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Haiku Northwest invites you to attend any of our free monthly and quarterly meetings, which usually focus on rounds of sharing and workshopping our haiku, with occasional presentations and writing exercises. Most meetings in 2025 will be on Zoom (join our mailing list to receive each Zoom link), but we also have quarterly in-person meetings. Listed here are all our meetings, a few special events, plus significant regional or national events. If you’re giving a haiku workshop or know of another haiku event in the area, please let us know so we can add it. Monthly meetings usually start at 6:30 p.m. with informal socializing, with a more formal start at 7:00 p.m., and occur on the second Thursday of each month, except as indicated. Quarterly meetings occur on selected Saturdays in place of that month’s Thursday meeting, for three hours usually starting at 1:00 p.m. All dates and details are subject to change, and will be confirmed via the Haiku Northwest Mailchimp mailing list (through which you may be provided additional details, such as Zoom links—if you have questions, please email haikunw1988@gmail.com). To suggest regional haiku-related events to add to the following schedule, please contact Michael Dylan Welch at WelchM@aol.com. We’ll update content as soon as we confirm the details. See you at our next event!
Haiku Northwest Monthly Newsletter
If you have a haiku event, reading, publication, award, or other haiku-related news to share in Haiku Northwest’s monthly newsletter, please submit your announcement by the 20th of each month to haikunw1988@gmail.com.
In addition to the following events, the Washington region of the Haiku Society of America plans to have one or two regional meetings, and may have additional events. For more information, please contact the HSA regional coordinator for 2025, Richard Tice. Haiku Northwest is independent of the HSA Washington state region.
2025 Meetings
2025 Meetings
All online via Zoom, unless specified otherwise, and all times Pacific Time. Events in green and indented are not Haiku Northwest events, but may be of interest to our members. For more details about events not run by Haiku Northwest, please click the links provided.
January 9
January 9
Monthly Meeting, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Zoom
“A Poets’ Retrospective and Celebration of 2024,” celebrating your best haiku from 2024, led by Richard Tice
January 16
January 16
Glimmering Hour Reading, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at SoulFood CoffeeHouse, 15748 Redmond Way in Redmond, Washington, plus open-mic reading ($5 per person admission, except for featured readers)
February
February
National Haiku Writing Month
Visit the NaHaiWriMo website and Facebook page
Write at least one haiku per day for each day of February!
February 8 (Saturday)
February 8 (Saturday)
Quarterly Meeting, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Bellevue Library, at 1111 110th Ave NE in Bellevue, Washington
(free parking in library garage)
Meet in the large meeting room to celebrate National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo), hosted by Michael Dylan Welch
1. Welcome, round of introductions
2. “Lost in Translation” — Shiva Bhusal, featured reader
Shiva Bhusal grew up in Nepal and attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He works as a software engineer and lived in Bellevue for three years. His poems and prose have been published in Frogpond, Wales Haiku Journal, Modern Haiku, Ribbons, South Florida Poetry Journal, the Kathmandu Post, and elsewhere. In addition to software engineering and writing, he loves playing cricket and ping-pong.
3. Announcements
4. Short break
5. Overview of NaHaiWriMo (where the goal is to write at least one haiku a day for the month of February—the shortest month for the shortest genre of poetry) by Michael Dylan Welch
6. Discussion on the pros and cons of daily writing prompts
7. Writing exercise, with optional sharing
8. Break
9. Our usual sharing/critique session (bring copies of your poems to share with everyone, with all of your poems on a single sheet)
February 13
February 13
Glimmering Hour Reading, 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. on Zoom, including a memorial reading of members who have died. Join the Zoom meeting.
Haiku Northwest Zoom meeting, 10 April 2021. Please join us!
Haiku Northwest meeting at the Lake Forest Park Library, September 27, 2018. Left to right are Cara Izumi, Millie Renfrow, Ron Swanson, Curtis Manley, Arlene Springer, Philaah Jones, Terran Campbell, Tanya McDonald, Dianne Garcia, Gary Evans, and Angie Terry. Photo by Michael Dylan Welch.
Haiku Northwest meeting at the Bellevue Regional Library, August 7, 2008. Left to right are Curtis Manley, Helen Russell, William Scott Galasso, Ida Freilinger, Bryson Nitta, Tanya McDonald, Connie Hutchison, Dejah Leger, Susan Miller, Terran Campbell, Joshua Beach, Angela Terry, Marilyn Sandall, and Herb McClees. Photo by Michael Dylan Welch.
March 1
March 1
“Haiku on Steroids” workshop by Michael Dylan Welch, 4:24 to 6:00 p.m. (free), at BookTree, 609 Market Street in Kirkland, Washington, followed by Glimmering Hour Reading, 6:15 to 8:30 p.m. also at BookTree, plus open-mic reading
March 1–31
March 1–31
Enter the sixth annual Mukai Garden Haiku Festival. Results announced in April, with winners on display around the garden throughout April. Visit the garden at 18017 107th Ave SW, Vashon Island, Washington.
March 13
March 13
Monthly Meeting, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Zoom
Hosted by Dianne Garcia
Presentation by Richard Tice: “What Is Japanese Haibun,” examining haibun as it is understood and represented in Japanese literature, including a definition, characteristics, primary practitioners, examples, and a bibliography of translations into English. Also bring one or two haiku to share in our critique session.
