2016 Appearances
4 January 2016: My book The Haijin’s Tweed Coat is featured as Book of the Week on the Haiku Foundation website in PDF form. You can also order a copy for yourself (scroll down).
6 January 2016: British publication date for Off the Beaten Track: A Year in Haiku (Boatwhistle Books, 2016), available on Amazon, in which I’m one of a dozen poets writing daily haiku for each month of the year (I’m the featured poet for April). North American publication date, through Dufour Editions, is 28 January 2016. Read an interview with me about this book. +
9–10 January 2016: Teaching workshops on “Haiku Targets” (3:15 p.m. Saturday) and “Making the Cut: The Art of Juxtaposition in Haiku and Beyond” (2:00 p.m. Sunday) for the MFA in Creative Writing residency at the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. Residency programs held at Captain Whidbey Inn on Whidbey Island, in Coupeville, Washington, where I’ll also install “Haiku on Sticks.”
13 January 2016: Featured reader at Brookdale Foundation House monthly poetry reading, 32290 1st Ave South, Federal Way, Washington. 6:30 p.m., free.
22 January 2016: Interviewed for a Redmond Reporter story by Samantha Pak on the Redmond Association of Spokenword’s move to VALA Art Center (I’ve been curating the monthly readings for this series since 2008).
29 January 2016: MC for the Redmond Association of Spokenword, featuring poet Chris Jarmick, VALA Art Center, 7303 164th Avenue NE, Redmond, Washington, party to celebrate our new location at 6:00 p.m., reading at 7:00 p.m. (includes an open-mic reading).
1 February 2016: Curating the sixth annual National Haiku Writing Month, with daily prompts on the NaHaiWriMo page on Facebook. + +
1 February 2016: Featured interview on Robert Lee Brewer’s Poetic Asides blog on Writer’s Digest, about NaHaiWriMo and my recent publications and other poetry activities.
1 February 2016: Teaching haiku for fourth and fifth graders at Blackwell Elementary School in Sammamish, Washington.
10 February 2016: National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo) featured in Gene Myers’ North Jersey newspaper column and the Haiku Society of America blog column.
11 February 2016: Poets Wanted, Dead or Alive: Celebrating Famous Poets. Open reading and discussion of poetry by Sylvia Plath (on the 53rd anniversary of her death day). Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, 6:30 p.m., free. +
13 February 2016: “The Art of Writing Haiku” workshop and haiku walk at the Ferndale Library, 2125 Main Street, Ferndale, Washington, as part of the Ferndale Cherry Blossom Festival. 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. for a workshop, including writing, sharing, and discussing haiku. Free. Find more info at the City of Ferndale website. + + +
16 February 2016: Poets Wanted, Dead or Alive: Celebrating Famous Poets. Open reading and discussion of poetry by William Stafford. Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, 6:30 p.m., free.
23 February 2016: Interview on the Boatwhistle Books news blog about my contributions to Off the Beaten Track: A Year in Haiku.
23 February 2016: Leading a winter renku writing session for fourth and fifth graders at Blackwell Elementary School in Sammamish, Washington (we wrote a renku called “Playground Chill”).
23 February 2016: Poets Wanted, Dead or Alive: Celebrating Famous Poets. Open reading and discussion of poetry by Maya Angelou (in celebration of Black History Month). Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, 6:30 p.m., free.
1 March 2016: Poets Wanted, Dead or Alive: Celebrating Famous Poets. Open reading and discussion of poetry by Dr. Seuss a day before Dr. Seuss Day. Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, 6:30 p.m., free.
15 March 2016: Poets Wanted, Dead or Alive: Celebrating Famous Poets. Open reading and discussion of poetry by Wallace Stevens. Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, 6:30 p.m., free.
22 March 2016: Poets Wanted, Dead or Alive: Celebrating Famous Poets. Open reading and discussion of poetry by Shel Silverstein. Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, 6:30 p.m., free.
29 March 2016: Poets Wanted, Dead or Alive: Celebrating Famous Poets. Open reading and discussion of poetry by Allen Ginsberg. Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, 6:30 p.m., free.
