Leanne Mumford

Upcoming Haiku Workshop for Youth in Sydney

A haiku workshop for youth and book fair will be held in western Sydney on Sunday 29th June 2025, 12.30 – 3.00 pm, at Dennis Johnson Library, Stanhope Gardens, NSW. Registration fee will be $5. A work book and pens will be provided to the attendees. The workshop is targeting high school students and anyone who is interested in learning haiku. This is hosted and co-facilitated by Sydney based haiku poet and former International Coordinator of Sri Lankan Haiku Society, Subhashini Jayatilake, together with Leanne Mumford, President of AHS.

Vale Cynthia Rowe

Not having any personal connection with Cynthia Rowe, I’m very grateful to Vanessa Proctor, Cynthia’s successor as AHS President in 2016, for providing the following tribute to her.

The comments section at the foot of this page will remain open until 20th May for you to add your personal reflections and tributes to an influential Australian haiku poet who shared her passion for haiku with so many around the world.
Leanne Mumford

Gadigal Ginko in Sydney

Next Ginko: Saturday 31st May, 10am

The next Gadigal Ginko in Sydney will take place on Saturday 31st May 2025, at Sydney Park, St Peters, from 10am. Contemporary haiku poets of all levels of experience are invited to join the gathering. To register and receive details of the exact meeting point and arrangements, please visit the Gadigal Ginko web page.

Leanne Mumford
Convenor, Gadigal Ginko

AHS 2025 Autumn Equinox Kukai Results

On International Haiku Poetry Day I’m pleased to announce the five winners of our 2025 Autumn Equinox Kukai with the theme of ‘Autumn Flowers’. Thanks to all the participants and congratulations to the winners!

In Memoriam – Cynthia Rowe

It is my sad duty to inform the Australian and worldwide haiku community of the death of Cynthia Rowe on 6th April at the age of 86. Cynthia succeeded Beverley George to the position of President of the Australian Haiku Society in 2011, and served until Vanessa Proctor took over in 2016. Cynthia was also the editor of the Haiku Xpressions section of FreeXpresSion Magazine for many years. AHS will be publishing a full tribute in recognition of Cynthia’s many contributions to the haiku community. For the time being, with the family’s permission, we would like to let everyone know about the two memorial services that have been organised to honour and celebrate Cynthia’s life.
– In Sydney at St Mark’s Anglican Church, Darling Point on 23rd April 2025 at 12.00pm
– In Melbourne at St John’s Anglican Church, Toorak on 30th April 2025 at 11.00am
There will be a celebration of life held after each service.
Leanne Mumford
President, Australian Haiku Society

AHS 2025 Autumn Equinox Kukai – update

The deadline for participants to vote in the AHS 2025 Autumn Equinox Kukai is 11.59pm Australian Central Standard Time on Wednesday 9th April. So far votes have been received from more than 2/3 of the 78 eligible participants.

Voting information was sent to eligible participants on 2nd April ACDT. If you submitted an eligible poem and haven’t received an email about voting, please check your Spam/Junk folder. To be fair to all participants, if you submitted an eligible poem, you are expected to vote. If you fail to vote, your poem will be excluded from the final results.

The winning five poems, together with their authors’ names, will be published on the AHS website on 17th April 2025, International Haiku Poetry Day.

All participants who submit votes will be sent the set of ranked results, but point tallies will only be provided for the winning five poems.

Leanne Mumford
Kukai Convenor

White Pebbles Ginko Autumn 2025

On Saturday March 15, together with esteemed founder and convener, Beverley George, White Pebbles members, Marilyn Humbert, Kent Robinson, Colleen Keating, Michael Thorley and Gwen Bitti gathered at the Edogawa Commemorative Gardens in East Gosford for their autumn meeting. Apologies were received from Pip Griffin, Maire Glacken and Samantha Sirimanne Hyde. Following coffee and a chat at the café, we agreed to continue with Kent Robinson’s suggested theme from summer — Waterfall. Members then headed out on their ginko.

Woodend Haiku Festival – April 2025

International Haiku Day is celebrated worldwide on April 17 each year. Local poet, Myron Lysenko, Victoria’s Regional Representative for the Australian Haiku Society, has organised haiku activities in Woodend throughout April, including a haiku contest, haiku readings, haiku workshops, pop-up haiku poets, and a haiku picnic. Lysenko is the convenor of the monthly spoken word event Chamber Poets, and is an avid promoter, practitioner and teacher of haiku.