so I can alert the event's organizers, Judy Tepfer and Judith Bernstein who've worked hard to plan it.

2) Haiku and Senryu Critique Session, 7 to 8:45 p.m., Wednesday, April 30, at Winnetka Public Library, 768 Oak St., Winnetka, IL. Please RSVP to me.

3) Saturday, May 3, 1 to 4 p.m., Senryu Presentation/Haiku & Senryu Reading by Audience, Winnetka Public Library, 768 Oak St., Winnetka, IL. The first hour I will give a senryu presentation. The second hour will be a reading of the audience's senryu and haiku. The third hour is an informal critique. Please RSVP and also let me know whether you plan to read.

4) Saturday, May 10,  9 a.m. to noon, Haiku/Senryu Workshop, Palatine Public Library, 700 N. North Court, Palatine, IL. My workshop is sponsored by the Northwest Cultural Council and Poets & Writers. Please register through NWCC. ($15). Log onto northwestculturalcouncil.org.

Critique involves either bringing copies of your haiku to share with the group, or just coming to listen and learn. Don't feel that you have to have something to share, as hearing other people's work critiqued is a learning experience, too.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Thanks.

Charlotte Digregorio
Midwest Regional Coordinator
Haiku Society of America

February Events:

Dear Ohio Haiku Poets:

Member Sharon Hammer Baker  has started a haiku group in Northwest Ohio. Please read below and join her if you can:

Ohio Haiku Poets

Hi Charlotte,

I wanted to let you know about an event that I organized locally to celebrate National Haiku Writing Month. I have been a HSA member for more than 25 years, and have over the years done readings, exhibits and workshops for haiku.
 
In cooperation with the local Findlay-Hancock County Public Library, on Feb. 21 I led a haiku writing workshop for a small but enthusiastic group. As a result, there is interest in meeting regularly to write and learn more about haiku. I'm delighted with the outcome, and would welcome any haiku poets in northwest Ohio and surrounding areas to join us on the 4th Tuesday of each month. They may contact me for additional details.

Sharon Hammer Baker
<sbaker@findlay.edu>

Chicago Metro Haiku Critique Meeting

A critique meeting has been scheduled for Saturday, February 8th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Chicago Metro area at the Winnetka (IL) Public Library, 768 Oak St. The public is invited, and participants aren't required to bring haiku to share, but those who do, should bring about ten copies of their work. They may bring up to eight poems each. The meeting will begin with a review of the basic elements of haiku and analysis of excellent published poems, before the critique of participants' work. Contact Charlotte Digregorio, Midwest Regional Coordinator, for further information or to RSVP, <c-books@hotmail.com>.

Charlotte Digregorio

January Events:

The first meeting of the Chicago Haiku Workshop (formerly known as Chiku) will take place on Saturday, January 25, 2014 from 2-4pm at

D&Z Bookstore
5507 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL 60641

Lee Gurga will make a brief presentation on "Reading the New Haiku" and the group will critique individual haiku. If you would like your haiku critiqued, please bring 10 copies of up to 6 unpublished haiku. We will also discuss possible future programs.

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From: newsgazettehaiku@gmail.com

The next meeting of the Champaign Haiku Workshop will take place on Sunday, January 5th. Date & Time: January 5, 2014, 2-4 P.M.
Location: Main Champaign Public Library, 200 W. Green St. Champaign, IL, 2nd floor Foundation Room (222).

We will discuss “Twenty Places You Can Have Your Haiku Published” and then critique individual haiku. If you have haiku to share for critique, please print them out and make 10 copies so everyone can have a chance to see them. If you have ideas of programs you would like for future meetings, please share them with me. See you on the 5th!

Lee Gurga

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Regional Member News & Events 2013

September News:

Annual National Meeting Draws a Crowd in Evanston, Illinois: An Overview

Eighty people from 27 states, Canada, and Japan attended the HSA’s Annual National Meeting, Friday through Sunday, Sept. 27-29, to learn about “Contemporary Haiku: Where Do We Go From Here?” This enlightening symposium followed the Annual Board Meeting. Dr. David G. Lanoue , HSA President, presided over the Board Meeting.

We were very honored to have an array of esteemed poets and speakers who gave a variety of presentations. The event also included a haiga exhibit by Lidia Rozmus and a guided meditation by William Shehan, both Chicago Metro members.

Our keynote speaker, Professor Toshio Kimura, traveled from Japan to speak on “The New Era/Epoch of Haiku,” giving us a comprehensive and rare perspective on the development of the form. Prof. Kimura is the Director of the Haiku International Association. Subsequently, our editor’s panel addressed “What Is The Future of American Haiku.” Marsh Muirhead, author of her cold martini: haiku, moderated the panel of esteemed experts: Stanford Forrester, Editor of bottle rockets; Roberta Beary, Haibun Editor of Modern Haiku; Francine Banwarth, Editor of Frogpond; Dr. Randy M. Brooks, Editor of Mayfly; and Lee Gurga, Editor of Modern Haiku Press, and former Editor of Modern Haiku.

