Founded in 1968, it is the largest society dedicated to haiku and related forms of poetry outside Japan,[1] and holds meetings, lectures, workshops, readings, and contests, throughout the United States.
[3] The society also publishes a monthly email newsletter with news on regional, national, and international haiku events.
[2] Bringing together poets study, discuss, and write haiku,[4] the organization's stated goals were to: Early members included Nicholas A. Virgilio, Elizabeth Searle Lamb, L.A. Davidson, Virginia Brady Young, Alan Pizzarelli, and Anita Virgil.
[5] Annual readings and lectures featured translators such as Cid Corman, Donald Keene, and Hiroaki Sato, as well as speakers from Japan including scholar Kenkichi Yamamoto, and haiku poet Sumio Mori.
[6] By 1989, the society had a few hundred members located throughout North America, Europe, and Japan, and was publishing a quarterly magazine, with no paid staff.