Meetings & Events
Haiku Reading and Tea Tasting: Fall 2008
At Regency Park.
Photo by Dave
Russo.
Monthly Meetings
The North Carolina Haiku Society holds monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of each month unless another date is announced. The meetings are open to anyone with an interest in haiku, beginner or advanced.
The main event of most meetings will be a workshop in that we discuss haiku that we have written. As you might guess from our web site, the focus of the meetings will be on literary haiku rather than "joke haiku" about spam, computer error messages, and the like. Please see Meeting Format below for details.
| Date of Next Meeting | Wednesday, August 6 |
| Time | 7:30 to 9:30
|
| City or Town | Cary Newcomers are welcome! Details about the location of the meeting will be sent to our email list. If you are not on the list, contact us and ask for directions. See our Contact Us page.
|
In general, we'll begin by giving people a chance to ask questions or make comments. Someone might give a brief presentation about haiku or related forms. Then we will move on to the main event: a workshop in that we discuss haiku that we have written.
If you are a free spirit and just want to come and see what happens, welcome!
If you'd like to know a little more about contemporary haiku in English, you could read the topic What's a haiku?, then read the poems on a well-edited haiku site, such as The Heron's Nest or the Harold G. Henderson Memorial Award Collection on the Haiku Society of America web site.
Hope to see you at the meeting!
Ginkos (haiku walks)
Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), one of the "Big Four" of the Japanese haiku masters, thought that haiku poets should practice shasei—"sketching from life"—in order to develop their powers of observation and description. A traditional way to develop these skills is to participate in a ginko, a haiku walk.
NCHS ginkos tend to be informal and democratic. We gather at a location, usually a scenic or historic place, and walk about. We jot down notes about what we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste—as well as thoughts and feelings that arise. After the walk, we turn our notes into haiku and read some of them aloud to the rest of the group. The goal is not to "impress" but to respond to what is around us.
Again: if you are a free spirit and just want to come and see what happens, welcome!
If you'd like to know a little more about contemporary haiku in English, you could read the topic What's a haiku?, then read the poems on a well-edited haiku site, such as The Heron's Nest or the Harold G. Henderson Memorial Award Collection on the Haiku Society of America web site.
About the 5-7-5 syllable count: For the purpose of our ginko, please feel free to keep the familiar 5-7-5 syllable count or adopt the freer form that is typically published in literary journals that focus on haiku written in English, such as Frogpond, Modern Haiku, The Heron's Nest, and others. Since the early years of the 20th century, many poets in Japan and elsewhere have de-emphasized the 5-7-5 pattern in order to focus on other elements of haiku form and tradition. Other poets have broken with tradition in order to seek new possibilities in haiku. For details, see What's a haiku?
| Date of Next NCHS Ginko | To be announced. |
| Time | To be announced. |
| Place | To be announced. Details will be sent to our email list and will also be published in local newspapers. If you are not on the list, you can contact us and ask for directions. See our Contact Us page.
|
Haiku Holiday
We celebrated the 29th annual Haiku Holiday with the North Carolina Haiku Society on Saturday April 26, 2008. Experienced haiku teachers and poets conduct workshops, talks and walks. The event is open to anyone with an interest in haiku, beginner or advanced.
Our first Haiku Holiday took place at Bolin Brook Farm near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in the United States of America on January 26, 1980. Since then, all Haiku Holidays have been held at Bolin Brook Farm—thanks to our gracious host and member since the beginning, Jean Earnhardt. Our Galleries section has some pictures from past Haiku Holidays. Our Archives section has links to schedules from past Haiku Holidays.
Haiku Reading and Tea Tasting, Fall 2008
We're working on having a haiku reading & tea tasting at Bob Moyer's favorite tea shop in Winston-Salem. More later as we work out the details.
Haiku Society of America Meeting: December 5-7, 2008
Overview
The North Carolina Haiku Society will host the winter quarterly meeting of the Haiku Society of America from Friday December 5 to Sunday December 7, 2008 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This will be the second time that the NCHS has hosted an HSA quarterly meeting. (The first time was in 2006.) We are still working on the meeting spaces and schedule. Here is what we know so far.
The main contact for this meeting is Dave Russo. See the Contact Us page for my contact information. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about the meeting.
The conference hotel is the Brookstown Inn at 200 Brookstown Avenue in Winston-Salem. The Brookstown Inn Web site says:
"The Brookstown Inn was built in 1837 as a textile mill and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Inn has the charm and ambiance of old-world architecture with all the conveniences of a modern conference facility. Its hallmarks of exposed brick walls and wooden beams enhance its Early American decor and help you escape to the charm of yesteryear. This historic setting is perfect for wedding receptions, reunions, business meetings & conferences, and other social gatherings."
The Brookstown is offering a conference rate of $89.00 a night. This includes a continental breakfast in the morning and wine and cheese in the evening. To get the conference rate, when you contact the hotel, be sure to say that you will be attending the Haiku Society of America conference in December (not just "HSA conference").
Please Note: To get the conference rate, make your room reservation at the Brookstown Inn before November 11, 2008.
Brookstown Inn
200 Brookstown Avenue
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Toll Free: 800.845.4262
Phone: 336.725.1120
Other accomodations within walking distance of the Brookstown Inn include:
- the Hawthone Inn on on 420 High Street (877-777-3099)
- The Henry F. Shaffner House, a bed and breakfast on South Marshall Street (800.952.2256)
The closest international airport is Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO). GSO is 30 minutes from Winston-Salem.
Please Note: If you let us know when you will arrive at GSO, we can pick you up. Contact Dave about your arrival time at the airport.
*
(If you do have to hire a shuttle or cab, it should cost between $40.00 and $45.00. For details about transportation options, see the Transportation page on the GSO Web site. The conference hotel (the) does not have a private shuttle, so it is not listed on the airport's transportation page. Not to worry. You can hire a shuttle to take you there.)
Alternative International Airport (RDU)GSO would be the better choice for most people, but some of you might want to check Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU). RDU is about 2 hours from Winston-Salem, so it is not close. Of course you would have to rent a car.
AMTRAK or GreyhoundYou will want to come to the City Transfer Center at 100 West 5th Street, about 3/4 of a mile from the Brookstown Inn. Cabs are thick in that area; it is the main terminal for city buses and Greyhound buses.
We are still working on the schedule. We know that the meetings will be held from Friday December 5 to Sunday December 7, 2008. Typically, we have a meet-and-greet on Friday evening, meetings all day Saturday and perhaps an evening event as well. We sometimes have an informal event until noon or so on Sunday. More later as we finalize details. In the meantime, take a look at these pictures from the HSA meeting we hosted in 2006.
Email List & Blog
We have a low-traffic NCHS email list that we use for meeting announcements. This is a one-way list: only the webmaster can post messages. If you would like to be on the NCHS email list, see the Contact Us page.
The NCHS blog
enables blog members to post messages about haiku-related topics. Anyone on the Internet can see what is posted to this blog, and anyone with a Google gmail account can comment on a posted topic. Only members can add new topics, though, and membership is by invitation only. If you are interested in joining the NCHS blog, see the Contact Us page.
Japanese Cultural Events
Calendar of Japan-Related Cultural Events in the South east... a calendar of events that is maintained by the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta, Georgia. This regional calendar usually includes a number of events in North Carolina. Look for events that reference NC.