Appearances
Selected readings, workshops, and other appearances are listed here. In addition, I curate and MC the live-streamed SoulFood Poetry Night (see YouTube) in Redmond, Washington (third Thursday of each month at SoulFood CoffeeHouse), and the Redmond Association of Spokenword readings (last Friday night of each month at Centro Cultural Mexicano in Redmond). I also participate in monthly meetings of the Haiku Northwest group (second Thursday of most months, plus quarterly weekend meetings in 2023). These events were mostly on Zoom after about March of 2020, but many have returned to being in person. Also see selected event photos from the past below the following calendar, or visit the Workshops page to learn more about the various workshops and presentations I can provide. To schedule a poetry reading, workshop, lecture, or presentation, please contact me.
—Michael Dylan Welch
Now — 2023
Upcoming events: I have numerous workshops, presentations, and readings slated for 2023, and I’ll post information about them as soon as they’re confirmed. As with the previous three years of pandemic upheaval, many of these events are online, usually on Zoom. Keeping up appearances!
1 December 2022 – 4 January 2023: Installation of 30 “Holiday Haiku” as part of the City of Redmond’s annual Redmond Lights festival. Projected digitally at the Buoyant Pavilion in Redmond’s Downtown Park from 5:00–11:00 p.m. each night (except 5:00–9:00 p.m. on December 2, 9, and 16). See my Holiday Haiku page for photos of each poem and a video. + +
January 2023: Guest editor for the month-long Triveni Haikai India “Triveni Spotlight” column, featuring selected poems from Woodnotes, with my brief commentary. See “Woodnotes Triveni Spotlight” for all the poems and my commentary.
7 January 2023: ONLINE. Presentation on “My Path to and through Haiku” for Poetry Junkies, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
7 January 2023: Free “Restriction in Poetry” workshop at BookTree, 609 Market Street, Kirkland, Washington, at 4:30 p.m., followed by a reading with Janka Hobbs at 6:00 p.m. (including open-mic reading). See Facebook event page.
8–29 January 2023: Twelve blurred-light photos on display as part of the No Criticism 2023 art show at Victor’s Celtic Coffee, 7993 Gilman Street, Redmond, Washington. Artist reception on 15 January 2023. Free.
15 January 2023: Artist reception for the No Criticism 2023 art show at Victor’s Celtic Coffee, 7993 Gilman Street, Redmond, Washington. 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Free.
22 January 2023: ONLINE. Short presentation on the large addition of Woodnotes content to Graceguts for a meeting of the Haiku Poets of Northern California, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., free, on Zoom.
26 January 2023: ONLINE. Featured poet for the “Poets from the Neighborhood” reading series sponsored by Tennessee Poets, also recorded for WC-TV television broadcast on 29 April 2023. 4:00 p.m., free, with an open-mic reading. +
29 January 2023: ONLINE. “Grappling with Graceguts” presentation for the Portland Haiku Group. 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., free on Zoom, for members.
31 January 2023: Submission period ends for First Frost, the haiku journal I coedit with Eric Burke, Elizabeth McMunn-Tetangco, and Dale Wisely.
February 2023: Coordinating the thirteenth annual National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo) and providing daily writing prompts on the NaHaiWriMo page on Facebook, with more than 3,700 followers. Please join us in writing at least one haiku a day in the month of February—the shortest month of the year for the shortest genre of poetry! +
1 February 2023: Short podcast appearance regarding National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo) on NPR affiliate KJZZ FM (Phoenix) with Tom Maxedon (my contribution starts at about the 22:40 mark, and at the end Tom refers to me as the “godfather of haiku”).
6 February 2023: Featured poet on Tim Green's “Rattlecast,” sponsored by Rattle magazine. 5:00 p.m. via Zoom, streamed to YouTube, and available on the Rattle website. Audio versions also available through iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Amazon, and other podcasting apps. See the Facebook event, and watch on YouTube (during or after the live stream).
12 February 2023: ONLINE. “On the Art of Writing Haiku” presentation (part one, with quotations and discussion) for the San Diego Haiku Group, 12:30 p.m., free, for members only.
