Recor

On September 22, 2024, HPNC hosted our 34th Two Autumns reading featuring Sarah Paris, Jeff Hoagland, Ron C. Moss, and, reading the work of their mother, Deborah P Kolodji, who died in July of this year, two of her children (each of whom is also an accomplished haiku poet) Sean Carlton and Yvette Nicole Kolodji. Tanya McDonald edited the chapbook Wildflowers in Bloom to commemorate the event and also served as the emcee for the gathering, which took place on Zoom. 

At the July 21, 2024 meeting, Lew Watts gave a reading from his 2023 book of haibun, Eira, published by Snapshot Press, and afterwards gave a craft talk on writing haibun. His reading and talk were recorded separately. The link below is for the reading. Enjoy!

After reading for us from his book Eira at the summer quarterly meeting on July 21, 2024, Lew Watts gave a craft talk on writing haibun. That recording is linked below.

Susan Burch was one of two featured readers at the spring quarterly meeting held via Zoom on April 21, 2024. Julie Bloss Kelsey read Susan's poems aloud as they were shared on the screen. Enjoy!

Jay Friedenberg was one of two featured readers at our spring quarterly meeting held via Zoom on April 21, 2024. Enjoy!

HPNC's first meeting of 2024 featured readings by Michigan-based poets Jennifer Burd and Laszlo Slomovits with a special musical performance as well. Enjoy!

At HPNC's fall quarterly meeting on October 15, 2023, Wakako Miya Rollinger was the first of two featured readers.

Annette Makino was the second of two featured readers at HPNC's fall quarterly meeting on October 15, 2023. To view a virtual gallery and shop with Annette's artwork, visit Makino Studios.

HPNC's 33rd annual Two Autumns reading was held via Zoom on September 17, 2023 with featured readers Stephanie Baker, Dan Schwerin, Terri L. French, and John Barlow. A commemorative chapbook A Bird in the Hand, was edited and produced by Carolyn Hall (see the "Books" page of this website to purchase). Sharon Pretti served as the emcee for the event.

On July 16, 2023 Juanito Latorre Escareal was the first of two featured readers at HPNC's summer quarterly meeting held on Zoom.

On July 16, 2023 Michael Dylan Welch was the second of two featured readers for HPNC's summer quarterly meeting held via Zoom.

On June 4, 2023, HPNC members participated in an interactive presentation by Chuck Brickley entitled "Why Haiku." A synopsis of "WHY HAIKU: Nine questions every haiku poet may ask themselves" can be found on Chuck's website HERE.

At the spring quarterly meeting held on April 23, 2023, Lorraine Padden was one of two featured readers.

At the spring quarterly meeting on April 23, 2023, Dyana Basist was one of two featured readers.

On March 19, 2023 Kala Ramesh gave a special presentation to HPNC in a meeting held virtually with poets joining from various parts of the U.S., Europe, and India. This presentation includes a sampling of poems by established and new voices from around India as well as an overview of the development and flourishing of haiku in India. Interspersed at intervals are recordings of dance interpretations of selected haiku by V. Balakrishnan of Theatre Nisha, Chennai. The photo was taken by Lenard D. Moore in Santa Fe, NM at the Haiku North America Conference in 2017.

On January 22, 2023 David Watts was one of two featured readers at our winter quarterly meeting, held via Zoom.

On January 22, 2023 Nathanael Tico was one of two featured readers at our winter quarterly meeting, held via Zoom.

At HPNC's fall quarterly meeting on October 16, 2022, one of our two featured readers, Gary Hotham, joined us from his home in Maryland via Zoom.

At HPNC's fall quarterly meeting held via Zoom on October 16, 2022, Helen Ogden was one of our two featured readers.

The 32nd annual Two Autumns reading, HPNC's biggest event of the year, was held on September 18, 2022 via Zoom with featured poets Jim Chessing, Kristen Lindquist, Scott Mason, and Julie Schwerin. Nathanael Tico served as the emcee for the event and also edited the commemorative chapbook, The View Arcade, produced by J Hahn Doleman.

