Report on the Fringe Myrtles Meeting March, 2026

The Fringe Myrtles Haiku Group gathered for our first meeting of 2026 on 22 March at the beautiful Athenaeum Library in Collins Street, Melbourne. In attendance were Rodney Williams, Robyn Cairns, Maurice McNamara, Anna Fern, Helen Williams, Thomas Landgraf, Alice Wanderer, Di Cousens, Laura De Bernardi, Rob Scott and Louise Hopewell.

The session was facilitated by Louise and focused on haiku habits, with participants asked to reflect on their own haiku go-tos, as well as opportunities to take their writing in new directions. Each participant was asked to bring two examples of their own work, one representing a ‘typical’ haiku and one which was a little different from what they usually write. These haiku informed a lively discussion about our individual haiku habits. While some attendees didn’t think they had a haiku style, others identified that they tend to fall back on particular techniques. Louise, for instance, identified that she generally writes three-line haiku (with short-long-short lines) based on direct observation and that she relies heavily on puns and word play.

The group discussed opportunities to broaden our individual haiku writing by writing one- or two-line haiku, experimenting with line length, using all the senses, writing on political themes, starting in different ways, experimenting with the order of phrase and fragment, using word plays, repeating words, writing about people not nature, writing haiku without juxtaposition and writing ‘unfinished’ haiku. There was also a lively discussion about writing process and the impact that process has on form, for instance writing from a written or visual prompt rather than direct observation.
We then spent some time writing haiku, endeavouring to challenge our usual styles and experiment with some of the different techniques discussed. That was followed by the opportunity to share our work and provide feedback.

Here’s a sample of some of the haiku shared or written on the day:

burnout rubber on the road
in circles
his only sleeves tattooed

– Rodney Williams

 

the eclipse commences up there the curve of earth we stand on

– Helen Williams

 

writing at the library silent voices

– Thomas Landgraf

 

a sense of the unfinished paper daisies

– Louise Hopewell

 

blue to yellow to green sprouts

– Laura De Bernardi

 

two crows
head towards
the commotion

– Helen Williams

hot air rippling words blaze black

– Laura De Bernardi

 

sirens outside the library
stranger at the window

– Thomas Landgraf

 

teachers’ strike
the government
never learns

– Louise Hopewell

 

blue haze haunts mind mess

– Laura De Bernardi

 

Report written by Louise Hopewell