2023 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., for members.

• 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, ahem, 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 with Barbara Johns and Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma (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. Poetry and fiction on steroids!

• 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 and into May, 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., for members.

• 29 April 2023: WC-TV (Tennessee) broadcast of my “Poets from the Neighborhood” Zoom reading, sponsored by Tennessee Poets. See link on my Videos page.

• 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 giving opening welcome speeches, a closing speech, leading the Earthworks anthology reading (with Julie Schwerin), giving a presentation on deja-ku (haiku that bring to mind other poems), leading a reading that features curators of the American Haiku Archives, introducing the Higginson lecture (by Tim Green, Rattle editor), and MCing the rural/urban open-mic reading. 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.

• 5 July 2023: Announced as the first prize winner in the 2023 Haiku Society of America rengay contest, for “Yellowing Maple,” written with Romanian poet and artist Ion Codrescu.

• 5 July 2023: ONLINE. Facilitating a free rengay-writing session for members of the Oxford Haiku Group in England. 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

• 8–9 July 2023: Shikishi exhibit and short lecture, “How to Haiku in English” workshop, and announcement of 2023 haiku contest winners at the Japan Fair, Meydenbauer Center, 11100 NE 6th Street in Bellevue, Washington. Free. My exhibit and short lecture is titled “Touching the Moon: Twenty-Four Shikishi” and is based on my essay of the same name. The workshop will be from 1:00 to 1:45 p.m., with the announcement of the haiku contest winners at 2:30 p.m., both on Sunday, 9 July. My shikishi presentation will also be on Sunday from 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. [My appearances cancelled due to catching Covid.]

• 16 July 2023: ONLINE. Featured reader for a meeting of the Haiku Poets of Northern California, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. See video recording on YouTube.

• 31 July 2023: Submission period ends for First Frost, the haiku journal I coedit with Eric Burke, Elizabeth McMunn-Tetangco, and Dale Wisely.

• 9 August 2023: ONLINE. 31st Anniversary Rengay Reading. 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., free worldwide open-mic rengay reading on Zoom. Party hats optional!

• 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, 2021, and 2022 results and commentary, with Japanese translations.

• 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; also see the Events and Calendar pages), 7:00 p.m. ($25 admission fee expected). See the garden website.     +     +

• 5 September 2023: ONLINE. “Salons and Saloons: Polarities of Poetry” — featured poet with Hannah Lee Jones for a LitFuse 2023 Summer School Poets in Conversation reading. 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., free. Get more details and the Zoom link on the LitFuse website.

• 6 September 2023: ONLINE. Facilitating a free rengay-writing session for members of the Oxford Haiku Group in England. 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

• 9 September 2023: Staffing a haiku table and giving two workshops at the Mukai Farm & Garden Japan Festival 2023, at 18017 107th Avenue SW, on Vashon Island, Washington. My workshops will be at 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. Part of a free day-long festival.

• 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 2023 LitFuse faculty reading. 4:00 p.m., free. Get more details and the Zoom link on the LitFuse website. CANCELLED.

• 23–24 September 2023: Participating faculty in the 2023 LitFuse poetry festival, sponsored by Tieton Arts & Humanities, Tieton Fueling Station, 519 Maple Street, Tieton, Washington (near Yakima). With Cornelius Eady, Bruce Beasley, Derek Sheffield, Jourdan Imani Keith, Kevin Sampsell, Xavier Cavazos, Washington state poet laureate Arianne True, and others. My sessions are “Haiku Targets,” “Haiku on Steroids,” and “Our Endless and Proper Work: Learning Attention from Mary Oliver.” Registration, schedule, and other details on the LitFuse website. [Some of the preceding readers were cancelled when the event was restructured; my “Haiku on Steroids” workshop was cancelled, but I gave a reading and the other two sessions at North Town Coffee House in Yakima, Washington.]

• 25 September 2023: ONLINE. “A Dying Art: Death Haiku in Japanese and English” PowerPoint presentation for “A Conversation with Jimmy Pappas and Friends.” Free. 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

• October 2023: Serving as 2024 guest haiku editor for Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine, with healthcare-themed submissions due from 1 to 31 October 2023. Selected poems will appear every other Friday throughout 2024. See the submission guidelines (select the Haiku option) and the Staff page.

• 5 October 2023: Launch of the new Western Washington Poets Network website, for which I am web manager.

• 10 October 2023: ONLINE. Guest speaker on haiku at IPA Live (Iowa Poetry Association), speaking with Timothy Fay, Morgan Grace Willow, and others. Free, 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., Pacific Time. In 2024 I’ll be judging for the IPA haiku contest.       +

• 14 October 2023: Launch meeting for the Western Washington Poets Network, for which I am web manager, at BookTree, 609 Market Street, Kirkland, Washington. Multiple speakers discussing their poetry readings after I introduce the new WWPN website. 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Free.

• 17 October 2023: Guest blogger on J. I. Kleinberg’s “Poetry Department” blog, with “2023 Seabeck Haiku Getaway Invitation,” an overview of the 2023 Seabeck Haiku Getaway, complete with a group photo from 2022.

• 26–29 October 2023: Directing Haiku Northwest’s sixteenth annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway in-person at the Seabeck Conference Center in Seabeck, Washington. Our featured guest is Jeff Hoagland, and our theme is “Gifts of Nature,” with David Lasky as an additional guest celebrating haiku comics. See the website link for details, and please join us! My presentations included “Porad Award Twentieth Anniversary Retrospective” and “Lorine Niedecker’s Exchange for Haiku,” among other activities.       +

• 4 November 2023: Staffing a haiku table at Bunka no Hi, sponsored by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington, 1414 S Weller Street in Seattle. 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Free.

• 8 November 2023: ONLINE. “Haiku Targets” Zoom workshop for the Iowa Poetry Association, in anticipation of my judging the haiku section of their 2024 poetry contests. Free, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Pacific Time. Event details at IPA Live, and see the Judges page.

• 9 November 2023: ONLINE. “November Cherry Blossoms” Zoom reading in celebration of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival’s 2023 Haiku Invitational winners. I’ll MC a reading of the top winners, with commentary from the judges plus Q&A, and an open-mic reading for cherry blossom haiku. Free, but please register to attend.

• 11 November 2023: “Our Endless and Proper Work: Learning Attention from Mary Oliver” presentation for a quarterly Haiku Northwest meeting at Folio Seattle, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (my presentation will be at 11:00 a.m.). Mary Oliver has been called the poet of attention—especially an attention to nature. This deep-dive exploration of her poetry demonstrates and validates close attention for poets of any kind, especially haiku poets, and how our attention to experience and emotion can help us live our wild and precious lives. Folio Seattle is a membership library and cultural center at Pike Place Market in Seattle (93 Pike Street, #307). Free to attend, but please RSVP by email Caroline Cumming at caroline@folioseattle.org. 

• 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, 2021, and 2022 results and commentary, with Japanese translations.

• 16 November 2023: Interviewed by Angie Hinojos on Centro Cultural Mexicano’s Radio Ya es Tiempo, Redmond, Washington, from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., with bilingual discussion (Spanish and English), also with Graciela Hernandez, streamed to Facebook live (coming separately to YouTube) and broadcast on KXPA radio (1540 am).

Click to see current appearances.