Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2026 Schedule

The following schedule is TENTATIVE, with details to be added and specific timings to be confirmed.

Thursday, October 22, 2026

4:00 p.m.                Check-in starts at the Historic Inn lobby

6:00 p.m.                Dinner

7:00 p.m.                Welcome by Michael Dylan Welch

7:30 p.m.                Susan Antolin: “Haiku Reading: New and Selected Work”

Description to come.

7:50 p.m.                 Write Now — ???: “???”

8:00 p.m.                 Break

8:15 p.m. Memorial readings for Susan Constable and C.J. Prince
led by Michael Dylan Welch and John S Green

8:30 p.m.                 “Haiku Tag” round of haiku reading

Share a haiku of your own and then tag someone to read their poem next, with mood-matching guitar improvisations by Jacob D. Salzer.

9:00 p.m.                 Anonymous Workshop, led by Captain Haiku

Contribute an anonymous poem into either of two hats, one for folks who have never done this before, the other for everyone else.

Friday, October 23, 2026

8:00 a.m.                Breakfast

9:00 a.m.                Gathering and Announcements

9:15 a.m. Write Now — ???: “???

9:30 a.m. Susan Antolin: “Celebrating Play in Playful Verse”

Description to come.

10:20 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. Historic Seabeck Cemetery Talk and Walk, led by Amy Brooks and Candace Ladwig Kolbas

We’ll start with a PowerPoint presentation about the historic Seabeck Cemetery, led by Amy Brooks, preservation committee chair and recording secretary for the Elizabeth Ellington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and by Candace Ladwig Kolbas, a genealogist and 1st vice regent of the Elizabeth Ellington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Followed by a rain-or-shine guided walk to the historic Seabeck Cemetery. Amy and Candace co-chair the America 250! / Seabeck Cemetery Restoration Project, which celebrated its restoration work in July 2026—but with more work still to do.

12:00 noon             Lunch

1:00 p.m.                Annette Makino: “In Bashō’s Footsteps”

In 1689, Matsuo Bashō spent five months traveling through rural northern Japan, a journey that led to his classic haiku-laced travelogue, Narrow Road to the Deep North. In the fall of 2025, Annette Makino took a self-guided walking tour that traced part of his route. She visited many of the sites that inspired his most famous poems, as well as several monuments and museums dedicated to him. Through photos, maps, prose, and haiku by Bashō plus haiku she wrote along the way, Annette's talk brings to life Bashō’s trek through Japan's Tohoku region. You will have time to write your own haiku in response.

1:50 p.m. Break

2:00 p.m. John S Green: “The Essential Role of Play in Childhood Development”

John S Green holds a degree in Montessori education, birth to age six. He has published Whimsy Park: Children’s Poetry for the Whole Family. Using published haiku from poets around the world, John discusses salient traits of play that children ideally develop in a nurturing environment, such as imagination, inquisitiveness, socialization, attention-to-detail, and concentration.

2:50 p.m. Break

3:00 p.m. Jacquie Pearce and Kristen Lindquist: “Bicoastal Interplay”

Representing the West and East Coasts, Jacquie and Kristen respond playfully to each other with haiku that depict similar themes and touch upon elements of play inherent in collaborative forms such as rengay and tan-renga.

3:20 p.m. Break

3:30 p.m. Chuck Brickley: “I Married My Muse (and Still Write Poetry)”

An anecdotal presentation on how one poet’s muse has proved inspirational for more than 60 years, followed by a few muse-ings of others in the haiku community.

3:55 p.m. Break

4:00 p.m. John Stevenson: “Intersection: Renku and Improvisation”

Childhood is a period of “serious play,” during which spontaneity is more prominent for most people than in any later parts of life. In this presentation, John discusses his experience with improvisational renku composition, such as performances with the Sachio Ito Dance Company and various poets, including Bill Higginson, Penny Harter, Terri Ann Carter, Brenda Gannam, Mary Stevens, and Sean Felix.

4:50 p.m. Break and Kukai Reminder

Submit up to two haiku anonymously, on index cards (provided).

5:00 p.m. Richard Tice: “Toys, Dolls, Games, Dancing, and Other Playful Things in Japanese Haiku”

Japanese haiku features anything of note in history, tradition, and everyday life. Many of its poems reflect more playful aspects of life. Let’s review more than 400 years of Japanese haiku that feature fun and play.