April 2016: My poetry books featured in the display case at the Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, Washington, along with poetry books by other poets laureate of Redmond, Washington, for National Poetry Month.
1 April 2016: Winner of a commendation in the 2016 Sharpening the Green Pencil Romanian haiku contest.
7 April 2016: “Telling Stories: Putting Yourself (or Others) Into Poetry” adult writing workshop at the Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond, 6:30 p.m., free.
9–10 April 2016: Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival’s “Sakura Days Japan Fair,” VanDusen Botanical Garden, Vancouver, British Columbia ($12.00 garden/event admission charged).
14 April 2016: Teaching haiku to second-graders at Gretchen Bruner’s class at the French American School of Puget Sound on Mercer Island, Washington. 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.
15 April 2016: Contributed to an extensive blog post on Chris Cooper's blog, in celebration of National Poetry Month, about sacred places and spaces for poetry.
16 April 2016: Haiku reading at the Ferndale Library, 2125 Main Street, Ferndale, Washington, as part of the Ferndale Cherry Blossom Festival. 2:00 to 2:45 p.m. Free. More info at the City of Ferndale website. Read the 2016 Ferndale Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Contest Winners, which I judged. [was not able to attend] +
17 April 2016: “Haiku Day” at the Seattle Japanese Garden to celebrate International Haiku Writing Day. 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Free with garden admission.
17 April 2016: Open Studio: An Evening of Performance, Poetry & Song. Featured reading at VALA Art Center in Redmond, Washington. Performing with Jessika Kenney, Vis a Vis Society (aka Sierra Nelson & Rachel Kessler), Alan Chong Lau and Susie Kozawa, Srivani Jade, and Levi Fuller, curated by Shin Yu Pai. Free, 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. +
21 April 2016: “Let Sleeping Poets Lie” featured on the Boynton Blog.
23 April 2016: Poetry Coffeehouse at the Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th Street in Redmond. 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., free—with cookies and coffee, too.
28 April 2016: Presentation on haiku for Lake Washington Alumnae Association of Kappa Kappa Gamma, at a private location in Clyde Hill, Washington (12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m.).
29 April 2016: MC for the Redmond Association of Spokenword, featuring poet Joannie Stangeland, VALA Art Center, 7303 164th Avenue NE, Redmond, Washington. Wine-tasting for Joannie and Tom Stangeland’s Cloudlift Cellars at 6:00 p.m., reading at 7:00 p.m. (includes an open-mic reading).
May 2016: One haiku of mine featured each day of the month on Mann Library’s Haiku Page, at Cornell University, selected and sequenced by Tom Clausen. Read the poems here too.
3 May 2016: Eight of my haiku featured on Cinquesettecinque, an Italian blog focused on Japanese genres of poetry, with translations of my poems in Italian.
25 June 2016: Directing the Poets in the Park festival, book fair, and poetry picnic at Anderson Park in Redmond, Washington. Free, full-day poetry festival with readings, workshops, vendors, installations, and more. +
1 July 2016: My photograph featured on the cover of the journal Prune Juice, issue #19, July 2016.
12 July 2016: Editorial published in the Sammamish Review newspaper.
29 July 2016: MC for the Redmond Association of Spokenword, featuring middle-grade novelist Dan Gemeinhart, VALA Art Center, 7303 164th Avenue NE, Redmond, Washington. 6:30 p.m. socializing, 7:00 p.m. reading, free.
12–14 August 2016: “Haiku and the Art of Forest Bathing” presentation and workshop, plus readings for a national meeting of the Haiku Society of America in Portland, Oregon.
15 September 2016: Opening reception for the Ekphrastic Assimilations art installation at VALA Art Center, 7325 166th Ave NE, Suite F (new location), Redmond, Washington. 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Free. I’m one of the featured poets commissioned to write poetry for this exhibition. See my poem, “The Scarf.”
16 September 2016: First ekphrastic writing workshop at VALA Art Center, 7325 166th Ave NE, Suite F, Redmond, Washington, as part of the Ekphrastic Assimilations installation. Featuring Dianne Aprile, Janée J. Baugher, Emily Dietrich, and Michael G. Hickey (with artist Deborah Kapoor). 6:30 p.m. Free.