Our afternoon session included “The Art of Haibun,” by Mike Montreuil Haibun Editor of One Hundred Gourds, and “A few words, a few brush strokes” by Artist Lidia Rozmus. We ended the day with “Reading the New Haiku,” by David Lanoue.

Other highlights of the event were a book sale; a raffle of Frogpond issues and HSA’s past anthologies; a birthday celebration on Friday night for David Lanoue. The cake was decorated with “Happy Birthday Mr. President.” We sang to the whole restaurant at Giordano’s.

We were also delighted to receive, hot off the press, the 2013 HSA Anthology, presented by special guest and Editor Carolyn Coit Dancy, who traveled by car from New York with her husband, John. Carolyn, assisted by Mike Montreuil with production, not only worked hard to publish the anthology in time for the annual meeting, but produced a work of art, besides. This World is a beautiful addition to our bookshelves, as it showcases our members’ talents.

On Saturday night, we held an open mic after our meal at The Celtic Knot Public House. Many members participated.

Those who stayed for Sunday’s events had fun. We began the day with a trip to the world-famous Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, IL, and heard a fascinating presentation about the temple and its grounds from Scott Conrad, the architect of its new addition, The Welcome Center. While on the tour asking questions of the architect, a deer spotted us and stared at close range from under the flowers, greenery, trees, and beautifully landscaped scene. A haiku moment!

After lunch, the remaining participants, took a walking tour through downtown Chicago and saw interesting world-class outdoor sculpture and historic buildings. Included were: “The Picasso” and “The Bean,” at the Daley Center and Millennium Park, respectively. The historic buildings we took pictures of, included those of The Lyric Opera and the Chicago Cultural Center. We visited the famous State Street and Michigan Avenue. The conference officially ended past 4 p.m., though some people stayed on to visit relatives in Metro Chicago.

The event wouldn’t have been possible without the help of volunteers. Heather Jagman and her husband, Arek Dreyer, made it happen! They arranged for all of our technological needs, rounding up and borrowing equipment, and then tested it on several occasions to ensure that the equipment could be adapted for use in our conference location. Among other tasks, Heather also printed attractive name tags.

Lee Gurga was our all-purpose volunteer. Among many tasks, he coordinated the program’s format, planned for an interesting variety of presentations, and even invited our keynote speaker. He did the trouble-shooting at each juncture with glitches small and large that materialized.

Beth Nickels-Wisdom chaired the book sale, spending many hours on the details of working with members and compiling book lists, so that we could have a wide selection of publications from all the authors and editors among us.

Other volunteers who contributed their time were: Melissa Allen, Jeff Winke, Scott Glander, Tom Chockley, Gretchen Batz, Mike Schoenburg, Susan Auld, Mike Kozubek, Sharon Hyson, and Aubrey Cox.

Terri French, HSA Southeast Regional Coordinator, and her husband, Ray, traveled from Alabama to attend yet another Midwest program in support of our efforts.

Below is a recap of David Lanoue’s presentation. Please read the recaps of some of the other presentations by other members that follow in this newsletter.

David Lanoue concluded the Saturday afternoon sessions with a lively workshop titled "Reading the New Haiku #5." This was the fifth installment of a workshop that he has given previously for HNA (Ottawa 2009), for the Southern California Haiku Study Group (Pasadena 2010), and for HSA conferences in Hot Springs, Arkansas (2010) and in Shreveport, Louisiana (2012). Moving through the room and passing the mic like Phil Donahue, David made sure that everyone who wanted to contribute had his or her chance to respond as readers to a selection of "new haiku." The result was a stimulating exercise in reader-controlled meaning-construction, as various audience members shared not the meaning but rather their meaning.

--Submitted by Charlotte Digregorio

April News:

Recap of Haikufest 2013

Seats were filled at HSA’s Midwest Region’s Haikufest at the Winnetka (IL) Public Library along Chicago’s North Shore, Sunday, April 7. Media publicity, including a full-page feature article previewing the event in the local paper, resulted in many new faces in the audience.

Charlotte Digregorio, Midwest Regional Coordinator, began the program by telling the audience about HSA, its goals, benefits, and upcoming programs. She briefly spoke about the Annual National Meeting/Symposium to be held, Friday through Sunday, Sept. 27-29 in Evanston, IL with speakers from throughout the U.S., Canada, and Japan.

She then began discussing the basics of haiku, including commonly-held misconceptions about the form, such as how it only needs to be something thoughtful in three lines. She stressed writing skillful haiku with layers of meaning, juxtaposing effective images, and how to write haiku to impact the reader’s emotions. She passed out a page of effective and published haiku from various editions of Frogpond, illustrating not only the wisdom behind haiku, but the heartfelt aspects of it.

