Poet Profile

Dorothy McLaughlin

McLaughlin was born in Arlington, Massachusetts, graduated from Framingham High School class of ‘54, earned her Bachelor of Science degree in History at Bridgewater State Teachers College class of ‘58 and worked as a Social Studies teacher in Springfield, MA before marrying. She lived in Buffalo, NY and Altoona, PA before moving to Somerset.She was a parishioner since 1965 at St. Matthias Church where she was a member of the Altar Rosary Society. Dorothy McLaughlin worked as a substitute teacher in the Franklin Township Public Schools, was a Cub Scout and Brownie leader, and a member of the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters.
Dorothy McLaughlin was a published author of award-winning English language Haiku, Senryu, and Tanka poetry and served as the Haiku editor for the Piedmont Literary Review for 10 years. She was a member of the Haiku Society of America and the Tanka Society of America and a facilitator of haiku workshops at OLLI-RU, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She used to write free verse, articles, and haiku, as well as tanka, which were printed in many journals, along with three chapbooks published by the Grand Central Station Tanka Cafe. She and Patricia Laster published a book of haiku, Connecting Our Houses, in 1997.
Many of Dorothy McLaughlin's poems were inspired by her husband, daughter, son, and grandsons, her native Massachusetts, forty-five years in Somerset, her interest in history and mythology, and teaching. Her haiku have appeared in Acorn, American Tanka, bottle rockets, Black Bough, Brussels Sprout, Cotyledon, Frogpond, Haiku Headlines, Haiku Society of America Members’ Anthologies and Pegging the Wind (Red Moon Anthology, 2002), Hermitage, Modern Haiku, Old Pond, South by Southeast, tinywords, Wind Chimes, World Haiku Review and other journals and anthologies.
Dorothy McLaughlin passed away on October 14, 2019 at The Parker Home in Somerset. She was 83 years old.

Awards and Other Honors:

Honorable Mention: 1985 Harold G. Henderson Memorial Haiku Award; Tanka society of America International Tanka Contest 1st Place; Hawai'i Education Association Contest 1996, 2000 (Humorous) honorable mentions; CSM Bumper-Sticker Contest 1999 3rd place; HPNC San Francisco International Contest 2001; 1st prize R.H. Blyth Awards (World Haiku Club) 2002; Tanka society of America International Tanka Contest 1st Place (2019).

Books Published:

Connecting Our Houses: A Calendar of Haiku/Senryu by Pat Laster and Dorothy McLaughlin, LovePat Press, Arkadelphia, AR 1997.

early spring sunshine―
the scarecrow slips off
his coat of snow 

children’s white dresses
holding the light,
giving it back 

My father’s hammer
warm again
in my hand

low-flying geese―
between their cries
the sound of wings

between your home and mine
the river
the bridge

cat crosses the yard,
paws filling the snowy prints
he made yesterday 

clouded summer sky―
our trees find
other shades of green

clouds
soaking
in the river

beach shells
on the laundry room sill
midwinter sun

no moon
looking outdoors
into snowlight

Credits:

“early spring sunshine” — Modern Haiku vol. 24:2 Summer 1993; “children’s white dresses” - Brussels Sprout issue 11:1 Jan. 1994; “My father’s hammer“ - Honorable Mention: 1985 Harold G. Henderson Memorial Haiku Award; “low-flying geese“ — Acorn # 5 Fall 2000; “between your home and mine“ - Modern Haiku vol. 45:2 Summer 2014; “cat crosses the yard“ - Hermitage issue 1:1/2 (2004); “clouded summer sky“ — Cotyledon #39 Sept. 2005; “clouds“ - South by Southeast issue 15:1 (2008), Editors’ choice; “drifts of snow“ — Frogpond vol. 13:1 Feb. 1990; “beach shells“ - bottle rockets issue 7:2 (#14) 2006; “no moon“ - Connecting Our Houses: A Calendar of Haiku/Senryu by Pat Laster and Dorothy McLaughlin, LovePat Press, Arkadelphia, AR 1997.