The 28th Haiku Society of America (HSA) South Region Conference will be held at the Garland County Library on Friday and Saturday, November 1-2. David Lanoue of Xavier University in New Orleans will hold a workshop on Renku poetry, Suzanne Underwood Rhodes, Poet Laureate of Arkansas, June Rose Dowis, former HSA South Region Coordinator, Kai Coggin, Hot Springs Poet Laureate, Dr. Jianqing Zheng, and other poets will attend.
The HSA was founded in 1968 at Columbia University in New York City. There were about 25 people interested in Japanese poetry including Shokan Tadashi Kondo, a frequent visitor to Hot Springs. Today there are over a thousand members around the world.
Howard Lee Kilby attended an international meeting in Chicago in October 1995. He volunteered to serve as the South Region Coordinator. He was appointed Acting SRC in July 1996. In March 1997, Kilby, Dr. Paul Tucker, Suzanne Tucker, June Simmons, Gary and Marilyn Waugh, and Malinda Herr-Chamblis gathered in Verna Hinegardner’s living room and founded the Arkansas Haiku Society. Dr. Tucker served as President until 2017. Kilby has served since 2017.
There is no charge to attend the conference and the public is invited. For more information email hkilby@hotmail.com or call 501-767-6096. Garland County Library is located at 1427 Malvern Avenue in Hot Springs.