After the presentation, eleven members read their haiku: Tom Chockley, Mac Greene, Lidia Rozmus, Alicia Hilton, Susan Auld, John O’Connor, Amelia Cotter, Heather Jagman, Mike Kozubek, Christopher Patchel, and Lee Gurga. Beforehand, the readers introduced themselves by speaking on what interests them about haiku and what inspires them to write it. To end this segment of the program, Lee read an essay he’d written about haiku. He aptly stated:

It (haiku) sometimes nudges us, sometime jars us to explore the ‘something’ that was there for us to see all along were it not for our mundane preoccupations.

A question and answer period followed with thoughtful inquiries. For example, one question was: “When is it acceptable to write a haiku with a question mark (that may deal with a philosophical question)?”

Another question was: “How can you tell if you’ve written a haiku that has the impact of being a ‘so what’ one for the reader?” The person posing the latter question argued that the poem may not be a ‘so what’ one to the person who wrote it. This question was posed in reference to a statement about ‘so what’ haiku that Charlotte previously made.

Another person asked about haiku resources online, such as essays about the form that would be a good, followup introductory guide.

After this, we raffled ten copies of Frogpond. With the program officially ended, we held a book sale of speakers’ books which was a great success with many copies sold. Members of the audience also mingled with speakers.

Many lingered to buy such titles as: Haiku: A Poet’s Guide by Lee Gurga; Lidia Rozmus’ classic, Twenty Views from Mole Hill, Christopher Patchel’s new book, Turn Turn, and John O’Connor’s new title, Things Being What They Are.

Submitted by Charlotte Digregorio

January News:

Winter 2013 Critique Held With Lee Gurga in Metro Chicago

Thirteen were in attendance Saturday, Jan. 12 for critique of their poetry at the Winnetka (IL) Public Library. Lee Gurga was invited from Central Illinois as guest poet to critique participants’ work and offer pointers on haiku, in general. In attendance were: Charlotte Digregorio, Midwest Regional Coordinator, Dan Schwerin, Mac Greene, MaryJo Cally, Susan Auld, Tom Chockley, Tomoko Hata, Joanne Crofton, Pam Larson, Ron Daiss, Debby Rosen, and Cynthia Gallaher.

Lee and Charlotte began the meeting each offering many samples of published haiku by HSA members throughout the country. These were examples of poets achieving the desired effect of “inviting the reader into their haiku.”

Lee offered samples of moonviewing haiku that were exemplary for their use of the five senses. Among samples were those of two Midwest members:

walking down
the country lane
childless as the moon

Bill Pauly

small town
small talk
big moon

Francine Banwarth

In Pauly’s haiku, Lee spoke of how the poet’s loneliness and the natural world corresponds. In Banwarth’s haiku, we discussed the irony in it and how the poet also chuckles at herself. Lee said irony in haiku is particularly effective when it is directed at the poet. Lee emphasized that “the key to writing good haiku is to write 100 bad ones.” Lee provided these guidelines, among others:

• Images can come from direct experience, memory, or imagination.

• Suggest the season, rather than naming it. (i.e. The moon in Japanese culture evokes autumn.)

• Have the context of the poem at the beginning, rather than at the end. But, don’t make your first line directive as a title. (The first line can situate the reader, such as placing him in a particular season.)

• Ponder whether you need articles such as “the.” Sometimes they are useful for rhythm.

• Use present tense.

• Use a “cut” or pause in the poem.

• Pay particular attention to word placement.

Lee also mentioned that he considers it artful to leave out a verb, if possible. In some samples he discussed, he referred to the “keystone” or significant word, without which the poem collapses. Lee also discussed pivot lines in haiku, and how he categorizes language as either translucent, transparent, or opaque.

Dan Schwerin posed an interesting question. He asked, “When does one use ‘the sound of’ or “the taste of,’ etc., rather than just describe the sound/taste?” Lee said he hesitates to use these, but sometimes they can be used effectively by skilled haikuists. As for useful resources, Lee recommends, <http://www.roadrunnerjounral.net>.

Lee also recommends these books:

The Haiku Anthology, (three volumes), by Cor van den Heuvel
The Synonym Finder, by J.I. Rodale
Poems of Consciousness, by Richard Gilbert
Haiku 21, Edited by Lee Gurga and Scott Metz

Charlotte listed many excellent websites and blogs useful to haikuists, including one of Melissa Allen, HSA Midwest Member, <http://www.haikuproject.wordpress.com>.

The three-hour meeting passed very quickly with no breaks taken, as participants were enthusiastic to have Lee as a guest. Charlotte also appreciates having other experienced Midwest members serve as guest poets, whenever their schedule permits.

--Submitted by Charlotte Digregorio

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