National Haiku Writing Month
Have you written a haiku yet today?
Write one haiku a day for the month of February! Why February? Because it’s the shortest month, for the world’s shortest genre of poetry. Join poets around the world who pledge to write at least one haiku a day for National Haiku Writing Month during the year’s shortest month. Or write haiku every day of every month, all year round, on the NaHaiWriMo site on Facebook, with daily writing prompts to inspire you. Find us on Facebook, and click the following links to find out more (with more to explore at the bottom of this page)—including why haiku in English doesn’t have to be 5-7-5 syllables.
How to Participate
Meet the Prompters
Why “No 5-7-5”?
With Cherries on Top: 31 Flavors
Jumble Box Anthology
Your Comments
See also Daily Prompts, Spiffy Endorsements, and Who’s in Charge Here?
NaHaiWriMocha
NaHaiWriMocha is this site’s sometimes-caffeinated listing of recent news, announcements, and other year-round details about National Haiku Writing Month, listed with posting date. When months are not mentioned for Meet the Prompter interviews in the following announcements, for those months our prompters have served before and their interviews were announced previously.
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.
Meet Our August 2021 Prompter, Pris Campbell
August 17, 2021
Our daily writing prompter for August of 2021 is Pris Campbell, who is prompting for NaHaiWriMo for the second time (the first time was in October of 2011, during our very first year). Pris is a clinical psychologist who came to haiku as a way to cope with a neuroimmune illness. She has since been published widely and says that, “I love how haiku can tell an entire story in a few words.” Learn more about Pris and see three sample photo-haiga at her Meet the Prompter interview. Thank you, Pris!
Meet Our June 2021 Prompter, Deborah P Kolodji
June 22, 2021
Our daily writing prompter June of 2021 is Deborah P Kolodji, who wrote her first haiku in fourth grade. Since then she’s become very active with haiku worldwide, and for June of 2021 we’re fortunate to have her garden-themed prompts for NaHaiWriMo. She’s prompting for us for the second time (previously in December of 2013).Learn more about Debbie and read three sample poems at her Meet the Prompter interview. Thank you, Debbie!
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!
Meet Our NaHaiWriMo in Spanish Prompter
February 19, 2021
Just added to the Meet the Prompters page are Spanish and English interview responses from Clara Sierra Escritora, who has coordinated the NaHaiWriMo en español (NaHaiWriMo in Spanish) Facebook page since 2020. Thank you to Clara for running the page, posting prompts, and building haiku community.
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).
More to explore
NaHaiWriMocha (former blog for news and announcements)
Links off this site
Becoming a Haiku Poet (start here to learn haiku essentials)
Jump Into Haiku (a quicker way to get started)
This site, the “No 5-7-5” logo, National Haiku Writing Month, NaHaiWriMo, and derivations such as International Haiku Writing Month,
InHaiWriMo, International Haiku Writing Year, and HaikuWriMo, copyright © 2010–2023 by Michael Dylan Welch.