Poems by Haiku Northwest Members

A Note About Membership

Haiku Northwest has never charged dues or had any kind of formal membership list, so poets were typically considered members if they attended any of our events or wrote haiku in the region. That region has changed scope over the years. When the organization was founded in 1988, it welcomed participation from Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. That shrunk in 1993 to just Oregon and Washington when Haiku Northwest become synonymous with the Pacific Northwest region of the Haiku Society of America (even though Haiku Northwest remained autonomous). Later, in 2007, Oregon become its own separate HSA region, and Haiku Northwest acted as an umbrella organization for haiku in Washington State (synonymous with the Washington State region of the HSA), even though it concentrated its activities in the Seattle area. In 2018, the group shrank even further, deciding that its focus was just the greater Seattle area rather than the entire state, and in 2019, for the first time in Haiku Northwest history, the HSA regional coordinator was not also a Haiku Northwest coordinator or officer. In December of 2021, Haiku Northwest was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in the State of Washington, and its scope enlarged again at this time to encompass the entire state. Throughout this changing history, various talented poets have been involved with Haiku Northwest, and, in the spirit of generous inclusiveness, their work is represented here if they have lived in Oregon and Washington (though many additional Oregonians could have been listed). For future submissions to this page, we have chosen to confine representation to haiku poets resident in Washington State who have been active in our events, such as our monthly meetings and annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway.

On July 18, 2023, the Haiku Northwest board of directors decided on the following definition of Haiku Northwest membership (this statement will most likely affect the future organization of content on this page):

Haiku Northwest defines membership as Washington residents who actively affirm the organization and its mission to educate and enrich the public by celebrating and sharing the art of haiku poetry of the Pacific Northwest.

Consideration Guidelines

All haiku poets in Washington State are welcome to participate in Haiku Northwest activities and then to submit poems for this site. To submit, please send up to five of your best haiku or senryu (previously published preferred), a photo, and a bio of up to 100 words in an email message to Michael Dylan Welch at WelchM@aol.com. Please type or paste the bio and poems in an email message (no attached files, please, except for photos). Published poems preferred, but publication credits will not be listed for individual poems, so you need not include credits. If you send unpublished poems, please note that some journal editors and contest coordinators will consider the poems “published” (and thus ineligible for submission) if they appear online (such as on this site). Consequently, we recommend that you send published poems, if available. We welcome your haiku and senryu!