International Haiku Poetry Day (2012– )

International Haiku Poetry Day (IHPD) is an annual observance, on April 17, hosted and promoted by The Haiku Foundation since 2012. IHPD has incorporated several components, including the HaikuNow! International Haiku Contest, the annual THF Touchstone Awards for books and individual haiku, the EarthRise Rolling Haiku Collaboration, the HaikuLife Film Festival, and reports on local haiku gatherings around the world.

Table of Contents

Origins
Components
Related Haikupedia Articles

Origins

International Haiku Poetry Day (IHPD) is an annual observance hosted by The Haiku Foundation. Originally conceived and registered in 2007 by American poet Sari Grandstaff as National Haiku Poetry Day, it was accepted for listing by Crane’s Calendar of Events. Grandstaff handed over administration of the program to The Haiku Foundation in 2012, when the date was changed from February to April 17—that is, into the heart of National Poetry Month in the United States, while at the same time incorporating haiku’s iconic number 17 (the number of “syllables” in a Japanese haiku). In 2015 the celebration was expanded by The Haiku Foundation into the International Haiku Poetry Day and has been so designated ever since.

Components

Since 2010 the International Haiku Poetry Day has served as the umbrella designation for five THF initiatives:

HaikuNow! International Haiku Contest (2010–2014; administered by Jim Kacian);
The Haiku Foundation annual contests: the Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards and the Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems (overseen by Mark Harris (2010–2013) and Bruce Feingold (2014– );
HaikuLife Haiku Film Festival (2015– ; administered by Jim Kacian);
Earthrise Rolling Haiku Collaboration (2015– ; administered by Jim Kacian); and
reports on local observances and haiku gatherings around the world in celebration of International Haiku Poetry Day (2012– ; submitted by local organizers).

Web pages on The Haiku Foundation’s website have been created for the following local events:

2012 Atlanta, GA; Bangor, ME; Boston, MA; Fort Worth, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Mineral Point, WI/Dubuque, IA; Minneapolis, MN; New Orleans, LA; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Shreveport, LA; Washington, DC; and Winston-Salem, NC
2013 Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Dubuque, IA; Fort Worth, TX; Highland Park, NJ; Hopewell, NJ; Huntsville, AL; Minneapolis, MN; New Orleans, LA; Shreveport, LA; and Winston-Salem, NC
2014 Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Princeton, NJ; Shreveport, LA; and Seattle, WA.
2015 Huntsville, AL, Hopewell Township, NJ; Los Angeles, CA; Mineral Point, WI; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Shreveport, LA; and Victoria, BC, Canada.
2016 Sofia, Bulgaria; Hobart, Australia; Hopewell Township, NJ; Los Angeles, CA; Mount Angel, OR; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Sherman, TX; Shreveport, LA; Stockholm, Sweden; Stratford-upon-Avon, UK, and West Burke, VT.
2017 Huntsville, AL, and Newton, MA
2018—No reports received
2019 Perth, Australia, and Whitehorse, YT, Canada.