About Haiku Poets of Northern California HPNC was formed in 1989 to further the writing, study, and appreciation of haiku and related genres of poetry written in English, which now include senryu, renku, rengay, tanka, and haibun. We hold meetings, sponsor readings, and publish haiku books with our own imprint, Two Autumns Press. Though most of our members live in the San Francisco and Northern California area, membership is open to anyone with an interest in haiku. HPNC's members include both new and established writers, many of whom have had their work published in journals and anthologies throughout the world. We also welcome beginners. HPNC publishes a quarterly newsletter, as well as Mariposa, a twice-yearly journal of haiku and related poetry, and also publishes occasional anthologies of haiku and senryu by members. We also hold annual contests for haiku, senryu, tanka, and rengay. You can see some of the recent Haiku Competition winners at the bottom of this page.

Meetings and Events: HPNC holds four quarterly meeting each year, usually at Fort Mason in San Francisco ( click here for directions to our meeting location ). We usually hold our meetings on the third Sunday of every third month, starting in January. These meetings usually consist of a featured reader, a featured presentation or workshop related to haiku, rounds of open readings of haiku and tanka, news and announcements, socialization and refreshments, and book tables for the sale and purchase of HPNC and other books (bring your own publications if you have some to sell). Everyone is welcome at no charge. You are invited to read your poems if you wish, and to participate in discussions and workshop activities, or to just listen. Whether you're new to haiku or a seasoned writer, you'll find something to benefit you at HPNC's quarterly meetings. In addition to those meetings HPNC also sponsors a special event featuring four of its members who present haiku at the annual Two Autumns Series at Fort Mason. For this year, HPNC's main events are listed below. Upcoming Calendar for 2008 May 18th, 2008: Sunday, the 4th Annual Moon Viewing Party will be held in San Francisco. Contact Susan Antolin, antolin@sound.net if you have not received your invitation or would like additional information. If you will be attending please advise Susan to facilitate planning. July 20th, 2008: Sunday, HPNC's 3rd quarterly meeting at Fort Mason, Building C Room 235, from 1 to 5 PM. Good news: Laurie Stoelting will be our featured reader for this meeting. August 24th, 2008: Sunday, the Ninteenth Annual Two Autumns Reading will be at Fort Mason, the building and room TBA, from 1 to 5 PM. This years readers will be Billie Wilson, from Alaska, John Stevenson, from New York, Christopehr Herold, from Washington and our own Fay Aoyagi. This is is an event not to be missed! September 1st, 2008: This is the hand in deadline for Mariposa's Fall/Winter Issue. Please see details below: Events from 2008 January 14th, 2008: This is a Monday, the annual planning meeting will be held at the Round Table Pizza, 1503 North Point St., at 6 p.m.. The restaurant is behind the Safeway, which is near to Fort Mason. All members are invited to attend and share ideas for the upcoming year. January 20th, 2008: The first meeting for the year at Fort Mason, Building C Room 230, from 1 to 5 PM. Lane Parker will be our featured reader. Fay Aoyagi will speak on "Traditional vs. "avant-garde" haiku. April 13th, 2008: HPNC's 2nd quarterly meeting at Fort Mason, Building C room 370, from 1 to 5 PM. Claire Gallagher will feature as a reader. We will also have program by tanka poet Mariko Kitakubo March 1st, 2008: This is the hand in deadline for Mariposa's Spring/Summer issue. Please see details below: Submissions for Mariposa: Mariposa is the semiannual journal of the members of HPNC. Only work by current members can be considered for publication. The in-hand submission deadline for the Spring/Summer issue of Mariposa is March 1st and for the Fall/Winter issue September 1st.  Postal submissions must include an SASE or e-mail address for acceptance decisions. We encourage e-mail submissions. Poems from any season are accepted for each issue. haiku, senryu, tanka, haibun, short linked verse, and brief articles (50-400 words) focusing on one aspect of haiku practice are welcome. Also line and gray-shade artwork and photographs suitable for reproduction within our 6 inch high by 4 1/2 inch wide perimeters is encouraged. All submissions must be unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere. Contest-winning poems which have not been published in a book or journal will gladly be considered. Submission review begins one month before the deadline and no acceptance decision letters are mailed until all submissions have been received and reviewed. The editor usually responds to submissions by the third week of the month after the deadline. Please send all submissions to: Ebba Story, 478 Guerrero Street, San Francisco, CA 94110 or email to: ebbastory@juno.com. Books For Sale, HPNC fundraiser: HPNC has books for sale to help fund our activities: See the book list at HPNC Book Offers To arrange your purchases contact Renee Owen, reneeowen@sbcglobal.net Please be advised to put "HPNC Book Sales" in the subject line. Also, make checks payable to HPNC, and enclose cash or stamps for postage. We have various books by Two Autumn's Press still available. We may have back issues of Mariposa, member's anthologies and the annual Two Autumn's chapbooks.  The 2008 San Francisco International Competition: The guidelines for the 2008 competition have been posted: HPNC's 2008 Competition! If you'd like to see the kind of haiku we enjoy you can look at the winning entries for the last few years, just click here

To Join HPNC To join HPNC, you may use our membership application form. Membership dues are $15.00 per year and entitle you to four quarterly newsletters plus two issues of Mariposa. All events are free to both members and nonmembers, but we do pass the hat to help defray rental costs at each meeting (such contributions are welcome but entirely optional). Then again, you could come to our next meeting or event with a check or money order payable in U.S. funds to "HPNC" (but you're welcome to attend without joining if you wish). Please note that HPNC is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization. Your contributions are encouraged. Join us today!

