Join us for our final gathering of the year at Eric Pedersen’s lakeside home near Hillsborough. All are welcome!
We’ll reconnect with fellow poets, share haiku and related poems—both our own work and pieces we’ve discovered—and catch up on haiku news, current projects, questions, and recent book launches.
Please Note: We have one special guest, Paru Timilsina, who will give a presentation about haiku in Nepal. Otherwise, this gathering will be what we make of it. Bring poems, questions, news, books, and art to share as requested in the schedule below.
RSVP: Please use our Contact form to let us know if you plan to come.
Date: Sunday, October 12, 2025
Time: 9:45 AM to 2:00 PM
Location: 600 Canotage Court, Cedar Grove, NC 27231. About 7 miles north of Hillsborough
Note: Please park on the forest side (left side) of Canotage Court.
Show and Tell
Bring books, art, and other wonderful objects to share during Basho’s Knapsack, or just put them on our Show and Tell table. Anything that you think haiku poets would like to see.
Schedule
Check the weather and dress accordingly. The meeting will be held rain or shine.
Lunch will be provided; however, if you have special dietary needs, please bring your own lunch.
Scheduled events will start at 9:45 in the morning and will go no later than 2:00 that afternoon. Following the scheduled events, there will be more opportunities for socializing, canoeing, and kayaking.
9:45 to 10:15 AM | Socializing
Meet and greet while we wait for people to arrive.
10:15 to 10:30 | Opening Remarks & Haiku Greeting
Dave Russo will welcome everyone and introduce our host, Eric Pedersen. Eric will make a few remarks. Volunteers in the audience will be encouraged to read one haiku as a kind of greeting. The haiku could be yours or someone else’s.
10:30 to 11:00 | Basho’s Knapsack
In this session, anyone can share 3-5 minutes of haiku-related news, questions, projects, book launches, or anything else of interest to our group.
11:00 to 11:15 | Haiku from Nepal
Paru Timilsina, a Nepalese painter, will give a presentation about haiku in Nepal.
11:15 to 12 Noon Bring Haiku, Tanka, or Related Poems to Share
Everyone is invited to bring haiku, tanka, or related poems to share in one or more of the following categories.
- One or more of your own haiku, tanka, or related poems.
- A favorite haiku, tanka, or related poem.
- A haiku, tanka, or related poem that you recently discovered and were delighted or troubled by.
When reading aloud to the group, read each poem twice. Then tell us why you chose this poem to read. Bring printed copies of the poem to share, if you can.
12 Noon to 1:00 | Lunch & Self-Guided Ginko
Lunch will be provided; however, if you have special dietary needs, please bring your own lunch. Feel free to walk about the property and write some haiku.
1:00 to 2:00 | Haiku Workshop
Bring a haiku that you wrote today or bring previously written work to discuss with the group and seek suggestions for improvement. Bring printed copies of any previously-written poem that you want to discuss, if you can.
After 2:00 | Socializing, Canoeing, Kayaking
Following the scheduled events, there will be more opportunities for socializing, canoeing, and kayaking. Everything provided.