14 February 2023: ONLINE. Featured poet in Rick Lupert’s Cobalt Poetry series. 7:30 p.m., free, with an open-mic reading. See Facebook event.
20 February 2023: Featured poet at Everett Poetry Night, Sister’s Restaurant, 2804 Grand Avenue in Everett, Washington. 5:45 to 8:00 p.m. (my 30-minute feature starts at 7:15 p.m.). Free and fun.
1–31 March 2023: Submission period for the Mukai Farm & Garden 2023 Haiku Festival, for which I’m serving as a cojudge (results announced 9 April 2023).
4 March 2023: ONLINE. “A Dying Art: Death Haiku in Japanese and English” PowerPoint presentation for Poetry Junkies, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
9–11 March 2023: Attending the AWP conference in Seattle.
12 March 2023: ONLINE. “On the Art of Writing Haiku” presentation (part two, with quotations and discussion) for the San Diego Haiku Group, 12:30 p.m., free, for members only.
18 March 2023: Staffing a haiku table and writing instant haiku for attendees at the Ferndale Cherry Blossom Festival, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., free, Pioneer Pavilion Community Center, 2007 Cherry Street, Ferndale, Washington.
26 March 2023: My “Visiting Shiki” poem broadcast on WUGA radio in Athens, Georgia, as part of the “Wordland” program hosted by David Oates. Listen to the streaming link (my contribution begins at about the 54:00 mark, to end the broadcast).
8, 10 April 2023: Book launches for I Sing the Salmon Home, an anthology of Washington state poets edited by Rena Priest, in which I have a poem. 8 April, 2:00 p.m.: Seattle Public Library, 1000 4th Avenue, Seattle. 10 April, 4:00 p.m.: State Reception Room, third floor of the Washington State Capitol Building, Olympia, Washington.
9 April 2023: “How to Haiku” PowerPoint workshop at the 2023 Sakura-Con anime festival at the new Seattle Convention Center in Seattle (my presentation is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Sunday, in the Summit Building, room 447-448). Free with Sakura-Con admission. See the complete Sakura-Con schedule.
9 April 2023: Results announced for the Mukai Farm & Garden 2023 Haiku Festival, for which I’m serving as a cojudge. Winning and selected haiku (in calligraphy) will be displayed at the garden through the rest of April, 18017 107th Ave SW, Vashon Island, Washington (free, dawn to dusk). See the 2023 winners online.
15–16 April 2023: Leading haiku walks and installing “Haiku on Sticks” and haiku chalk art at the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival’s “Sakura Days Japan Fair,” VanDusen Botanical Garden, Vancouver, British Columbia (garden/event admission is $18.60 for adults). [I was unable to attend and these haiku components were cancelled.]
22 April 2023: MC for “Poetry Coffee House” at the Redmond Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, Washington. 3:00 to 4:30 p.m., free, with door prizes and snacks.
25 April 2023: “Eastside Poets: RASP at Hugo House” featured reading with five other Redmond Association of Spokenword poets at Hugo House in Seattle. 7:00 p.m. Please register for free tickets.
29 April 2023: ONLINE. “Oneliness” PowerPoint presentation on E. E. Cummings for Poetry Junkies. 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
29 April 2023: WC-TV (Tennessee) broadcast of my “Poets from the Neighborhood” Zoom reading, sponsored by Tennessee Poets (broadcast time to come).
3 May 2023: ONLINE. Facilitating a free rengay-writing session for members of the Oxford Haiku Group in England. 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time.
6 May 2023: Featured poet for I Sing the Salmon Home anthology reading with Holly Hughes and other readers at BookTree, 609 Market Street, Kirkland, Washington, at 6:30 p.m. (including open-mic reading).
13 May 2023: ONLINE. Hosting a quarterly meeting of Haiku Northwest, featuring Jonathan Van Harmelen with a presentation on “The Life of Kenneth Yasuda: Kibei Poet, Haiku Translator, and Literary Critic,” plus readings by Geneviève Wynand and Agnes Eva Savich and rounds of haiku sharing and critique. See schedule details. Free.
16 May 2023: ONLINE. “How to Haiku” workshop for the Gresham Japanese Garden in Oregon. 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. $20 registration fee. See registration details.
