National Haiku Writing Month

Meet Our July 2023 Prompter, Sandi Ivey

July 18, 2023

It’s time to Meet the Prompter! Our July 2023 NaHaiWriMo daily writing prompter is Sandi Ivey, prompting for us for the first time. She’s a hairstylist, performs improv, and hosts an art salon. Read more about Sandi, and read some sample poems, at her new “Meet the Prompter” interview.

Meet Our March 2023 Prompter, Mark Stuart Farrar

March 13, 2023

He’s from England, now in the United States, and took his time coming to haiku. And now here he is as a first-time NaHaiWriMo prompter, serving for March 2023. Please read Mark Stuart Farrar’s “Meet the Prompter” interview! Learn how he got started with haiku and how he ended up in the United States, and read three sample poems. Thank you, Mark!

Meet Our February 2023 NaHaiWriMo en français Coprompter, Claire Chatelet (sprite)

February 24, 2023

NaHaiWriMo en français has enjoyed not one but two poets sharing prompting duties for February 2023. Sébastien Revon repeated his role from 2022 but for 2023 Claire Chatelet (sprite) joined him. We’re pleased to present Claire’s  “Meet the Prompter” interview now, in both French and English. Learn how a creative writing class led her to haiku in a roundabout way, how her rural French upbringing still influences her writing today, and how she balances two languages while living in London, where she recently retired from a nursing career.

Meet Our December 2022 Prompter, Shannon M. Blood

December 10, 2022

Can you guess how Shannon M. Blood first learned of haiku, and when? Find out at her “Meet the Prompter” interview now posted to the NaHaiWriMo website. Thank you to Shannon for serving as our December 2022 daily writing prompter. As Shannon says in her interview, “NaHaiWriMo is probably one of the best habits I’ve ever developed in my life.”

Meet Our May 2022 Prompter, Jill Calahan

May 17, 2022

How many cats and dogs does Jill Calahan have? Who introduced her to NaHaiWriMo? And where can you find her on Instagram? Find out at her “Meet the Prompter” interview just posted to the NaHaiWriMo website. Thank you to Jill for serving as our May 2022 daily writing prompter, and for her inspiring focus on different parts of the body.

Meet Our April 2022 Prompter, Susan Delphine Delaney

April 28, 2022

Our April 2022 NaHaiWriMo daily writing prompter is Susan Delphine Delaney, in her second stint at prompting (previously in July of 2011). Read about how she first learned about haiku in 1965, and learn her family’s “haiku sensibilities” and her own background as a psychiatrist. And read three sample poems too. Thank you, Susan!

Meet Our March 2022 Prompter, Mick Mezza

March 6, 2022

Our daily writing prompter for March of 2022 is Mick Mezza, prompting for NaHaiWriMo for the first time. Mick was born in Italy but emigrated to Melbourne, Australia at the age of 8. Learn more about Mick and read three sample poems at his Meet the Prompter interview, just posted to the “Meet the Prompters” page.

Meet the NaHaiWriMo en français Daily Writing Prompter, Sébastien Revon

February 6, 2022

Newly posted to the “Meet the Prompters” page is an interview in French and English with Sébastien Revon, who is serving as the daily writing prompter for NaHaiWriMo en français on Facebook for February 2022. Read of his work as a pharmacist in Ireland, how he came to haiku, and see three sample poems. Merci, Sébastien!

NaHaiWriMo 2022

January 26, 2022

National Haiku Writing Month’s twelfth year is just around the corner. Please join us on the Facebook page where daily writing prompts will inspire you to write at least one haiku a day for each day of February, the shortest month for the shortest genre of poetry. Please join us!

Launch of New NaHaiWriMo Website

January 1, 2022

Major relaunch today of the NaHaiWriMo website, now secure and optimized for PCs, tablets, and phones, with numerous design changes throughout. Welcome to NaHaiWriMo 2.0!

Meet Our October 2021 Prompter, Linda Papanicolaou

October 20, 2021

Our daily writing prompter for October of 2021 is Linda Papanicolaou, who previously prompted for NaHaiWriMo way back in April of 2012. Linda recently retired as an art teacher, a profession that brought her to both haiku and haiga. She has also run the Haigaonline website for many years. Learn more about Linda and read three sample poems at her Meet the Prompter interview.