April 10
April 10
Monthly Meeting, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Zoom
Hosted by Michael Dylan Welch, featuring Emiko Miyashita with a presentation and discussion on “Four Seasons: How They've Come and Gone in Japan”
Season words (kigo) are the life of haiku. How does climate change affect haiku writing, and how can we cope? We’ll explore how global warming has changed Japanese haiku, and how we can write haiku during this transitional period. We’ll also have a writing exercise and a time to share your haiku.
After Emiko’s presentation, we’ll have our usual haiku sharing and critique session, so please bring poems to discuss.
April 11–13
April 11–13
Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival
Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington
April 12–13
April 12–13
VanDusen Botanical Garden, Vancouver, British Columbia
April 17 (Wednesday)
April 17 (Wednesday)
International Haiku Poetry Day
Michael Dylan Welch and Curtis Manley read haiku for SoulFood Poetry Night, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at SoulFood CoffeeHouse, 15748 Redmond Way in Redmond, Washington, plus open-mic reading ($5 per person admission)
April 18–20
April 18–20
Washington State Convention Center
May 10 (Saturday, in person)
May 10 (Saturday, in person)
Quarterly Meeting, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
550 Winslow Way E, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
11:00 Gather in the museum cafe (free admission to museum)
11:30 Docent-led tour, by Mare Blocker, of the museum’s collection of handmade books, including the “Power of the Presses” exhibit, followed by ekphrastic writing in response to all museum exhibits, to be collected in a chapbook
2:00 Optional on-island activities, such as the history museum, the exclusion memorial, and various parks
Take the 9:35 a.m. ferry from Seattle’s Colman Dock to Bainbridge Island, or the 10:40 a.m. ferry, which should reach Bainbridge around 11:15 a.m. (it’s a 10-minute walk or short drive from the ferry to BIMA). Parking is free, up the hill behind the museum.
June 10
June 10
Glimmering Hour Reading, 6:00 to 7:45 p.m. at Village Books, 1200 11th Street in Bellingham, Washington. This free reading and open mic is hosted in conjunction with Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater.
Monthly Meeting, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Zoom
Michael Dylan Welch presents an overview of the new Brussels Sprout pages on the Haiku Northwest website, with a reading of all Editors’ Choice Award winners, plus selections of favorite poems chosen by Haiku Northwest members from each issue. Meeting hosted by Dianne Garcia.
June 12
June 12
Monthly Meeting, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Zoom
Michael Dylan Welch presents an overview of the new Brussels Sprout pages on the Haiku Northwest website, with a reading of all Editors’ Choice Award winners, plus selections of favorite poems chosen by Haiku Northwest members from each issue. Meeting hosted by Dianne Garcia.
June 20–22
June 20–22
“Haiku on the Beach” Oregon Haiku Weekend
Newport Visual Arts Center, 777 NW Beach Drive, Newport, Oregon
Join the Haiku Society of America’s Oregon region for a weekend of interactive workshops, discussion, and feedback on haiku in a supportive environment. Informal dinner on Friday night, full day of activities on Saturday, and a haiku walk on Sunday. Activities include workshops by Lisa Gerlits and Katharine Grubb, an anonymous haiku feedback session led by Jacob Salzer, an interview with Peg Cherrin-Myers regarding haibun, and talks by Steve Bahr and Shelley Baker-Gard about their local groups. Registration (free, but donations welcome) is open through June 10. Find your own accommodations in Newport. For more information, please email Tanya McDonald at tanyamc1375@gmail.com.
July 10
July 10
Monthly Meeting, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Zoom
July 12–13
July 12–13
Meydenbauer Center, 11100 NE 6th Street in Bellevue, Washington
(includes an annual haiku contest)
August 9 (Saturday, in person)
August 9 (Saturday, in person)
Quarterly Meeting, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Lewis Creek Park, 5808 Lakemont Blvd SE in Bellevue, Washington, in Picnic Shelter A (this is at the north entrance to the park, not the main entrance to the south). Program details to be announced.
August 28
August 28
Glimmering Hour Reading, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Words and Wine, J. Bookwalter Tasting Studio, 14810 NE 145th Street, Suite C, in Woodinville, Washington. Free reading and open mic.
August 31
August 31
Porad Haiku Award Deadline
(received by this date)
See 2024 winners
Winners announced at the Seabeck Haiku Getaway on October 25, 2025
September 11
September 11
Monthly Meeting, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Zoom
September [dates to be announced]
September [dates to be announced]
Moon Viewing Festival, with haiku contest each night, 7:00 p.m.
September 15
September 15
Today marks the 37th anniversary of Haiku Northwest’s first meeting in 1988 in Bellevue, Washington.
September 24–28
September 24–28
San Francisco, California
September 29
September 29
Tanka Monday
San Francisco, California
October 11
October 11
Sponsored by Bellevue College, Bellevue, Washington (public events only on October 11)
October 1
October 1
Glimmering Hour Reading, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Poetry at the Postmark, Postmark Center for the Arts, 20 Auburn Avenue, Auburn, WA 98002, hosted by Auburn Avenue Poets. 6:00 p.m. sign-up for open-mic, reading at 6:30 p.m.
October 9
October 9
Monthly Meeting, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Zoom
October 23–26
October 23–26
Seabeck Haiku Getaway (our eighteenth annual retreat)
Our weekend theme will be related to birds, with Kristen Lindquist as our featured guest.
November 8 (Saturday)
November 8 (Saturday)
Quarterly Meeting, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Location and program details to be announced
December 11
December 11
Monthly Meeting, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Zoom
Please also check the schedule for the Seattle Japanese Garden (see this website also). Several of the garden’s events typically include a haiku component, such as the moonviewing festival, which usually includes a haiku contest.
Click also to see event listings for 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009.
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