2011 Appearances
January 2011: I’m one of the “top writers” contributing to Sheila Bender’s book, Creative Writing DeMystified, just published by McGraw-Hill.
18 January 2011: Receiving award of excellence for best printed technical publication from the Society for Technical Communication, Puget Sound Chapter, Competition Showcase and Awards, Swedish Cultural Center, 1920 Dexter Ave N., Seattle, 6:00 p.m.
February 2011: Running National Haiku Writing Month throughout February—the shortest month for the world’s shortest genre of poetry. See the NaHaiWriMo website and the NaHaiWriMo Facebook page.
February 2011: My article “Building a Suburban Poetry Community” appears in the February 2011 issue of Line Zero magazine. You can preview a PDF sampler of the issue (click “Click here for the PDF”—the preview doesn’t include my article, however).
12 February 2011: “Haiku Targets” and haiga workshop for Oil and Water Arts, 278 Winslow Way East (upper level of Winslow Mall), Bainbridge Island, Washington, 12:00 noon to 5:30 p.m.
25 February 2011: MC for the Redmond Association of Spokenword, featuring Janée Baugher, Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, 16600 NE 80th Street, Redmond, Washington, 7:00 p.m. (includes an open-mic reading).
1 March 2011: The Haiku Invitational poster for the 2011 Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is now being displayed on 500+ city buses and SkyTrains in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was an honour for me to serve as the judge in selecting the poems presented on this placard. Congrats to each of the winners. Read my comments on the winning poems.
8 March 2011: Haiku workshop for the Plateau Area Writers Association quarterly meeting at the Muckleshoot Library, 39917 Auburn Enumclaw Road SE, Auburn, Washington, 10:00 a.m. to noon.
22 March 2011: The March 2011 issue of Haijinx (IV:1) has an overview essay by Aubrie Cox about National Haiku Writing Month, an interview with me about its creation, and fourteen of my NaHaiWriMo haiku.
22 March 2011: Received my copy of Spring: The Journal of the E. E. Cummings Society (#17, October 2010), for which I am a contributing editor. I have the lead-off essay in this issue, titled “The Tiny Room: The Jottings of E. E. Cummings.” This issue also includes a waka translation of mine (with Emiko Miyashita), three haiku, and one longer poem, “Flowers on the Roof of Hell.”
2–3 April 2011: Reading the winning haiku from the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival’s 2010 Haiku Invitational at the Sakura Days Japan Fair at VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, British Columbia, with ambient violin accompaniment by Janine Island.
17 April 2011 (National Haiku Day!): “Becoming a Haiku Poet” workshop at Seattle Chōeizan Enkyōji Nichiren Buddhist Temple, 501 South Jackson Street (at 5th Avenue), Suite 202, in Seattle. 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Free! [alas, cancelled]
22–24 April 2011: Staffing the haiku table at Sakura-Con 2011, Seattle’s massive anime festival, Washington State Convention Center, Seattle.
26 April 2011: “Haiku: It’s Bigger Than You Think” workshop, sponsored by the Redmond Association of Spokenword, at the Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, Washington. Free, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
May 2011: My interview with poet Lana Hechtman Ayers, titled “Cream Rises,” appears in the May 2011 issue of Line Zero magazine.
May 2011: Publication of Bonsai, featuring my cotranslation with Emiko Miyashita of twelve Bashō poems that introduce each seasonal section of photographs. Tokyo: PIE Books, 2011.
2, 9, 16 May 2011: “Introduction to Haiku” workshop. I’ll be teaching a three-week class exploring the myths and realities of haiku poetry, including techniques such as kigo (season words), kireji (cutting words), shasei (objectivity), and more. Held at the Seattle Japanese Garden from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on three consecutive Monday evenings. $35.00. Preregister for class #70367 in person at any Seattle Parks and Recreation Community Center, online at www.seattle.gov/parks, or in person at the Japanese Garden.
14 May 2011: Featured reader in the “Cross-Border Pollination” reading series in Vancouver, British Columbia, reading with Jericho Brown, Catherine Owen, Roberta Rich, and Sheryda Warrener, hosted by Rachel Rose. 5:00 p.m. at Simon Fraser University, Harbour Center, Room 7000. Free.
