At the Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2017, in his workshops “Haiku is _____”, Michael Dylan Welch invited participants to fill in the blank.
At the end of the workshop, he drew a huge X on the board, challenging our definition of haiku.
Michael Dylan Welch selected the Bolero of Ravel as the theme song of the Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2017.
On the opening night of the conference, we were shown the 8 minute final scene from the movie Les Uns et Les Autres by Claude Lelouch in which a character dances to the Bolero and is joined by a choir.
The music got stuck in our head for the rest of the conference.
quite a tune this bolero
playing on and on within my head
crescendo of falling leaves
#haiku by David Berger
After some technical difficulties with the projector, the Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2017 began with an introduction by Michael Dylan Welch, presentation by guest speaker Scott Mason, amazing performance by Terry Ann Carter, and other sessions.
Michael Dylan Welch and his famous “I Love Haiku” t-shirt.
Scott Mason, guest speaker.
Terry Ann Carter wearing a beautiful kimono for her reading of “Tokaido”.
Stay tune for more comics from the conference.
You just came back from a haiku conference and now there’s a pile of haiku on your desk.
It’s a good problem to have, but still a problem. I learned from previous experience that if I don’t read the trifolds I picked up at a conference right away, I never will.
In the past, I’d treat my freebies like collector’s items: I’d store them and never touch them again. But this year, after coming back from HNA2017, I decided I would read them. So one morning I took a pile of freebies and read them while in transit.
I decided to start with the Sante Fe themed trifolds. It seems a few people attending the HNA 2017 conference had already been to Santa Fe and shared their experience of New Mexico in their trifolds.
First on my list was a trifold by Kath Abela Wilson recalling her experience moving to Santa Fe with her young family, and becoming the apprentice of jewellery maker Ross LewAllen.
meeting in Santa Fe
I wear earrings I made here
forty years ago
— Kath Abela Wilson
In Keeping Time: haibun, Penny Harter shares memories of fishing in the canyon:
from abandoned cliff
dwellings ravens call into
the past
— Penny Harter (from “Fishing in the Canyon”, first published in Exit 13)
In Santa Fe Summer of 2011, Charles Trumbull shares one-line haiku with New Mexico season words.
solstice heat a lizard scuttles through acequia sand
up the Rio Grande ill winds from Arizona
moon blazes red over the Sangre de Christos
— Charles Trumbull
This trifold by Carole MacRury features a photo of Bandelier Park and a selection of her best haiku such as:
well-worn path –
I take my memories
for a walk
–Carole MacRury
In a colourful trifolds featuring Mount Fuji on one side and a zen garden on the other side, Susan Diridoni laid out her gendai haiku on strips of paper:
kimono backwards her bunraku dream
– Susan Diridoni
In Ghost Notes, Beverly Acuff Momoi caught my attention with a very original kigo:
my biggest fears
are nameless
moons of Jupiter
— Beverly Acuff Momoi
In low doorways, paul m. shares haiku inspired by his visit to the Ephrata Cloisters, a semi-monastic community:
dawn chorus
a brother’s snore
part of it
— paul m.
To celebrate its 25 years, the Haiku Poets’ Society of Western Massachusetts shared a selection of members’ haiku in a beautiful handmade card:
all these years
at the same table
salt and pepper
— Denise Fontaine-Pincine (Haiku Poets’ Society of Western Massachusetts)
In Night Mist, Jennifer Sutherland presents a series of haiku about horses:
fading daylight
horse and hill
become one
— Jennifer Sutherland (previously published in A Hundred Gourds, June 2014)
In Explorations 1, lynnej finds haiku in her surroundings:
after the storm
haiku strewn
along the shore
— lynnej
In Shawls of Rain, Marietta McGregor takes a humorous look at family:
petting zoo…
newlyweds stroke
each other
— Marietta McGregor
In A Few Gourds, Angela Terry reminds us:
taking the shortcut
and missing the journey –
a map of clouds
— Angela Terry (previously published in A Hundred Gourds)
In VanKuver, Jacquie Pearce offers a mini chapbook filled with haiku inspired by her city:
wet neon city
the young girl’s colourful
splash!
— Jacquie Pearce
In What’s Left Unsaid: 125 haiku (limited edition), Maxianne Berger allows us to play and form our own haiku with her interactive flagbook:
fireflies adrift
near her husband’s grave
we both smile
— Maxianne Berger
In On the Bridge (Japan 2014), you’ll find beautiful haiga by Lidia Rozmus, and a selection of haiku by Lidia, Cynthia A. Henderson, and Charles Trumbull:
one breath
one brush stroke
one
— Lidia Rozmus
In by the way (limited edition, 35 copies), Don Wentworth takes us on a journey:
translating
a poem differently each time—
the autumn sky
-Don Wentworth
In Breakfast Alone, Michael Dylan Welch offers us a series of haiku about taste:
breakfast alone
slowly I eat
my melancholy
— Michael DylanWelch
Whether you take the trifolds on transit, read them while curled up in your favourite chair, or enjoy them while having breakfast, my advice is to read them right away while the memory of the conference, and the people you met, are still fresh.
