Haiku North America

Haiku North America is a nonprofit corporation of which I’m one of four directors, along with Garry Gay (California), Paul Miller (Rhode Island), and Deborah P Kolodji (California). When Garry was president of the Haiku Society of America, he thought it would be a good idea to have a conference to bring together members of
various haiku organizations (not just HSA members), and so the event was born. I was one of the founders of the conference, first held in 1991, in California, and also proposed the event’s name. My idea with the name was to make sure HNA was not just a U.S. event, but also encompassed Canada (and Mexico, although the haiku community there seems to be very small or insular). From the beginning, HNA has been a stimulating long weekend of readings, presentations, papers, and more, all focusing on haiku poetry. The variety of scholarly and nonacademic papers and presentations have had an extraordinary influence on English-language haiku for more than 25 years by appearing in the leading haiku journals. In addition, HNA is especially strong as a social event, where haiku poets from across the continent, and beyond, can gather regularly for poetic and academic inspiration.
        At first, HNA was going to be a one-shot deal, but about a year after the 1991 conference, I suggested to Garry that we should do it again, and if I had not done so, HNA would not have become the regular event it is. Consequently, we held the next conference in 1993, also in California, thus establishing the every-two-years frequency. Thereafter, the conference has moved around the continent to a different city each time, first trekking to Canada in 1995, and held aboard a cruise ship (albeit docked) in 2013. The following is a list of the dates and locations for each HNA conference, their chief organizers, and the title and publication information for each conference anthology (all of which I edited or coedited, and also published with my press, Press Here). From this list, you can also click links to read the introduction and sample poems from each anthology. At the end are additional links to the HNA website, its FAQ page, the HNA blog, and a video that promotes the 2015 conference in Schenectady, New York. See you at the next Haiku North America conference!

Conferences

August 23–25, 1991
Las Positas College, Livermore, California (near San Francisco)

Directors: Garry Gay, Michael Dylan Welch, Jerry Ball, David Wright, Christopher Herold, and Paul O. Williams
Harvest, Michael Dylan Welch, editor. Press Here, Foster City, California, 1991, 20 pages, 52 poets (one poem each), ISBN 1-878798-05-7; introduction; sample poems


July 15–18, 1993
Las Positas College, Livermore, California

Directors: Garry Gay, Michael Dylan Welch, Jerry Ball, David Wright, Ebba Story, and Marianne Monaco
The Shortest Distance, Ebba Story and Michael Dylan Welch, editors. Cover photograph by Garry Gay. Press Here, Foster City, California, 1993, 20 pages, 51 poets (one poem each), ISBN 1-878798-11-1; introduction; sample poems


July 13–15, 1995
Ryerson Polytechnic, Toronto, Ontario

Directors: Keith Southard, Marshall Hryciuk, and George Swede
Northern Lights, Michael Dylan Welch, editor, Press Here, Foster City, California, 1995, 24 pages, 50 poems by 29 poets, ISBN 1-878798-13-8; introduction; sample poems


July 24–27, 1997
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon

Directors: Ce Rosenow, Margaret Chula, and Cherie Hunter Day
Shades of Green, Michael Dylan Welch, editor. Cherie Hunter Day, illustration. Press Here, Foster City, California, 1997, 24 pages, 63 poets (one poem each), ISBN 1-878798-18-9; introduction; sample poems

July 8–11, 1999
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois (near Chicago)

Directors: Charles Trumbull, Sara Brant, Joseph Kirschner, and Lidia Rozmus
Too Busy for Spring, Michael Dylan Welch and Lee Gurga, editors. Lidia Rozmus, cover illustration. Press Here, Foster City, California, 1999, 36 pages, 91 poets (one poem each), ISBN 1-878798-19-7; introduction; sample poems


June 28–July 1, 2001
Boston Conservatory, Boston, Massachusetts

Directors: Raffael de Gruttola, Judson Evans, and Karen Klein
Paperclips, Michael Dylan Welch, Carol Purington, and Larry Kimmel, editors. Karen Klein, ink brush drawings. Press Here, Foster City, California, 2001, 40 pages, 101 poets (one poem each) plus five poems from a children’s haiku contest, ISBN 1-878798-24-3; introduction; sample poems


