Shorter BiosThe following
two shortened bio sketches may be used for publicity purposes. See a longer
bio. For head shots or other publicity photos, please contact Michael Dylan Welch. Haiku Emphasis
Michael Dylan Welch has been
investigating haiku and related poetry since 1976. This has included writing
haiku very badly (with titles, even) for twelve years, discovering literary
haiku in 1988, buying thousands of haiku books, joining haiku groups and
organizations and often being an officer, starting to teach haiku and writing
hundreds of essays and reviews about haiku, founding his haiku publishing
endeavor, Press Here, in 1989, cofounding the Haiku North America conference in
1991 and the American Haiku Archives in 1996, and founding the Tanka Society of
America in 2000, the Seabeck Haiku Getaway in 2008, and National Haiku Writing
Month (www.nahaiwrimo.com) in 2010. Over the years Michael has won first prize
in numerous contests for haiku and related poetry, edited and written dozens of
poetry books, and spoken at many literary conferences and retreats. His haiku have been carved into stone in New Zealand, printed on balloons in Los Angeles, and read for the Empress of Japan and at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Michael has
balanced his haiku investigations with the study of longer poetry by receiving
an MA in English, serving two terms as poet laureate of Redmond, Washington,
curating two poetry reading series since 2006 and 2008, and teaching for an MFA
program and at local schools and libraries. Michael was keynote speaker for the
2013 Haiku International Association annual convention in Japan (which he
visits often with his Japanese wife), and had one of his translations printed on the back of
150,000,000 postage stamps in 2012. His writing has appeared in Bacopa Literary Review, City Arts, Clover: A Literary Rag, Hummingbird, Kyoto Journal, Matrix, Modern Haiku, Poetry Kanto, Poetry Nippon, Poet’s Market, Rattle, Raven Chronicles, Right Hand Pointing, Rivet, Sand Hill Review, Seattle Weekly, StringTown, The Writer’s Chronicle, Writer’s Digest, and in many other publications, blogs, and radio shows. In 2009, Michael started his website, www.graceguts.com, where he continues to collect and share his published
writing. He was born in England, and was raised there and in Ghana, Australia,
and Canada. Michael continues to investigate haiku where he now lives in
Sammamish, Washington. He also practices giving back to the poetry community
through conscientious literary citizenship. General Poetry EmphasisMichael Dylan Welch has been investigating haiku and related poetry since 1976. He founded his press, Press Here, in 1989, and cofounded Haiku North America (HNA) in 1991 and the American Haiku Archives in 1996. He founded the Tanka Society of America in 2000, the Seabeck Haiku Getaway in 2008, and National Haiku Writing Month (www.nahaiwrimo.com) in 2010. Michael was keynote speaker for the 2013 Haiku International Association convention in Tokyo. He is president of the Redmond Association of Spokenword, and has also curated monthly SoulFood Poetry Night readings since 2006. He served as poet laureate of Redmond, Washington from 2013 to 2015. Michael has published his poetry, essays, and reviews in hundreds of journals and anthologies in more than twenty languages, and has also published numerous books, the most recent of which include Sitting in the Sun (the 2019 HNA conference anthology), Jumble Box (NaHaiWriMo anthology), Seven Suns / Seven Moons (with Tanya McDonald), Off the Beaten Track: A Year in Haiku (with eleven other poets), and Becoming a Haiku Poet, among other collections. Michael lives in Sammamish, Washington, and his website is www.graceguts.com.
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