In a special meeting held on August 21, 2022 via Zoom, Fay Aoyagi opened the discussion with a presentation on contemporary Japanese haiku. 

Special guest poet Ayaka Sato, living temporarily in the U.S. at the time, was the second speaker at the August 21, 2022 meeting held via Zoom.

Lesley Anne Swanson was the first of two featured readers at HPNC's summer quarterly meeting held via Zoom on July 17, 2022.

Patrick Gallagher was the second of two featured readers at HPNC's summer quarterly meeting on July 17, 2022.

On June 12, 2022 Cherie Hunter Day  and Hannah Mahoney read from their new award-winning books, Miles Deep in a Drum Solo and Shifting Light published by Backbone Press.

On April 24, 2022 at HPNC's spring quarterly meeting held via Zoom, Beverly Acuff Momoi gave the first of two featured readings. To read her e-chapbook, Lifting the Towhee's Song, visit the Snapshot Press website HERE.

On April 24, 2022 at HPNC's spring quarterly meeting, Bill Cooper was one of two featured readers. Several of Bill's haiku collections can be purchased from Red Moon Press HERE.

On March 20, 2022 at a special meeting held via Zoom, Chuck Brickley presented: Haiku Fellowship (Or How I Found What I Didn't Know I Was Looking For) in which he shared his own haiku journey and elicited stories from those in attendance. To learn more about Chuck and to purchase his book Earthshine (Snapshot Press, 2017), visit his website HERE.

On February 20, 2022 at a special HPNC meeting held via Zoom, poets Deborah P Kolodji, Richard Matta, Yvette Nicole Kolodji, and Naia presented the San Diego Bay Ginko slideshow and haiku reading.

Brad Bennett was the second of two featured readers at HPNC's winter quarterly meeting.

On January 23, 2022 at HPNC's winter quarterly meeting held via Zoom, Janice Doppler was the first of two featured readers. Presenting a slideshow along with her reading, Janice read work from her new book Stardust. More about Janice can be found HERE.

Sarah Paris was one of two featured readers at our fall quarterly meeting held via Zoom on October 3, 2021. Joining us from her home in Santa Rosa, CA, she shared a slide show of her photographs to accompany her haiku. You can find her on Twitter @SFSwissPoet.

Gideon Young was the first of our two featured readers at the fall quarterly meeting held Via Zoom on October 3, 2021. Joining us from his home in North Carolina and treating us to the musical accompaniment of his flute, Gideon Young read from a variety of sources, including from his new book My Hands Full of Light, published by Backbone Press. To learn more about Gideon's work, visit his website at Gideonyoung.com.

On August 29, 2021 the 31st annual Two Autumns Reading was held via Zoom and featured readings by David LeCount, Patricia J. Machmiller, Crystal Simone Smith, and John Stevenson. The chapbook Filling in the Sky, published to commemorate the reading was edited by Sharon Pretti, who also served as the emcee for the event. Originally scheduled for the summer of 2020, this reading was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. While we were disappointed not to gather together in person, we are grateful to have the technology (as imperfect as it is) to gather virtually and to share this recording with the public. If you would like to purchase a copy of the chapbook Filling in the Sky, please contact our bookseller, Jim Chessing at jchessing@hotmail.com.

At the summer quarterly meeting on July 18, 2021 Robin Anna Smith, aka GRIX (they/them/Mx.), joining us via Zoom from their home in Delaware, read both new and published poems. To view and/or purchase their published work, click on any of the following titles: Fire Rainbow: A Haibun and Tanka Story Memoir, Controlled Chaos: a Series of Meandering Haiku, Forsythia, Systems Askew. Visit their website at grixartistix.com.

