Global
Haiku Festival
April
14, 2000
Decatur Public Library
A Welcome
Reception Sponsored by
Sister Cities Program, Haiku Society of America,
and Millikin University
 Slightly
more than 100 people attended the opening reception of the
Global Haiku Festival at the Decatur Public Library. The
opening reception was sponsored by the Sister Cities of
Decatur, Illinois, Seevetal, Germany and Tokorozawa, Japan.
They sponsored a haiku contest for citizens of these three
cities with the award-winning haiku presented at the opening
reception.
There
were greetings from major sponsors of the festival including
the Haiku Society of America, Sister Cities, Millikin University,
and an announcement from Mr. Susumu Takiguchi inviting people
to attend the World Haiku Festival 2000 in England in August,
2000.
The
general public was treated to a "Haiku Around the World"
poetry reading. Leading haiku writers and editors read samples
of favorite contemporary haiku from around the world. These
readers represented the Haiku Society of America, The British
Haiku Society, The German Haiku Society, Haiku Canada, Modern
Haiku magazine and the Haiku International Association:
- German
Haiku--Professor Horst Ludwig,
- Haiku
Canada--Professor George Swede (in the photograph above),
- British
Haiku Society--President David Cobb,
- Japanese
Haiku (the translation experience)--Emiko Miyashita and
Lee Gurga, and
- Haiku
Society of America--President John Stevenson.
John Stevenson, President
of the Haiku Society of America |
Ban'ya Natsuishi, Chief of External Liason of
the Gendai Haiku Kyôkai (Modern Haiku Association)
of Japan, presents a gift to Lee Gurga, co-chair
of the Global Haiku Festival.
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