20 May 2023: ONLINE. “A Dying Art: Death Haiku in Japanese and English” PowerPoint presentation for the Southern California Haiku Study Group, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
30 May 2023: ONLINE. Free “Haiku Targets” workshop for Bellevue, Washington’s 2023 Japan Fair, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Click here to register. See Facebook event.
4 June 2023: ONLINE. “Haiku on Steroids” workshop for the Haiku Society of America’s Under 40 “Haiku Social Club,” 1:00–4:00 p.m. Free to members, on Zoom.
10 June 2023: Haiku reading for the annual meeting for the Oregon region of the Haiku Society of America and the Portland Haiku Group, Newport Visual Arts Center, 777 NW Beach Drive, Newport, Oregon. 10:30 a.m., as part of a full day of free events.
16 June 2023: Submission deadline for Bellevue, Washington’s third annual Japan Fair community haiku contest that I’m judging. Read submission instructions and enter your haiku here. Free to enter. Winners announced on 8–9 July 2023 during the Japan Fair at Meydenbauer Center, 11100 NE 6th Street in Bellevue, Washington.
28 June–2 July 2023: Haiku North America conference, for which I serve as a director, at the Netherland Plaza Hotel and the Mercantile Library in Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm also giving a presentation on deja-ku (haiku that bring to mind other poems), and leading a reading that features curators of the American Haiku Archives. See the schedule and the registration page.
3 July 2023: Directing the Tanka Monday conference (plus readings on Sunday night), sponsored by the Tanka Society of America, at the Mercantile Library in Cincinnati, Ohio. See the schedule and the registration page.
8–9 July 2023: Shikishi exhibit, lecture, and announcement of 2023 haiku contest winners at the Japan Fair, Meydenbauer Center, 11100 NE 6th Street in Bellevue, Washington. Free. My exhibit and lecture is titled “Touching the Moon: Twenty-Four Shikishi” and is based on my essay of the same name.
16 July 2023: ONLINE. Featured reader for a meeting of the Haiku Poets of Northern California, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
31 July 2023: Submission period ends for First Frost, the haiku journal I coedit with Eric Burke, Elizabeth McMunn-Tetangco, and Dale Wisely.
31 August 2023: Submission deadline for the fifth annual Morioka International Haiku Contest in Morioka, Japan, which I’m cojudging with Toshio Kimura. The award ceremony will be held at Morioka Gekijo (Main Hall) in Morioka on 12 November. See the 2019, 2020, and 2021 results and commentary, with Japanese translations (2022 results coming soon).
1–2 September 2023: Judging a free haiku contest, and reading the winners, each night at the Seattle Japanese Garden Moon Viewing Festival (tickets available for Day 1 and Day 2 to come; see the Events and Calendar pages), 7:00 p.m. ($25 admission fee expected). See the garden website.
10 September 2023: “The Nature of Haiku” in-person workshop for the Gresham Japanese Garden, 124 S Main Ave, Gresham, Oregon. 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. $45 registration fee. See registration details.
17 September 2023: ONLINE. Featured reader in the LitFuse Faculty Reading. 4:00 p.m., free. More details to come.
22–24 September 2023: Participating faculty in the 2023 LitFuse Unite poetry workshop, sponsored by Tieton Arts & Humanities, Tieton Fueling Station, 519 Maple Street, Tieton, Washington (near Yakima). With Cornelius Eady and others to be announced. Registration and other details to come.
26–29 October, 2023: Directing Haiku Northwest’s sixteenth annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway in-person at the Seabeck Conference Center in Seabeck, Washington. Featured guest, theme, registration rates, and other details to be announced.
12 November 2023: Award ceremony for the fifth annual Morioka International Haiku Contest at Morioka Gekijo (Main Hall) in Morioka, Japan, which I’m cojudging with Toshio Kimura. August 31 is the submission deadline. See the 2019, 2020, and 2021 results and commentary, with Japanese translations (2022 results coming soon).
Then — 2009 to 2022
Selected Event Photos
“Haiku Targets” presentation at the Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver British Columbia, 20 March 2006, as part of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (for which I’ve served as a judge and consultant for numerous years).
Delivering my keynote speech at the November 2013 Haiku International Association annual convention in Tokyo.
