Recently, a New to Haiku reader asked me what journals he should consider when submitting haiku for publication. The Haiku Foundation does not endorse any particular set of journals, but I thought it was an interesting question. It's also a…
Happy New Year, New to Haiku friends! As I sit here, grateful for my family and friends (and full of holiday treats), I’m thinking back over 2025. Some haiku poets choose to compile a year-end roundup of their publications and…
As the airplane reached cruising altitude on my way to Haiku North America this week, I was reminded of a poem I wrote a few years ago. This senryu was inspired by P.H. Fischer’s prompt series on journeys at Haiku…
So, you’ve written some haiku and you’d like to get them published. How do you decide which pieces to submit and where? This is a question only you can decide—the answer will be different for every poet. Some poets rank…
Do you know someone who is new to haiku but don't know where to point them for some basics? Or maybe you'd like to brush up on some haiku basics yourself? Every post in New to Haiku is tagged to…
Today at New to Haiku, I wanted to highlight some of the things going on behind the scenes here at The Haiku Foundation. "Haiku that Move Us" with Scott Mason We are excited to share that THF Board Member Scott Mason…
When you are new to haiku, you may hear poets refer to “the haiku moment” or “the aha moment.” While these terms may describe the same event, they do not necessarily mean the same thing. In my opinion, the haiku…
It may seem paradoxical that haiku poets strive for moments keenly perceived while also leaving ambiguity in the poem. The late poet Ellen Compton once told me that the shape of a haiku is in the blank spaces. In other…
In the lineage of Issa and modern haiku mothers alike, Julie writes not only of seasons and children, but of the tender ache of presence and absence—of lives begun, grown, and sometimes lost.
As a new haiku poet, you may learn that haiku is composed of a fragment and a phrase, or that haiku is created through the juxtaposition of two images. The unique way that a haiku is crafted creates space for…
On his website, Graceguts, Michael Dylan Welch shares a wealth of information. His essay, “On Writing Haiku,” gives 54 tips and suggestions for crafting haiku, including this one: “Write about a now moment—here and now.” He goes on to add:…
You’ve finally broken into the haiku market of your dreams. Congratulations! But now the editor has asked you to write a poet bio. What do you say? How much detail should you include? Writing a poet bio, in my opinion,…
Hello friends of New to Haiku! I thought I’d give you an update on things here. In short, my shoulder recovery hit a snag and it’s going to take a while for me to get back to normal—or perhaps adjust…
Julie Bloss Kelsey, Secretary to and board member of The Haiku Foundation, helps readers of NatGeo discover haiku . . .
It may seem strange for a poetic form that requires such precise imagery, but haiku poets tend to use adjectives and adverbs sparingly, if at all. With the space constraints that haiku forces on poets, it makes sense to eliminate…
Here at The Haiku Foundation, we celebrate International Haiku Poetry Day (IHPD) every April 17. The origins of IHPD began when poet Sari Grandstaff started National Haiku Poetry Day in the US on February 17, 2007. The Haiku Foundation took…
As a novice haiku poet, you will soon bump into the Japanese word kigo. You might be asking yourself, What is a kigo? Do I need to use one in my haiku? How do I use them? What are they…
4/29/24 — Update! Anna was thrilled with the advice that she received both here and in her mailbox. She wrote, in part, “So many friendly, welcoming cards and notes whallybopped me with joy and awe. You should have warned me,…
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,…