Easter Haiku Workshop - Photos

On Thursday 7 April, the Japan Society hosted two family haiku workshops at Calthorpe Community Gardens in London. Participants were luckily spared from April showers, but braved the chilly breeze in between bursts of spring sunshine to write their seasonal haiku.

At the start of the workshop, acclaimed haiku poet Paul Conneally, or ‘Little Onion’ as he is also known, explained that haiku don’t need to stick to a rigid 5-7-5 syllable structure in English. Instead, he encouraged participants to focus on choosing a kigo or seasonal word to include before they set off in search of inspiration - pencils at the ready! 

The cherry blossoms, daffodils and fresh spring breeze offered plenty of ideas as families explored the gardens and jotted down short ‘fragments’ and longer ‘phrases’ - two parts which come together to make a haiku - with Paul on hand to offer guidance. Some groups worked together to create their poems, whilst others used the time for quiet reflection and a chance to compose on their own. 

At the end of each workshop, everyone gathered together in a big circle to read their poems aloud and both children and adults shared their work. A selection of the poems are displayed below. Of course after the serious business of writing, there was time to play in the gardens too! 

A Selection of Participant's Haiku