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

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/