At HPNC's summer quarterly meeting on July 18, 2021, we had two featured readers, Chad Lee Robinson and Robin Anna Smith, aka GRIX. Our first reader, joining us from his home in Pierre, South Dakota, was Chad Lee Robinson. Chad read from Pop Bottles (available as a free download from The Haiku Foundation Digital Library HERE), Rope Marks (available as a free download on the Snapshot Press website HERE), and The Deep End of the Sky (available for purchase from Turtle Light Press HERE). To find out more about Chad and read more of his work, visit his website at dakotaku.wordpress.com.

On June 20, 2021, the Broadmoor Haiku Collective presented "Haiku From Home," a slideshow and haiku reading, at a special HPNC meeting via Zoom. The presentation included poems by Brad Bennett, Alan S. Bridges, Judson Evans, Kristen Lindquist, Hannah Mahoney, Jeannie Martin, Paul Miller, Tom Sacramona, and Mary Stevens. The above photo from the slideshow is by Judson Evans.

In a special HPNC meeting on May 23, 2021 Brad Bennett gave a talk on Euphony in Haiku. Joining us via Zoom from his home in Arlington, MA, Brad outlined the many ways sound can be used to enhance and strengthen haiku.

On April 18, 2021 at HPNC's spring quarterly meeting, Ron C. Moss joined us via Zoom from his home in Tasmania, Australia. Ron started off by giving a reading of his haiku, sharing work from several of his published books including Broken Starfish, which gained an Honourable Mention in the 2019 Touchstone Awards. Books are available directly from Ron at ronmoss8@gmail.com. Later in the meeting, Ron gave a beautiful presentation of his haiga, sharing details about his creative process and the tools he uses to produce his work. Two separate recordings were made of this event. The first link is for the reading, and the second link is for the haiga presentation.

On February 21, 2021 Michael Sheffield presented a talk to HPNC members via Zoom entitled, "Shinto Influence on Haiku from Ancient Times to the Present."

On January 24, 2021 at HPNC's winter quarterly meeting held via Zoom, Carolyn Hall read from Water Lines, recently republished by Snapshot Press, and her new book Cricket Dusk, published by Red Moon Press and available from the author HERE.

At HPNC's first meeting of 2021 we had two featured readers, paul m. and Carolyn Hall. Our first reader, paul m., whom you may also know as Modern Haiku editor Paul Miller, read from his new book Witness Tree, available from Shapshot Press.

On December 6, 2020, Scott Mason gave a special presentation in which he described and discussed the haiku gratitude project that he initiated in the spring of 2020 and the widely-praised book that resulted from it – The Haiku Hecameron: Gratitude in the Time of COVID-19 – featuring the work in haiku and related forms by one hundred poets from thirty-plus nations on six continents. For more details about the project or to buy the book, visit Scott's website at thewondercode.com.

On October 25, 2020 HPNC held our fall quarterly meeting on Zoom with Renee Owen as our featured reader accompanied by her husband Brian Foster on shakuhachi. Renee read from her chapbook This One Life, available from Backbone Press.

On September 13, 2020 Phillip Kennedy gave a special presentation to HPNC via Zoom entitled, "The Seasons We Cherish: Season Words and Japanese Traditional Aesthetics."

In lieu of our usual Two Autumns reading, we gathered for a virtual celebration to commemorate 31 years of the reading series. Anyone who had been a Two Autumns reader in the past was welcome to participate. The list of readers originally planned for 2020 was put on hold for the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Above is a photo taken by Garry Gay from the first Two Autumns reading in 1990 (from L to R: Paul O. Williams, Michael Dylan Welch, Pat Donegan, and Eugenie Waldteufel).

Our featured reader at the summer 2020 quarterly meeting was Bruce H. Feingold.

HPNC held our first virtual meeting on June 28, 2020 after our spring quarterly meeting was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our featured reader was J Hahn Doleman. The ink painting in the background of the video was done by the poet.