Upcoming Events in New York and New Jersey

Saturday, February 12, 2005, 10 am – 4 pm, Zen Center of New York City, 500 State Street in Brooklyn, NY

Spring Breeze:
Haiku and Related Poems
A Workshop with Penny and Bill

"Spring breeze" is a season word in the haiku tradition. We like it for implying the freshness of a new beginning.

In this hands-on workshop, we’ll all move quickly from examples to exploration to drafting our own haiku or related poems capturing our experiences of nature.

Some writings will emerge from our memories of special encounters in the past, others from our fantasies, and still others from what meets us this day. Or, we may use all of these on one piece of writing.

We’ll work together to craft our preliminary writings into finished or nearly finished poems, and discuss haiku’s use in Zen practice. We’ll also explore the haibun as prose poem and journal entry, and finish the day with collaborative linked poems.

See the Zen Center's calendar, at http://www.mro.org/firelotus/retreats/index.html#events (then scroll up one screen), for the workshop description. Go to the top of the same page for registration information. The cost of the workshop is $75. (Preregistration is required.)

Gala Reading & Signing

Penny and Bill Kick Off a Barnes & Noble Bookfair to Benefit the Summit Playhouse

Thursday, Feb 17th, 7:00 p.m.

A Reading, Discussion & Signing with Penny Harter and William J. Higginson starts this 5-day book event, with a portion of the proceeds from book sales going to the Summit Playhouse Association. Penny will read from her books Stages and Views, Turtle Blessing, and Buried in the Sky. Bill will share passages from The Haiku Handbook and The Haiku Seasons. And both will read work-in-progress.

Barnes & Noble
240 Route 22 West
Springfield, NJ

To Support This:	Come to This:
The Summit Playhouse Association. 10 New England Ave., Summit.	Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Springfield. Playhouse Bookfair dates Feb 17-21, 2005

Then, Go to the Show: "Inspecting Carol"
The Summit Playhouse, Feb 25, 26, Mar 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12

During the bookfair—Feb 17-21—a substantial percentage of all sales at the Springfield Barnes & Noble store accompanied by Summit Playhouse vouchers will be donated to the Summit Playhouse Association. (Some limitations apply. Benefit sales require vouchers, which may be obtained from the Association, at the Summit Public Library or at the Summit branch of the Union Center National Bank. The vouchers are good only at the Springfield store. Call the Playhouse at 908-273-2192 and press 5 for more information about the Bookfair.)

Click on the Playhouse photo on the left for the Summit Playhouse Association web site, and more information on "Inspecting Carol." Click on the Barnes & Noble photo on the right for information on the Springfield Store, including directions from your location. (Photos by W. J. Higginson.)

Sunday, May 1, 2005, 2-3 p.m.
Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Haiku Reading
at the Alfred T. White Memorial

Come enjoy the famous cherry-blossom display at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, and hear Penny, Bill, and other haiku poets from the New York metropolitan area read their works, emceed by Tony Pupello of the Spring Street Haiku Group and the Haiku Society of America.

Click on the photo at left to go to the BBG's web site, for maps, directions, and descriptions of the many events involved in this year's Cherry Blossom Festival, one of the greatest in the U.S.A.