WHC World-wide Ginko & Charnwood Arts Ginko and Haiku Contest on 23-24 September 2001

Charnwood Arts was delighted to host a visit from Susumu Takiguchi - Chair of the World Haiku Club and Debi Bender, Editor in Chief of the World Haiku Rweview in September 2001. Below Debi gives a brief account of their visit :

"The last of the three major events of World Haiku Autumn Festival, WHC members from different parts of the world participated in this World-Wide Ginko (haiku walk) by sending their poems to Paul Conneally, the organiser. Simultaneously, in Loughborough, north of Leicester, England, members of WHC and their families enjoyed a country walk in the nearby wood at Beacon Hill. The leaves are just beginning to turn red and yellow, and mushrooms and wild berries added to the autumnal splendour. On the following day, Susumu and myself were invited to select haiku poems written by local and international poets for Charnwood Arts miniWords 2001 haiku competition. Kevin Ryan of Charnwood Arts was the organiser of the competition, which attracted a great number of entries. Paul Conneally interviewed Susumu Takiguchi and myself to ask our views on some central issues of haiku such as haiku spirit and its form and prosody, which will be broadcast on Charnwood Arts' online radio. The two-day event proved to be a happy collaboration between a local arts organisation and WHC and at the same time between different local poets across the world.