June 26–29, 2003
Dalton School, New York, New York

Directors: Pamela Miller Ness, Stanford M. Forrester, Brenda Gannam, Tom Painting, and John Stevenson
Brocade of Leaves, Michael Dylan Welch and Yu Chang, editors. Press Here, Sammamish, Washington, 2003, 32 pages, 85 poets (one poem each), ISBN 1-878798-27-8; introduction; sample poems


September 21–25, 2005
Fort Worden Conference Center, Port Townsend, Washington

Directors: Michael Dylan Welch, Christopher Herold, Carol O’Dell, and Doris Thurston
Tracing the Fern, Michael Dylan Welch and Billie Wilson, editors. Press Here, Sammamish, Washington, 2005, 40 pages, 67 poets (two poems each), ISBN 1-878798-28-6; introduction; sample poems


August 15–19, 2007
Hawthorne Inn and Conference Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Directors: Dave Russo, Lenard D. Moore, and Bob Moyer
Dandelion Wind, Michael Dylan Welch and Lenard D. Moore, editors. Kate MacQueen, illustrations. Press Here, Sammamish, Washington, 2008, 36 pages, 71 poets (one poem each), ISBN 978-1-878798-29-9; introduction; sample poems


August 5–9, 2009
National Library of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario—see photos 1, photos 2, photos 3

Directors: Terry Ann Carter, Guy Simser, and Claudia Radmore
Into Our Words, Michael Dylan Welch and Grant D. Savage, editors. Peter Vernon Quenter, artwork. Press Here, Sammamish, Washington, 2009, 40 pages, 90 poets (one poem each), ISBN 978-1-878798-30-5; introduction; sample poems


August 3–7, 2011
Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington—see photos 1, photos 2, photos 3, photos 4, photos 5

Directors: Michael Dylan Welch, Tanya McDonald, and Angela Terry
Standing Still, Michael Dylan Welch and Ruth Yarrow, editors. Dejah Léger, illustrations. Press Here, Sammamish, Washington, 2011, 36 pages, 74 poets (one poem each), ISBN 978-1-878798-32-9; introduction; sample poems; see 2011 group photo above


August 14–18, 2013
Queen Mary, Long Beach, California—photos coming soon

Directors: Debbie P Kolodji and Naia
Close to the Wind, Michael Dylan Welch and William Hart, editors. Naia, illustrations. Press Here, Sammamish, Washington, 2013, 52 pages, 97 poets (one poem each), ISBN 978-1-878798-35-0; introduction; sample poems; order from Amazon


October 14–18, 2015
Union College, Schenectady, New York—see photos 1, photos 2, photos 3, photos 4, photos 5 (see also Tanka Sunday photos)

Directors: Hilary Tann, John Stevenson, Yu Chang, Tom Clausen, and David Giacalone
Fire in the Treetops: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of Haiku North America, Michael Dylan Welch and Scott Mason, editors. Christopher Patchel, artwork. Press Here, Sammamish, Washington, 2015, 416 pages, 1,053 poems by more than 500 poets, ISBN 978-1-878798-37-4; introduction; sample poems; order from Amazon

September 13–17, 2017
Hotel Santa Fe, Hacienda & Spa, Santa Fe, New Mexico—photos coming soon

Directors: Charles Trumbull, Sondra J. Byrnes, Cynthia Henderson, Scott Wiggerman, and Miriam Sagan
Earthsigns, Michael Dylan Welch and Scott Wiggerman, editors. Lidia Rozmus, illustrations. Press Here, Sammamish, Washington, 2017, 84 pages, 183 poets (one poem each), ISBN 978-1-878798-38-1; introduction; sample poems; order from Amazon

August 7–11, 2019
Hawthorne Inn and Conference Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Directors: Bob Moyer, Dave Russo, Lenard D. Moore, Crystal Simone Smith
2019 anthology, Michael Dylan Welch and Crystal Simone Smith, editors. Kate MacQueen, artwork. Press Here, Sammamish, Washington, 2019, 64 pages, 94 poets (one poem each), ISBN 978-1-878798-40-4; introduction; sample poems; contributor list; order from Amazon

October 13–17, 2021
Hotel Grand Pacific, Victoria, British Columbia

Directors: Terry Ann Carter and Lynne Jambor
2021 anthology, Michael Dylan Welch and a coeditor to be named


Additional Links

Hope you can join us for the next Haiku North America conference!