The second Haiku Down Under conference will take place via Zoom on 16-18 August 2024. The conference provides an opportunity for writers from New Zealand and Australia to discuss haiku and related subjects through presentations, workshops, poetry readings, writing sessions and engagement with poets from other countries.

Haiku Down Under 2024 is being organised by Leanne Mumford, Carole Harrison, Sue Courtney and Carol Reynolds. The theme for this year’s conference is A Sensory Journey. You can find further information about the conference at the Haiku Down Under website.

Conference participation is free. All you need to do is register your name with the organisers so they can send you the Zoom link. Registrations, which close on 11 August 2024, can be made here. Registrations are welcome from anywhere in the world.

Various workshops and presentations will discuss ways in which senses such as sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste can enhance our experience of haiku. Extending this sensory theme, there will also be sessions discussing how haiku can engage with music and the visual arts. The full 2024 conference programme is available here.

On the second day of the conference (17 August) there will be a panel discussion titled Making Connections. Panel members Celia Hope, Graham Bates, Subhashini Jayatilake and myself will lead a discussion about formal and informal ways in which haiku poets connect. The discussion is likely to consider activities such as writing groups, social media, websites and conferences, among other things.

While we wait for Haiku Down Under 2024 to arrive, here are some haiku from the panel members for your enjoyment. Celia and Graham are from New Zealand and are both on the editorial team for the journal, Kokako. Subhashini is from Australia and is International Coordinator for the Haiku Association of Sri Lanka.

kakadu lagoon
a thousand sounds
become one

Gregory Piko

family home
fragrance of
mum’s coconut gravy

Subhashini Jayatilake

shrieks of laughter . . .
sliding downhill
on nīkau fronds

Celia Hope

Timaru midnight . . .
insomniac blackbird
forgets its song

Graham Bates

Keep up to date with arrangements for Haiku Down Under 2024 at their website and don’t forget to register by 11 August 2024 if you wish to join the event.