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The 2013 Haiku North America Conference

Few events have worked out better for me than Haiku North America. I am someone who almost always has high expectations.

Although I have been a poet for more than 20 years, haiku was a relatively new fascination for me by the time the last convention was held. But I had already met Michael Dylan Welch and Ce Rosenow online thanks to a haiku page I started on Facebook.

When they invited me to Seattle — after hemming and hawing over the price of airfare — I jumped on a plane.

The travel wasn’t cheap, but I found the event to be worth every penny. I met people who knew a lot about the art, enjoyed many presentations, bought a lot of books and made many great connections.

The 2013 Haiku North America (HNA) Conference is scheduled for August 14-18, 2013, on board the historic Queen Maryocean liner in Long Beach, California.

Here is the link: https://www.haikunorthamerica.com

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. Robert,
    Love the counter-point but ahhh the luxuries of being a poet.
    The HNA in L.A.– would love to go and may but 3000 miles is no small day-trip. I’m sure the tribe will move east eventually. May just have to get my fix of haiku poets all in one spot at the, decidedly un-yuppie, annual Haiku Circle in Northfield, MA to be held Saturday June 8, 2013, I believe. They have a website for details as they become available. http://www.haikucircle.com

  2. Ms.Simpson-san,

    I greatly appreciate your joy and enthusiasm. I often think and daydream about how cool it would be to meet some of my haiku heroes and heroines. So domo and cheers.

    Patrick

  3. Gene,

    Thanks for the write-up!

    We are so excited to be hosting HNA 2013 in sunny Southern California this year and the organizing committee is working to put together an exciting and diverse program that will have wide appeal to local poetry enthusiasts and to the international haiku community.

    In addition to the guests that will be visiting for the conference, there are many poets active in the local Southern California haiku community, including myself, that are thrilled to have this opportunity to attend a world-class haiku conference in our backyard. The poets of Southern California are so excited to be able to meet such a large group of highly regarded haiku poets, translators, editors, publishers and scholars from all over the world.

    Those interested in attending, please register and make travel arrangements as soon as possible to decrease airfare costs. (http://www.haikunorthamerica.com/hna-conference-rates–registration.html) There are numerous airports in the region (LAX, Long Beach, Burbank, Ontario) that are serviced by premium and discount carriers (Jetblue, Allegiant, SouthWest) and Long Beach is also accessible by train and bus.

    The organizing committee would be happy to assist visiting poets with making their arrangements in whatever manner is possible. Conference attendees are encouraged to stay at the Queen Mary and to defray lodging costs, we would be happy to assist conferees in locating available roommates. We hope that all poets that wish to attend HNA 2013 will have the opportunity. If you are interested in attending, let us know and we will try to work with you to resolve any problems of logistics, costs, etc. You may email me at hna2013outreach at g m a i l.

    Those that wish to participate as presenters are also encouraged to submit their proposals to the review committee by February 28, 2013. Please visit our website for more information about presenting at the conference: http://www.haikunorthamerica.com/call-for-presentation-proposals.html

    We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you aboard the Queen Mary!

  4. I would have never attended HNA if I hadn’t been invited to speak at the 1997 conference by Ce Rosenow. The conference was such a wonderful experience that I haven’t missed a single one since, except when I was sick for six weeks in 2009 and could not attend. If you are able to afford to attend, I urge you to do so.

  5. Gee thanks for putting me in my place Robert (although I’m hardly young enough to be called a yuppie)! 🙂

    It would be a shame if your bah-humbug note was the only one posted here. I’m eagerly taking the chance to meet fellow practitioners from another part of the world – I wouldn’t be able to meet so many all at once if it wasn’t for this event.

    Yes, it does cost money, but what doesn’t? Even “free” events come with a price tag of some sort, whether it be transport costs or a donation at the door. Having recently co-organised New Zealand’s national haiku festival, I’m guessing the committee is working hard to keep costs reasonable so as many as possible may attend.

    So I’m saving hard and intend to enjoy every minute! Haiku for breakfast, lunch and dinner …

  6. For the haiku yuppie jet set who can afford airfare, meals, lodging, incidentals, time away from work and family.

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