15 May 2011: “Writing Haiku: Myths and Realities” workshop at Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia. 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. $45.00.
22 May 2011: MC for launch reading for Cascade #2, the journal of the Washington Poets Association, which I edited, at the Burning Word poetry festival, in Leavenworth, Washington. 1:30 p.m. Free.
5 June 2011: Introductory haiku workshop for a national quarterly meeting this weekend of the Haiku Society of America in Bend, Oregon. See weekend schedule at the HSA website. Also read article at The Source Weekly. See the KTVZ television news report (yes, I'm on television!).
24 June 2011: MC for the Redmond Association of Spokenword, featuring Mark Waterbury, author of The Monster of Perugia, Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, 16600 NE 80th Street, Redmond, Washington, 7:00 p.m. (includes an open-mic reading).
16–17 July 2011: Book launch for my new book, Tidepools: Haiku On Gabriola (Pacific Rim Publishing, 2011), celebrating ten years of haiku weekends on Gabriola Island, British Columbia. Launch and reading to be held on Saturday at Drumbeg House, Gabriola. On Sunday, I’ll do a reading of haiku and tanka at the Gabriola Commons, followed by a renku workshop.
August 2011: My interview with Devon Léger, titled “Thinking Small,” about roots-based indie music, appears in the August issue of Line Zero magazine.
3–7 August 2011: Director of the Haiku North America conference at Seattle Center in Seattle, featuring dozens of the best haiku writers and critics writing in the English language. Activities include a banquet, anthology, bookfair, readings, workshops, performances, and much more. Read details at the HNA website and the HNA blog.
13 August 2011: Haiku reading, presentation, and free haiku contest at the Seattle Japanese Garden Moon Viewing Festival, 6:00 p.m. ($15 admission to the event).
20–21 August 2011: “The Joy of Haiku” workshop (Saturday 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., and Sunday 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.) at the North Cascades Institute Environmental Learning Center, in the heart of the North Cascades National Park, as part of their “Diablo Downtime” weekend.
26 August 2011: MC for the Redmond Association of Spokenword, featuring poet Stephen Roxborough, Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, 16600 NE 80th Street, Redmond, Washington, 7:00 p.m. (includes an open-mic reading).
10, 11 September 2011: Teaching introductory haiku classes and staffing a haiku table at Aki Matsuri, Bellevue College, Bellevue, Washington. Also a small installation of Haiku on Sticks.
14 September 2011: My tanka writing exercise from Sheila Bender’s book Creative Writing DeMystified (McGraw-Hill) is featured today on Education.com (on the site, click the option to read the full article).
30 September 2011: MC for the Redmond Association of Spokenword, featuring fiction writer and NaNoWriMo regional liaison Renda Dodge, Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, 16600 NE 80th Street, Redmond, Washington, 7:00 p.m. (includes an open-mic reading).
6 October 2011: About a dozen of my haiku appear in the new Haiku app from The Haiku Foundation. The app is available on iTunes, and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. My haiku also appear in the Per Diem feature on The Haiku Foundation’s website.
8 October 2011: “Introduction to Haiku” workshop. I’ll be teaching a one-day class exploring the myths and realities of haiku poetry, including techniques such as kigo (season words), kireji (cutting words), shasei (objectivity), and more. Held at the Seattle Japanese Garden from 11:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m. $35.00. Preregister for class #75421 in person at any Seattle Parks and Recreation Community Center, online at www.seattle.gov/parks, or in person at the Japanese Garden. [alas, cancelled]
13–16 October 2011: Director of Haiku Northwest’s fourth annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway in Seabeck, Washington. Early discount registration is 7 September 2011. See the schedule!
November 2011: Publication of Furoshiki, my cotranslation with Emiko Miyashita of poems and prose about elegant Japanese gift-wrapping cloths known as furoshiki. Tokyo: PIE Books, 2011. This book will be released in certain parts of the world in April of 2012.
December 2011: Featured contributor to Notes from the Gean 3:3. This issue contains an extensive interview with me, five neon buddha photo-haiga, an appreciation of three favourite haiku titled “Three Ironside Haiku,” and an essay on “A Moment in the Sun: When Is a Haiku?”
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