Meet Our September 2021 Prompter, Steve Ralph

September 20, 2021

Our daily writing prompter for September of 2021 is Steve Ralph, who is prompting for NaHaiWriMo for the first time. Steve's path to haiku was through his father, George Ralph, a longtime haiku poet who died in 1997. Steve also followed his father's footsteps into theater. Learn more about Steve's old and new steps to haiku and read three sample poems at his Meet the Prompter interview.

Register for Worldwide NaHaiWriMo Zoom Readings

February 23, 2021

It’s time for NaHaiWriMo participants to register for our 2021 Zoom readings! We’re pleased to have two worldwide readings so you can share selections of your NaHaiWriMo haiku and senryu this year. Please register for one or both readings. We’ll need your email address so we can send you the Zoom links!

We have TWO reading events, listed as follows for different local times, and you can register for one or both as you wish. We expect each reading to last for about two hours.

Reading 1 (local time listed)     Reading 2 (local time listed)

Seattle — 6:00 pm February 27 (Saturday) Seattle — 9:00 am February 28 (Sunday)

New York — 9:00 pm February 27 (Saturday) New York — 12:00 noon February 28 (Sunday)

Auckland — 3:00 pm February 28 (Sunday) Auckland — 6:00 am Monday March 1 (Monday)

Perth — 10:00 am February 28 (Sunday) Perth — 1:00 am March 1 (Monday)

Tokyo — 11:00 am February 28 (Sunday) Tokyo — 2:00 am March 1 (Monday)

Melbourne — 1:00 pm February 28 (Sunday) Melbourne — 4:00 am March 1 (Monday)

India — 7:30 am February 28 (Sunday) India — 10:30 pm March 1 (Monday)

London — 2:00 am February 28 (Sunday) London — 5:00 pm February 28 (Sunday)

If your time zone isn’t listed here, go to Time Zone Converter and add your time zone to figure out when you need to attend. See you at one or both of these readings. They’re going to be great!

NaHaiWriMo Zoom Readings

February 2, 2021

National Haiku Writing Month is pleased to announce a special Zoom addition to its festivities for 2021: two global NaHaiWriMo poetry readings at the end of the month. They’ll be held on February 27, 6:00–8:00 p.m. Pacific Time and on February 28, 9:00–11:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Depending on participation, these events may be shorter or longer than two hours. These two time slots should allow for everyone in different time zones to participate in one reading or the other, or both. The following list shows the start time in selected time zones, so you can see which day works best for you (bold times are more feasible locally than those that are not bold). Add this to your calendar now! Zoom links and other details will be shared later. Save your NaHaiWriMo haiku and senryu from this month to share with everyone. Sound like fun?

Reading 1       Reading 2

Seattle — 6:00 pm February 27 (Saturday) Seattle — 9:00 am February 28 (Sunday)

New York — 9:00 pm February 27 (Saturday) New York — 12:00 noon February 28 (Sunday)

Auckland — 3:00 pm February 28 (Sunday) Auckland — 6:00 am Monday March 1 (Monday)

Perth — 10:00 am February 28 (Sunday) Perth — 1:00 am March 1 (Monday)

Tokyo — 11:00 am February 28 (Sunday) Tokyo — 2:00 am March 1 (Monday)

Melbourne — 1:00 pm February 28 (Sunday) Melbourne — 4:00 am March 1 (Monday)

India — 7:30 am February 28 (Sunday) India — 10:30 pm March 1 (Monday)

London — 2:00 am February 28 (Sunday)   London — 5:00 pm March 1 (Monday)

Time for NaHaiWriMo!

January 31, 2021

National Haiku Writing Month is just around the corner. This is our eleventh year for NaHaiWriMo! Please join us in pledging to write at least one new haiku for each day of February, our official month—the shortest month of the year for the shortest genre of poetry. Do this on your own or try challenging your friends. Post your daily haiku to your blog or website, or to social media (use the #nahaiwrimo hashtag). If you want inspiration, please consider joining the Facebook page, where you can find daily writing prompts (you can follow the prompts if you want to, but that's optional). See if you can write at least one haiku a day for the entire month of February. Happy haikuing, and thank you for participating!

Earlier NaHaiWriMo News and Announcements

View an archive of earlier news and announcements (from a blog that ran from November of 2013 to August of 2021).