5:30 p.m.                 Social break

6:00 p.m.                 Kukai submissions due

6:00 p.m.                 Dinner

7:00 p.m.                 2026 Seabeck Kukai, plus silent auction and bookfair breaks

Vote on your favorite anonymous haiku. Wooden flute music provided by Rodney Jones.

9:00 p.m. Social Time in Pines!

Bring your favorite beverages, snacks, musical instruments, and silly hats!

Saturday, October 24, 2026

8:00 a.m.                 Breakfast

9:00 a.m.                 Welcome by Michael Dylan Welch

9:10 a.m.                 Haiku Read-Around (one haiku each, for video recording)

9:40 a.m. Write Now — ???: “???

9:50 a.m.                 Susan Antolin: “???”

Description to come.

10:50 a.m. Break

11:00 a.m. Zoom reading featuring poets from Towpath Haiku, based in the area of Washington, D.C.

Featured poets will include [to be announced].

12:00 noon             Lunch

1:00 p.m.                 2026 Porad Awards announced by contest coordinator, Luke Brannon, judged by Antoinette Cheung (not able to attend), with music by ????? and ?????

1:30 p.m.                Group photo

2:00 p.m. Free Time / Nature Walk

3:00 p.m. Brad Bennett: “Wordwelding: Playing with Invented Compound Words”

We use compound words in our haiku all the time. But how often do we invent our own compound words? Newly coined compound words can aptly and uniquely describe the essence of a specific phenomenon. And they take up less space. So, bring your welding kit! It’s time to sculpt some new compound words.

3:50 p.m. Break

4:00 p.m. Abigail Friedman: “Cuckoo for Kuhi: Visiting Haiku Monuments in Japan”

What is a kuhi or haiku monument? Who gets one, where are they, and why seek them out? Join Abigail Friedman as she talks about her experience visiting haiku monuments across Japan. 

4:25 p.m. Break

4:30 p.m. Luke Brannon: “Look Ma, No Hands: Managing Space In Haiku”

At the heart of haiku is the juxtaposition of two images. The space between can take many shapes in the form of what the Japanese call ma. This talk takes a playful and hands-on look at ma and how the images you set can shape it.

4:55 p.m. Break

5:00 p.m. “Spontaneity with Playful Verse” — panel discussion moderated by Michael Dylan Welch, with Susan Antolin, Brad Bennett, Chuck Brickley, Abigail Friedman, David Oates, Ce Rosenow, John Stevenson, and others to be announced

Spontaneity, as a kind of play, lies at the root of haiku. The renku tradition requires spontaneous responses to preceding verses. A ginko haiku walk requires spontaneity in response to experiential prompts from nature. The haiku art requires an ability to respond to stimuli, to record experiences, whether instant or from memory. This panel explores the role of spontaneity in haiku, and how we can cultivate this necessary playful skill.

6:00 p.m.                 Dinner

7:00 p.m.                 Silent auction wrap-up

7:30 p.m.                 Haiku Readings (10 minutes each)

• • Brad Bennett — A Rush of Doves

• • John Burgess — “Always Near Unseen” (with PowerPoint)

  • petro c.k. — ?????

  • David Green — Breath

  • Angela Terry — True North

  • David Watts — Breath

  • Chuck Brickley — Downhill Home (with PowerPoint)

8:40 p.m. Break

8:45 p.m. petro c.k.: “Exquisite Ren-Corpse”

A participatory writing party in break-out groups to compose renga/rengay using playful techniques inspired by the exquisite corpse drawing games by the Surrealists, plus readings of the results in all their exquisite glory.

9:30+ p.m. Social Time in Pines!

Bring your favorite beverages and snacks!

Sunday, October 25, 2026

8:00 a.m.         Breakfast

9:00 a.m. Write Now — ???: “???”

9:10 a.m. Susan Antolin: “???”

Description to come.

10:00 a.m. Sputnik Poem Reading

10:15 a.m. Read-Around and Weekend Highlights (gratitude, discussion, and sharing)

11:00 a.m.       Clean-up (we must be completely cleaned out of our meeting rooms by noon)

12:00 noon     Lunch

1:00 p.m.         Check-out time! (all room keys must be turned in by 1:00 p.m.)

1:30 p.m.         Afternoon activity (optional, to be announced, if anything)

See you at Seabeck!