Haiku Society of America Region
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Midwest Region
This region includes Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
The Midwest region has traditionally been a focal point of American haiku activity with publications such as American Haiku, the world’s first English-language haiku journal (started in 1963), and Modern Haiku, which has been published here for most of its existence, among others. In addition, we are also home to Brooks Books, the country’s longest publisher devoted to books of English haiku, and its journal Mayfly. The region hosted the landmark Haiku Chicago event in 1995 (the first-ever joint conference of the Haiku Society of America and Japan’s Haiku International Association), the 1999 Haiku North America conference, the 2000 Global Haiku Festival, and, more recently, the “Cradle of American Haiku” festivals.
The Midwest region has a wealth of talent, with HSA members in eight states, and strives to grow in its knowledge of haiku by holding informative readings and critiques, with presentations by excellent poets and speakers, to which the public is always invited. Additional activities include outdoor walks, such as visiting the Japanese garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Members often meet for dinner after events to socialize.
If you’re not already an HSA member, please come to one of our gatherings or free programs, and give us a try. We encourage haiku poets throughout the Midwest to start a new group (the Midwest regional coordinator is always happy to help), or to join an existing group:
- In Waukesha, Wisconsin contact Dan Schwerin
- Illinois State Poetry Society - haiku - contact Thomas Checkley
- In East Lansing, Michigan, contact Michele Root-Bertstein
Evergreen Haiku
- In Michigan, contact Mike Rehling
Failed Haiku founding editor
- In St. Louis, Missouri, contact John Dunphy
Mississippi Mud Daubers
- In Ohio, contact Nicky Gutierrez
Ohaio-ku~ ~ ~
