Annual Haiku Gathering at Wild Graces
a day …
of creativity & communion among haiku poets, artists & musicians amidst the old apple trees, herb gardens and frog ponds of Wild Graces. A stone’s throw from the Pawtuckaway Mountains and the Great Brook Trail, one of our favorite beaver and wild mushroom hiking trails.
Masters & newbies are welcome to participate in our workshops and share their haibun, tanka, senyru & haiku during our open mic. Bring your books, broadsides, brushwork, haiga & cds to swap, sell or share. Brunch & refreshments provided.
Registration opens April 1st.
13th Annual Haiku Gathering
Saturday August 22, 2026
BEN COSGROVE
Janice Doppler
JEFF HOAGLAND
Ben Cosgrove returns to Wild Graces! The traveling composer & pianist from Northern New England explores themes of landscape, place & environment. Described by the Boston Globe as “a sonic plein-air painter…[using] his piano as a paintbrush,” Ben has collaborated with groups ranging from rock bands to research scientists, contributed music to several radio and film projects (including the recent Ken Burns documentary The American Buffalo) and held residencies and fellowships with institutions including NASA, Acadia National Park, White Mountain National Forest, Harvard University, Middlebury College, the New England National Scenic Trail, The Schmidt Ocean Institute and the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology.
For more about Ben and his music, please visit bencosgrove.com
Perspectives on Zoka
Janice Doppler began writing haiku and haibun after retiring from her career as a high school teacher and district-wide administrator. Her work has been widely published. She placed second in the Porad Haiku Contests in 2021 and 2022. Her haiku "cicadas" was second runner-up for the Museum of Haiku Literature Award for Blithe Spirit 34:3.
Discovering the overlap between Basho's advice to "follow the creative, follow zoka," and her interest Chinese philosophy opened a new path within her haiku practice... a path that resulted in two articles on zoka for Frogpond and her book One Thread: Zoka in Contemporary Haiku which was selected as Best Anthology in the Haiku Society of America's Merit Book Awards for 2025. Her haibun collection, Currents, is a companion piece to One Thread.
Janice’s workshop, Perspectives on Zoka, will introduce what zoka is and examine the perspectives of Basho as well as several contemporary poets. Small groups will analyze recently published haiku to see the ways zoka is being communicated today. Participants will leave the workshop with awareness of Basho's advice to "follow zoka" and ideas for doing it.
https://janicedoppler.my.canva.site/A Basketful of Pollen
Haiku poet Jeff Hoagland is a lifelong naturalist and an environmental educator in central New Jersery. He maintains an intimate relationship with nature, characterized by an inborn sense of wonder and an innate kinship with plant, animal and other life forms. This and his deep kithship with the piedmont habitats he calls home, are expressed in his haiku, found in journals, anthologies, his first book scent of juniper and on large stones within his community. His practice of haiku helps him stay connected to the “real” world.
the gold of sunshine a basketful of pollenThrough A Basketful of Pollen, Jeff will share his fascination for pollination through a presentation that is simultaneously an ecology lesson, a haiku reading, a workshop and a hands-on ginko. Together we will discover the role of pollen baskets and belly flops, the fine line between trickery and the art of seduction, and the importance of protecting our pollinator community. We will meet a variety of pollinators, face to very tiny face, in the gardens of Wild Graces. You will never look at flowers or pollinators the same.