Award-winning haiku poet, Paul Chambers, founded the Wales Haiku Journal and edited the early issues – the first edition arriving in Spring 2018. Paul’s work established the basis for a successful journal: creating the online presence, spreading the word and building a readership.

Joe Woodhouse has been editor of the journal since November 2021 and, since December 2023, he has been joined by C.X. Turner (Luci) as co-editor. The journal, which presents haiku, haiga and haibun, is published online each quarter. You can find the Wales Haiku Journal here.

Along the way, the presentation has evolved from a black and white format to a colour layout that can be viewed easily on a phone or other device. Since Autumn 2024, each issue is introduced with an Editor’s Note.

The Wales Haiku Journal publishes contemporary haiku. Poems that embody the nature tradition of haiku are keenly sought, with each issue named for the corresponding season. While the journal invites haiku on any theme, here are two haiku from the Autumn 2025 issue that do very much evoke the spirit of the harvest season:

slanted sunlight
a trickle of amber
from the cider press

Brad Bennett

fruiting fig
the musky sweetness
of a fumbled kiss

Jo McInerney

While the journal itself concentrates on haiku, haiga and haibun, the website also presents occasional essays and articles relating to haiku. One recent example is The Haiku Emporium which can be found here.

The Emporium is an innovative and engaging offering. It contains words and expressions from various cultures that stimulate a haiku poet’s awareness of the natural world. Provide fresh ways of seeing and describing what is before us. As the introduction to the Emporium says:

Think of the Emporium as a labyrinth of shelves in a curious old shop: bottles, shells, seeds, fragments of stone glinting in the light. Items whose use is not explained but, perhaps, sensed. Each entry offers just enough to open a door; the rest is left for the poet to explore.

The Haiku Emporium is a refreshingly creative resource that I’m sure haiku poets will find helpful.

Below are two more haiku from the Autumn 2025 issue of the journal:

soft rain
the quiet drop of acorns
onto moss

Anne Fox

morning dew
a wallaby
nibbles my lawn

Gregory Piko

The Wales Haiku Journal is a good read that presents quality haiku and related poetry. You might like to browse the archived issues of the journal here and keep up to date with the latest news here.