If you’re a Haiku Canada member you’re familiar with trifolds since there are usually one or two included with the Haiku Canada Review.
A few years back, Michael Dylan Welch started creating his own trifolds to share his haiku with attendees at conferences.
Today, trifolds are one of the most popular freebies at haiku conferences. They’re made of one sheet of paper printed double sided, and folded like a brochure.
Letting Go: haiku & haiga (interior), by Naia
When designing a trifold, pay attention to the cover since it’s the first thing people will see. Make sure the cover has an attractive picture, a title, your name.
Letting Go: haiku & haiga (cover), by Naia
The back of the trifold usually holds bio-bibliographical and contact information.
A Common Touch (back), by Michael Dylan Welch
You can create a trifold using the theme of the conference.
Autumn Haiku, by Barbara Hay ; Autumn Madness, by Beverly Acuff Momoi ( HNA 2015)
Since trifolds are one of the most popular format, you’ll have to make sure your trifold stands out. Here are some examples of creative trifolds.
Zigzag
Here’s a trifold (by Dianne Garcia) folded in a zigzag. It’s printed on one side only. What’s great about the zigzag fold is that the trifold can stand on a table.
Trifold, by Dianne Garcia
Four-folds
Randy Brooks created a narrow four-folds brochure for HNA 2015.
Haiku with legs (cover), by Randy Brooks (HNA 2015)
Haiku with legs (interior), by Randy Brooks (HNA 2015)
Cut-out
Michael Dylan Welch always have amazing trifolds that he gives away at each haiku conference. On his website Graceguts, you’ll find the files available to download for personal use.
I especially enjoy A Common Touch with its original cut-out triangle.
A Common Touch (cover), by Michael Dylan Welch
A Common Touch (interior), by Michael Dylan Welch
If you haven’t decided what to bring at the next haiku conference, trifolds are an excellent choice since they can be done quickly, and printed at home.
You’ll find brochures templates in most software like Word, InDesign. Insert your haiku, and voilà.
HNA 2017 recently announced the number of registered attendees have reached 200. Prepare to make at least 200 copies of your brochures (which could cost around $75). If you have them done at the print shop, they can even fold them for you.
Is your freebie ready for HNA and Seabeck? Are you bringing a bookmark, postcard, trifold, something else?
Of course, you can never turn off the neon buddha. He can talk about haiku all night.
power outage
the neon buddha
loses his smile
–haiku by Michael Dylan Welch (published in Daily Haiku)
The neon buddha poems created by Michael Dylan Welch are some of my favorite poems on the web. This one comes from DailyHaiku, but you can read 40 more poems on Michael’s site Graceguts.
my umbrella too
becomes a one-eyed monster
this moonlit night
Note:
“This umbrella monster is well known in Japan, explained Emiko. It has one eye, and one leg wearing geta (wooden sandal). The author sees the moon through the hole in his umbrella and thinks he / umbrella too has become a one-eyed monster. Moonlit night is the night of Harvest Moon.”
In this Techno Tuesday column, I share a hilarious Facebook post by Michael Dylan Welch.
On December 15, Michael Dylan Welch shared on his Facebook page this beautiful Japanese print created by Chet Phillips with the comment: “Basho really should upgrade to a flat-screen monitor, or maybe get a laptop or tablet.”
Carmen Sterba pointed out: “Actually, the oddest thing is not the computer but the combination of a dragonfly and cherry blossoms in the same season.”
Meanwhile Vladislav Vassiliev replied to Michael’s post: “He does have a laptop. Because they cut him off internet in his Bashoan he goes to the nearby Starbucks to update his Facebook status.”
The funniest thing is what Michael Dylan Welch wrote afterwards. Check this out:
Some Basho Facebook updates:
Monday: Took a walk around the pond today to enjoy the spring sunshine. Heard a frog jump in. Thought I’d write a poem about it.Tuesday: For so many centuries, poems about frogs have celebrated their croak, so writing about the sound of a frog jumping into the water seems pretty radical. Any of you homies think I should go for it anyway?
Wednesday: Got the last two lines down of my new poem: kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto. But I’m stuck on my first line. Shoot me your suggestions if you’ve got any.
Thursday: Settled on furuike ya for my first line. Thanks, buddy, for the suggestion (you know who you are).
Friday: Decided against the frog legs for dinner.
Written by Michael Dylan Welch
Source: Michael Dylan Welch Facebook page.
Old Pond Comics 