Audience view of my keynote speech at the November 2013 Haiku International Association annual convention in Tokyo.
Showing off my “I Heart Haiku” T-shirt after giving my keynote speech at the November 2013 Haiku International Association annual convention in Tokyo.
Teaching haiku to fourth graders at Cherry Crest Elementary School in Bellevue, Washington on 7 May 2009.
Teaching collaborative writing at the Poetry Yurt on Gabriola Island, British Columbia on 23 July 2013.
Teaching haiku at the Sakura Days Japan Fair at VanDusen Garden, Vancouver, British Columbia on 6 April 2013.
Facilitating the Ekphrastic Assimilations writing workshop at VALA Art Center in Redmond, Washington, on 16 September 2016.
“Becoming a Haiku Poet” workshop at Seattle Chōeizan Enkyōji Nichiren Buddhist Temple in Seattle on 19 May 2012.
Chatting with children’s book author Deb Lund at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference on 28 February 2008. I’ve given workshops and readings at this conference on haiku and longer poetry as well as all-day seminars on haiku and on “Microsoft Word for Poets and Novelists.”
Participating in a panel discussion on haiku poet Nicholas Virgilio (with Raffael de Gruttola and Kathleen O’Toole) at the 2009 Haiku North America conference at the National Library of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, 6 August 2009.
Haiku reading at the Japanese Garden, Seattle, Washington, 29 June 2008, for the “Haiku Day” at the garden, sponsored by the Haiku Society of America and Seattle Parks and Recreation. +
Serving as MC for the national Haiku Society of America meeting at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, 26 June 2010.
Haiku reading at the “Found in Translation” exhibition at the TORA Gallery, in Mount Vernon, Washington, with koto accompaniment by Elizabeth Falconer, 20 November 2005.
Haiku performance with members of the Haiku Northwest group (left to right: Michael Dylan Welch, Marilyn Sandall, William Scott Galasso, and Connie Hutchison, with guitar accompaniment by Dejah Léger, not shown) at the Northwest Folklife Festival, 26 May 2008.
You can listen to a recording of the Haiku Northwest Folklife performance of May 2005.
Welcoming speech for the 2004 Poets in the Park conference, at Clise Mansion in Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington. I founded and directed this conference, which I directed again in 2005 and revived in 2014 (ongoing since then).
Teaching haiku for Camp Fire USA on Bainbridge Island, 15 March 2008.
Featured reading at Hibulb Cultural Center in Tulalip, Washington, 2 May 2019. The reading took place in the longhouse.
“Calling All Poets” reading (me with Washington State Poet Laureate Kathleen Flenniken), Sammamish Library, 2 April 2013.
Staffing the haiku table at the 2014 moon viewing festival at the Seattle Japanese Garden. I have judged an annual haiku contest at this annual festival for many years.
As Redmond poet laureate, I began a presentation series called “Poets Wanted: Dead or Alive,” featuring the poetry of famous poets. This presentation on Rumi took place at the library in Redmond, Washington, on 10 February 2014.
Directing the annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway at the Seabeck Conference Center in Seabeck, Washington, October 2017.
Television interview on 15 April 2018 about the Sakura Days Japan Festival at VanDusen Gardens in Vancouver, British Columbia, at which I’ve given numerous readings and workshops, led haiku walks, and judged haiku contests since the inception of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival in 2006.
Leading a haiku workshop for the Sakura Days Japan Festival at VanDusen Gardens in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Writing instant haiku at Brick and Mortar Books in Redmond, Washington for Independent Bookstore Day on 28 April 2018.
Staffing the haiku table on 13 September 2019 with Michelle Schaefer at the annual Moon Viewing event at the Seattle Japanese Garden. [photo by SlickPix Photography]
Linda Poole, executive director of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, introduces me to lead a haiku workshop at the Vancouver Public Library, 28 April 2019.
Staffing my haiku book table in the Haiku Hut at the Sakura Days Japan Festival, VanDusen Botanical Garden, 15 April 2018.
Chalk haiku at VanDusen Botanical Garden, April 2016.
Directing the Seabeck Haiku Getaway, via Zoom, October 2020.