Lake Onawa Retreats (1999–2017)
Lake Onawa, Maine, is the location of a cabin owned by haiku poet Paul MacNeil, where for almost 20 years poets gathered each summer, retreat-style, to discuss and write poetry. Specifically, from 1999 through 2017 members of the Route 9 / Upstate Dim Sum haiku group from Upstate New York gathered at the lakeside cabin to compose renku (collaborative linked poems). These Lake Onawa compositions were published in major journals, won prizes in renku contests, and generally contributed significantly to the development of renku in English.