The Haiku Foundation 2015 Fundraiser

Dear Haiku Lovers:

Thank you all for your continuing support. The Haiku Foundation has grown incredibly fast, and has far outpaced our expectations. What began as a few ideas for projects that we felt would help people find their way into and through haiku — libraries, resources, archives and the like — has quickly morphed into a host of fun projects to the delight of anyone who loves the genre. Daily haiku and participatory renku, books of the week, International Haiku Poetry Day and HaikuLife — none of these programs was even the remotest thought to us when we began.

Once a year we ask that you help us meet our financial challenges to continue this work. We reserve the period from Thanksgiving through St. Nicholas Day, the time our culture has set aside to note our many blessings and give thanks. We are grateful for the opportunity to do this work, and look forward to continuing it. But it really does depend on you — as audience, as participants, as underwriters.

And, during this period we try to let you know some of what we’ve been up to by releasing samples of our work over the previous 12 months. You’ll find a list of our planned releases below.

A final note: it is a wonderful thing to support haiku with a financial contribution, but it is even greater to give back with your time and energy. The Haiku Foundation would be very glad of your help in a number of projects that we have in the works. If you have the time and the inclination to do more for haiku, please contact us. We’ll be happy to have you join us. We have always felt that The Haiku Foundation was where you went when you wanted to give back to haiku.

Once again, thanks for all, and we wish you a most happy holiday season.

Jim Kacian
President, The Haiku Foundation

2015 Fundraiser Schedule

• November 26: In Memoriam, a tribute to haiku poets who have left the community in the past 2 years; the release of Raymond Roseliep: Man of Art who Loved the rose, a biography of the pioneering haiku poet by Donna Bauerly.

 

• November 27: The Haiku Foundation’s Black Friday Gift Shop promo; re:Virals 11.

 

• November 28: Linda Papanicolaou gives a final accounting of Renku Sessions 3: “A Bowl of Cherries”; a new Old Pond Comics cartoon “Goose Neck”.

 

• November 29: THF Reports: “Our Frogpond Journey,” Francine Banwarth and Michele Root-Bernstein’s discussion of their editorship of Frogpond; THF Social Media Day highlights of our social outreach from the Foundation’s social media director Stella Pierides.

 

• November 30: THF Interviews: Gayle Bull; a new Book of the Week: small town by vincent tripi.

 

• December 1: THF Galleries: “Haiga of Stephen Addiss”; the new World of Haiku country for December: Australia.

 

• December 2: “Librarian’s Cache”, selections from the Foundation’s holdings by Digital Librarian Garry Eaton; results from the annual THF assessment survey.

 

• December 3: THF Readings: Tom Clausen; a challenging haiku crypto-quiz from Anita Krumins.

 

• December 4: THF Lectures: Zinovy Vayman on “Humor in Haiku”; re:Virals 12.

 

• December 5: “Touchstone Gardens” around the world, where winners of the Foundation’s prestigious Touchstone Awards have displayed their award stones; a new Old Pond Comics cartoon “Jamming Crabs”.

 

• December 6: THF Lectures: Ruth Yarrow entertains and instructs us in “Haiku with Feathers,” from Haiku North America 2015; a report on the Foundation’s Grant Proposal to the National Endowment for the Arts in 2015.

 

• December 7: The summary report from our THF Fundraiser 2015; a new Book of the Week: jazztronaut by Geert Verbecke.