Poet and haiku archivist Charles Trumbull maintains an English-language haiku database that currently stands at about 544,000 poems, which he estimates is roughly half of all haiku published in English. Two-line haiku make up only around 1.6% of the total,…
On September 16, 2023, The Haiku Foundation celebrated our third annual Volunteer Appreciation Day. Thank you to our many volunteers! At New to Haiku, I'd like to personally thank the 50+ haiku poets who have shared their thoughts in Advice…
(This post was updated on August 15, 2023, to clarify a comment from Joshua Gage.) So, you’ve written and edited a set of ten amazing haiku. You’ve studied the markets and found the perfect place to submit. You are now…
Earlier this year, I suggested things to consider after your first haiku publication. To recap: celebrate your publications (always!), support the journal in which your poem appeared and make plans to submit again, start and keep good records of your…
Attending a haiku conference can feel intimidating. Even if you've been to one before, each conference has a different flavor, depending upon the location, focus, speakers, and attendees. Many poets tend to be introspective, and the thought of mingling with…
So, you are new to haiku and have just placed your first haiku in a journal or other edited publication. Congratulations on your acceptance! But after the shine of birthing a new poem wears off, you may be wondering, now…
One fun way to challenge yourself as a haiku poet is to enter contests. However, there are a great number of contests out there. How do you know where to begin? Here are some tips for getting the most out…
Hello, haiku friends! I’m sitting here in the kitchen of my parents’ house, thinking about the haiku community and what it means to me. I am not a life-long haiku poet. I started writing English-language haiku in 2009, after first…
As you begin writing haiku, you will likely find that you want to meet up with other poets and discuss the craft of writing these small poems. There are a number of English-language haiku meet-up options out there, from small…
Hello, and welcome to The Haiku Mixer! Come in, hang up your coat, and grab a drink (1). Out back, there are several walking paths through the tall grass (2) and morning glories (3) that lead to the koi pond…
So, you've written a haiku, edited it to the best of your ability, and you'd like to send it to a contest or a journal. Yet, somehow, you can't bring yourself to submit. Maybe you aren't able to recapture the…
Writers are often encouraged to engage in social media. Unfortunately, that’s where the advice usually stops. How do you determine which social media platform is right for you? My best advice is to try each of them out and choose…
on the edge of sleep the black and white checkerboard of a dog’s bark —Julie Bloss Kelsey
About a year ago, I recorded myself speaking about science fiction haiku (or scifaiku) for THF's new Haiku Outside of the Box. I've included that video, along with a transcript of my short speech, below. Some of you may have…
It's hard to believe that it's been a year since I started presenting weekly New to Haiku blog posts. My thanks to everyone who has helped me with this column -- from brainstorming ideas, to helping me create content and…
It's the holiday season, and I hope that you and yours are doing well during these difficult and crazy pandemic times. I was thinking today about the gift of haiku and what it means to me. I thought that I…
Once you begin your haiku journey, sooner or later you will experience déjà-ku. What is déjà-ku? Michael Dylan Welch, who coined the term, has this to say on his website, Graceguts, in an article entitled “An Introduction to Déjà-ku”: “[Déjà-ku…
Recently, I attended a lovely Zoom meeting for beginners of haiku, hosted by the Poetry Society of New Hampshire. One of the topics that came up during the event was how different it is to write haiku than to write…
Four years ago, my family set out on a cross-country trip. As always, I took pictures of everything and anything: clouds, shadows, insects, signs. But, on this trip, I was also armed with the ability to think in haiku. I…