Welcome to the August Members’ News, our fourth issue for 2026, which touches on the Japanese concept of Ma, discusses recent and upcoming activities, and reports on our successful mentorship trial.

Read more: Members’ News August 2026

President’s message

Earlier this year, in my February message, I noted the collaborative history of the haiku form, which evolved from haikai no renga. I think we are all familiar with the idea that contemporary haiku is also a collaborative creation – a shared activity between writer and reader. Haiku poets avoid telling readers how to feel or what to think. Instead, we use various means to engage readers’ experiences and imaginations. These include intriguingly juxtaposed images, sense-based observations and a dash of specific detail. The ideal haiku is open to interpretation, but not too vague or general. It holds space in which readers may participate.

Consider Japanese sumi-e 墨絵 ink brush paintings. Sumi-e artists typically sketch their subjects with a few simple brush strokes. They leave out a lot of detail from the subject and the background. White space is a deliberate element of the picture, leaving a clear focal point.

Both sumi-e and karesansui enact the Japanese concept of Ma 間 (ま). The kanji consists of two elements – a 門 gate and the sun 日. It is about light entering through an opening. But this kanji 間 can also be read in other ways, including aida (あいだ), which has multiple meanings relating to space (gap, interval, distance, space between), time period (during, while, duration, a pause), relationships (between, among) and more. How to read 間 depends on the context.

As implied by the choice of Ma as the theme of the 2021 Haiku North America Conference, this idea is readily applicable to haiku. Hasegawa Kai, in the video interview Cutting Through Time and Space¹, describes Ma 間 as “an interval of betweeness”. In haiku what is left out is often as important as what is in the poem. When seemingly unrelated images are juxtaposed, it can feel as if something vital has been left out, spurring readers to find or make a connection between the two parts. Juxtaposition in haiku invites readers to imagine what happens between the moments or things that are juxtaposed.

Paying attention to the spatial arrangement of haiku words on the page is another way to bring Ma into your poems. Cor van den Heuvel’s famous tundra² haiku is possibly the most extreme example of this. How words are arranged on the page can also impart a time-related aspect. Where do you want readers to pause? And for how long?

I encourage you to explore the powerful technique of Ma for your own haiku composition and in how you read the haiku of others. Here are a few references that delve more deeply into the concept and how it relates to haiku.
* Ma vs. Negative Space by ‘Dans le Gris’ (Youtube video)
* Ma: the Japanese art of meaningful space and pause by Emiko Takahashi (website post)
* The Beauty of the In-Between: “Ma” and its Influence on Modern Minimalism by Ayana Waki (website post)
* Letting in White Space by Sandra Simpson (website post)
* ¹ Cutting Through Time and Space interview with Hasegawa Kai from Gendai Haiku Online Archive
* Finding the Sky by Michael Dylan Welch (Graceguts website essay)
* ² The Territory of Haiku by Michael Dylan Welch (Graceguts website essay)
* New to Haiku: Negative Space — Some Thoughts on Ma by Julie Bloss Kelsey (The Haiku Foundation website article)

Leanne Mumford

There’s lots happening

Since last Executive Committee meeting in May, AHS published the International Haiku Poetry Day Haiku String booklet and conducted the Winter Solstice Haiga contest. The results of the Winter Solstice Haiga contest were published on 21 July. The committee met on 13th July. Among the items discussed was the very successful trial mentoring programme. We are developing plans to offer mentorships in 2027 (see Rob Scott’s report below).

The committee also discussed upcoming activities. On the horizon we have: the next of our State/regional Haiku readings planned with West Australian poets (14 August); a Cherry Blossom Festival haiku contest closing on 17 August; a Spring Equinox Haiku String (~ 21 September); and an AFL Kukai coordinated by Rob Scott (also in late September).

A Warm Beginning: Our Mentorship Trial in Review (and plan for 2027)

Earlier this year, the Australian Haiku Society completed its first trial mentorship programme — and we are delighted to report that it was a real success.

Three of our members — Maureen Sexton, Leanne Mumford, and Rob Scott — generously volunteered their time as mentors. Four poets from across Australia took part as mentees, joining from the central west of New South Wales, the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, Melbourne, and Perth. Each mentee received six sessions with their mentor over the course of the programme, at no cost.

The results speak for themselves. Every mentee reported that the programme met or exceeded their expectations, and all four said they would recommend it to other poets at a similar stage. By the end of the programme, all four were reading haiku more attentively and revising their older work more deeply. Three had written more haiku and changed how they think about the form. One mentee was accepted for publication for the first time during the programme — a wonderful milestone.

The mentees put it well themselves: 

I got beyond 5-7-5! I knew that I needed to do this but I just didn’t know what replaced it. I made this transition with guidance and support which has really helped my confidence.

This programme and Rob met me where I was but encouraged me to look deeper, be more considered.

Thank you for including me in the pilot. It was the most delightful process.

Our mentors found the experience just as rewarding. All three described it as positive, and noted personal gains — renewed confidence in their own practice, and the pleasure of watching a newer poet begin to find their voice.

What comes next?

The AHS committee is now considering how to continue and grow the programme. Based on the trial, we are thinking about offering mentorships at two levels — one for poets who already have some haiku experience, and one for those who are newer to the form. We expect to call for mentees early in 2027, with a view to the programme commencing in April.

In the meantime we would like to bring additional mentors on board. We intend to develop supporting materials for both mentors and mentees. Mentoring is a wonderful opportunity for experienced haiku poets to ‘pay it forward’. If you think you might have what it takes to be an AHS mentor, please get in touch via the Contact Secretary form.

Late Harvest – Mark Miller

Mark Miller has just published his latest book of haiku: Late Harvest, Walleah Press.

Late Harvest is available from Walleah Press.

AHS Member award winners

Congratulations to Wanda Amos (First Prize, and a Commended), Owen Bullock (Fifth Prize and a Highly Commended), Simon Hanson (Highly Commended) and Marietta McGregor (Commended) in the Haiku Section of the New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition 2026.

We want to hear from you

Please don’t forget to let us know about your haiku and related forms achievements. We want to hear when you’ve won an award, received a prize, won or placed in a contest. Please tell us if your work has been the subject of a feature in a journal or your haiku-related essay has been published. We’d love to know if you have released, or are planning to launch, a new book of your poems. Perhaps you’ve been invited to judge a prestigious contest or to discuss haiku on the radio. Please use the Contact Secretary form to let us know your good news.