17 September 2016: Judging a free haiku contest, and reading the winners, at the Seattle Japanese Garden Moon Viewing Festival, 6:00 p.m., with Tanya McDonald ($15 admission to the event). See the garden website. Read the Seattle Japanese Garden Community Blog announcement of the winners.
20 September 2016: Featured radio interview with me on “In Conversation,” conducted by Sheila Bender of Writing It Real, broadcast at 12:05 p.m. on KPTZ radio in Port Townsend, Washington (91.9 FM or streaming). See KPTZ.org (click the Listen to KPTZ Live button). See the On-Air Schedule (broadcast repeated on 22 September 2016). Have a listen!
20 September 2016: Release date for Seven Suns / Seven Moons, my surreal poetry collaboration with Tanya McDonald, from NeoPoiesis Press. Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and elsewhere.
22 September 2016: Featured radio interview with me on “In Conversation,” conducted by Sheila Bender of Writing It Real, broadcast at 5:30 p.m. on KPTZ radio in Port Townsend, Washington (91.9 FM or streaming). See KPTZ.org (click the Listen to KPTZ Live button). See the On-Air Schedule (broadcast repeated from 20 September 2016). Have a listen!
13 October 2016: Featured on Sheila Bender’s “Writing It Real” website with my “In Conversation” radio interview and links to “Tanka by Michael Dylan Welch,” “The Seed of the Human Heart: Writing Tanka,” and “Becoming a Haiku Poet.”
25 October 2016 (rescheduled from 14 October): Second ekphrastic writing workshop at VALA Art Center, 7325 166th Ave NE, Suite F, Redmond, Washington, as part of the Ekphrastic Assimilations installation. Featuring Duane Kirby Jensen, J. I. Kleinberg, Jared Leising, and Joannie Stangeland. 6:30 p.m. Free.
27–30 October 2016: Directing Haiku Northwest’s ninth annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway at the Seabeck Conference Center in Seabeck, Washington, featuring guest speaker Sonja Arntzen (our theme for the weekend is the sense of smell).
30 October 2016: Closing reception and poetry reading for the Ekphrastic Assimilations art installation at VALA Art Center, 7325 166th Ave NE, Suite F, Redmond, Washington, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Free. I’m one of the featured poets commissioned to write poetry for this exhibition. See my poem, “The Scarf.”
18 November 2016: MC for the Redmond Association of Spokenword, featuring Washington State poet laureate Tod Marshall, VALA Art Center, 7325 166th Ave NE, Suite F, Redmond, Washington. 6:30 p.m. socializing, 7:00 p.m. reading, free.
20 November 2016: Featured poet and best-of-issue award in Butterfly Dream, Volume Two, with Chinese translations by Chen-ou Liu, complete with the following statement of process: “Inspiration for haiku comes from the seasons, reading, conversations, or other experiences. But don’t write about your emotions. Instead, write about what caused your emotions. That makes all the difference.” +
1 December 2016: Nominated by Clover: A Literary Rag for a Pushcart Prize for my poem “Seventeen Ways of Looking at a Haiku.” Editor Mary Elizabeth Gillilan describes the poem by saying that “Michael translates an abstract reality into concrete imagery. One you will read over and over.”
17 December 2016: Letter to the sports editor published in the Seattle Times, about the Seattle Sounders having just won the MLS Cup. My entire letter was “To commemorate one of the greatest moments in Seattle sports history, Stefan Frei’s monumental save needs a primal name. I nominate ‘The Save.’”
17 December 2016: “Haiku Can Help: Focusing Your Poetry and Prose” poetry workshop at BookTree, 609 Market Street, Kirkland, Washington. 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Free. See event page.
17 December 2016: Featured poet with Michael Schein for the “Poetry Is Everything” reading at BookTree, 609 Market Street, Kirkland, Washington. 6:15 p.m. Free. See event page.
20 December 2016: Featured haiku on the Haikuniverse website: “after the quake / the weathervane / pointing to earth.”
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