Haiku Society of America Meetings
Haiku Society of America meetings are held at various locations throughout the U. S. The HSA also supports other local, national and international haiku activities.
The locations, times, and programs for the meetings appear in the HSA Newsletter and on this page of the HSA Web site. Announcements and details of HSA regional meetings appear in the HSA Newsletter. Inquiries regarding regional meetings can also be addressed to the appropriate Regional Coordinator. Dates, times and locations are subject to change. Please verify your travel plans with the coordinator for each meeting.
Haiku Society of America 2007
National Meetings
4th Quarter Meeting:
December 1 - New York, NYThe 4th Quarterly meeting took place at the Tenri Cultural Center in New York City on Saturday, December 1, 2007. Executive Committee members attending were President Pamela Miller Ness, Treasurer Paul Miller, Frogpond Editor John Stevenson, Newsletter Editor Johnye Strickland. President-Elect Lenard D. Moore was also present. In addition, 35 local members and guests participated in the lively program arranged by the Northeast Metro group. (Program details will be found in Regional News.)
The President welcomed everyone and thanked Miriam Borne and the local group for serving as host and arranging the program.The Minutes of the 3rd Quarterly Meeting were read (by Johnye Strickland, for Secretary Lane Parker) and approved. During her report on the activities of the EC at its morning meeting, President Pamela Miller Ness announced that Raffael de Gruttola and representatives from Rutgers University at Camden, New Jersey had presented to the EC a proposal on a project concerning the establishment of a Writers’ House which would foster the study of haiku in conjunction with a Memorial to Nick Virgilio, one of the founders of the HSA.
On behalf of HSA Pamela Miller Ness presented the Sora Award to William J. Higginson, along with a certificate and the traditional crystal frog. The Sora Award, established in 2001 to “honor an HSA member who has made an outstanding contribution to the organization over time,” was the brainchild of Jerry Kilbride. At the conclusion of the business meeting, the general meeting and program continued under the direction of Regional Coordinator Miriam Borne.
3rd Quarter Meeting:
September 14-16 at Rochester, NYThe HSA Annual Meeting was held on September 15 2007 in Rochester, NY. It was a great pleasure to see members from all over the country at the 3rd Quarterly meeting in Rochester, New York, the weekend of September 15th. Jerome Cushman and members of RAHG (Rochester Area Haiku Group), organized a stimulating and enjoyable program of readings, discussions, and workshops; a reading at the Pittsford, NY Barnes & Noble; a ginko in the historic Mt. Hope Cemetery led by Tom Painting; and many wonderful opportunities for socializing.
The 3rd Quarterly HSA Meeting was held in Rochester, New York, September 15-16, 2007. Program events on Saturday were presented at the Barnes & Noble Book Shop in Pittsford, where RAHG meets monthly. President Pamela Miller Ness welcomed everyone and thanked Jerome Cushman and members of the local group for hosting us. Minutes of the 2nd Quarterly Meeting were read by Johnye Strickland, substituting for Secretary Lane Parker. The group voted to approve the Minutes as read.
The following items were announced as having been discussed by the Executive Committee Saturday morning: Nominations for the Sora Award; forming a Forum for Members' Input; Forming a Committee, to be chaired by Media Coordinator Randy Brooks and Newsletter Editor Johnye Strickland for Issue Discussions on the website; a Column for the Newsletter on the Teaching of Haiku at any age level, in any venue. The possibility of offering an Award for the Teaching of Haiku (see Minutes of 1st 2007 Quarterly Meeting in the May Newsletter) will be delegated to the Committee on the Teaching of Haiku, chaired by Karen Klein. Marlene Egger, 2nd Vice President, presented a list of winners for the HSA Contests. Names of winners may be seen on the HSA website, and winning poems will be published in Frogpond. —Johnye Strickland, for Secretary Lane Parker
2nd Quarter Meeting:
June 30 - Portland, ORThe second quarterly Haiku Society of America’s Meeting that was held in Portland at the end of June, 2007. Maggie Chula and Ce Rosenow organized this event.
On Friday, June 29, we kicked off the event with an evening reading at Powell’s City of Books. Powell’s is the largest bookstore in the country. Its three-story building takes up a full city block, and it has an excellent haiku section. The featured readers were Australian poet and translator, Amelia Fielden, and poet and HSA president, Pamela Miller Ness. The reading was open to everyone attending the quarterly meeting.
The meeting itself was held on Saturday, June 30, at the Hoyt Arboretum. The Arboretum is a 185-acre open space in the west hills of Portland with comfortable meeting facilities and wonderful trails that are perfect for an afternoon ginko. The schedule included a variety of readings, workshops, and panels, as well as a memorial tribute to Lorraine Ellis Harr and Francine Porad. After the meeting, we met at Bush Garden, a Japanese restaurant in downtown Portland, for a banquet, with a menu specially prepared by the restaurant’s head chef.
On Sunday morning, July 1, Maggie Chula gave a tour of the Portland Japanese Garden. When his Excellency Nobuo Matsunaga, the former Ambassador from Japan to the United States, visited the Portland Japanese Garden, he described it as “the most beautiful and authentic Japanese garden in the world outside of Japan.”
—Ce Rosenow, Oregon Regional Coordinator
1st Quarter Meeting:
March 31 - Shreveport, LAThe 1st Quarterly Meeting of 2007 was held at the Broadmoor Library in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Saturday, March 31. On behalf of President Pamela Miller Ness, who was unable to attend, Johnye Strickland thanked Carlos Colón and the local Haiku Group for hosting the meeting and organizing the program.
Minutes of the last meeting, held in New York City at the Tenri Institute on Saturday, December 2, 2006 were read by Johnye Strickland, acting for Secretary Lane Parker, who was also unable to attend. The minutes were approved and accepted by the HSA members present.
Under Other Business, Johnye asked if anyone had anything they would like to be presented to the Executive Committee when it meets in Portland, Oregon, at the 2nd Quarterly Meeting, June 29-July 1. After learning that three teachers in the Shreveport haiku group (who spoke of Carlos as a mentor extraordinaire) teach haiku—two in their classrooms, and the third to the homeless—Susan Delaney, who has recently started a new haiku group in Dallas, Texas, recommended that the HSA reinstate its Outstanding Teacher Award for the use of haiku in teaching.
The Business Meeting adjourned, and attendees returned to the program.
—Johnye Strickland, for Secretary Lane Parker