HPNC Officers as of 2008 President: Garry Gay, photogarry@aol.com Vice President: David Grayson, david_grayson@yahoo.com Treasurer: Paul Miller, pauldmiller@fctvplus.net ............... ... 31 Seal Island Road Bristol, RI 02809 Membership Secretary: Carolyn Hall, Carolynhal@aol.com Recording Secretary: Paul Williams, powms35@sbcglobal.net Newsletter Editor: Susan Antolin, antolin@astound.net Mariposa Editor: Ebba Story, ebbastory@juno.com. Book Sales: Renee Owen, reneeowen@sbcglobal.net Web page: Dan Brady, creative1@creativeideasforyou.com

family reunion --again explaining what a haiku is           --Garry Gay

Comments Welcome! Thanks for visiting the HPNC Web site. We'll be adding to the site periodically, so please visit again. If you have any comments or suggestions, contact Dan Brady Thanks! When writing Dan please put HPNC in the subject line of the email. Visitors since 2004

Additional Resources The Central Valley Haiku Club invites HPNC members to their website. The link is here: http://www.valleyhaiku.org/ For information about the Haiku Society of America, please visit http://www.hsa-haiku.org/ For information about the Yuki Teikei Society, which also meets in the San Francisco Bay Area, please visit www.youngleaves.org. For links to other haiku sites, please visit the Open Directory site for haiku and related forms at www.dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Poetry/Forms/Haiku_and_Related_Forms/, For information about the Haiku North America conference, please visit www.haiku-north-america-2003.org/.

A recent photo of HPNC folks...a friendly bunch if ever there was one!

Haiku competition winners from 2000   1st Place: Carolyn Hall, San Francisco, CA   wildfire the thermometer climbs all night   2nd Place: Timothy Russell, Toronto, OH   morning rain - an egg for my father spreads in the skillet   3rd Place: Paul M., San Francisco, CA   pear slice falling to the kitchen floor pale moonlight     Haiku competition winners from 2002:   1st Place: John Stevenson, Ithaca, NY   new snow the arc the door makes   2nd Place: Ernest Berry , Picton, New Zealand   overnight rain a reflection by the runway levitates   3rd Place: Anne LB Davidson, Saco, ME   tree-filled swamp the silent air its own shade of green     Haiku competition winners from 2004:   1st Place: Beverly A. Tift, New Haven, CT   old steeple a turban of pigeons unwinds the hour   2nd Place: D. Claire Gallagher, Sunnyvale, California   sunflowers the tube of cadmium yellow squeezed flat   3rd Place: Ernest Berry , Picton, New Zealand   .....spring rain the chameleon busy .....being green     Haiku competition winners from 2006:   1st Place: Earl Keener, Bethany, West Virginia   mackerel sky the final wave before you board   2nd Place: Claire Gallagher, Sunnyvale, California   Hiroshima Day cigarette-pack cellophane uncrumpling   3rd Place: Margaret Chula, Portland, Oregon   end of summer my garden one wheelbarrow

Haiku competition winners from 2001:   1st Place, D. Claire Gallagher, Sunnyvale, CA   redwood shade a banana slug eating - my worries   2nd Place: Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand   desert heat the lizard disappears into a snake   3rd Place: Karina Young, Salinas, CA   Twin towers and yet the morning glory blooms      Haiku competition winners from 2003:   1st Place: Laurie W. Stoelting, Mill Valley, CA   a phoebe's erratic flight this canoe trip won't settle anything   2nd Place: Christopher Herold, Port Townsend, WA   autumn sunset the wake of a tugboat sloshes ashore   3rd Place: W.F. Owen, Antelope, CA   Indian summer rust on our hands from the swing     Haiku competition winners from 2005:   1st Place: Carolyn Hall, San Francisco, California   autumn dusk - a word that will do for the one I can't find   2nd Place: Ernest J. Berry, Picton New Zealand   contractions - the darkness between stars   3rd Place, Carolyn Hall, San Francisco, California   a rack of antlers nailed to the gatepost lingering heat      Haiku competition winners from 2007:   1st Place: Ernest J. Berry, Picton New Zealand   .....summer one bumblebee deepens the hum   2nd Place: Claire Gallagher, Sunnyvale, California   weathered bench - I open my palms to the winter sky   3rd Place: Claire Gallagher, Sunnyvale, California   hollow center of the raspberry - Mother's silence