Haiku Festival

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Honoring the 10th anniversary of the Haiku Festival, which teaches poetry and promotes literacy for Chicago schoolchildren, this project will raise funds for a celebratory event featuring guest poet Sonia Sanchez.

About This Project

I am a composer, author and poet. Inspired by my mentor, Ms. Gwendolyn Brooks, in 2004 I founded Haiku Festival. Haiku Festival offers workshops and readings for poets of all ages, and juried events for poets ages 8 to 14. We are now ten years old and we have served more than 11,000 people. Haiku Festival is a true labor of love for me. It began with the recognition that poetry teaches kids how to speak, read, and express themselves confidently and in ways that help them understand and explore the world around them. My dream is to introduce the world to new poetic voices and to encourage young people to become lifelong communicators and readers. 

Our mission statement is, "Haiku Festival celebrates children through poetry, while promoting literacy."

Free Haiku Festival workshops have been offered to public, private, parochial and home-schooled students, including children at McCutcheon School in Uptown, Langston Hughes in Roseland, Nash in Lawndale, Beasley in Bronzeville, and McPherson in Ravenswood, to name just a few. We have held workshops for poets ages 8-98 at Harold Washington, Woodson, Sulzer, Hall, Chicago Bee and Dominican University libraries; Chicago Tribune's Printers Row Lit Fest; and Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn. Our poetry readings have been held at Books Ink, Sandmeyer, Borders, 57th Street, and Powell's bookstores; and the Jazz Showcase.

In our annual juried events we award cash prizes to 8-14 year olds. Haiku Festival's Awards Program in April--National Poetry Month--has featured guest poets: Angela Jackson, Valerie Wallace, John O'Connor, Guillermo Delgado, and youth artists: Azania Hand Drum Ensemble, Betty Shabazz Charter School Dancers; violinists and pianists from Hyde Park Suzuki Institute; and Tsukasa Taiko Youth Ensemble.

This year we will be celebrating our 10th Anniversary and we are raising funds to ensure it's success!

Your generous support helps defray our expenses and helps us meet three goals:

Celebrate our 10th anniversary with guest poet Professor Sonia Sanchez on Saturday, April 26, 2014: poetry reading, reception, book signing, guest transportation, and lodging

Publish a retrospective book of 10 years of winning poetry

Print 10th Anniversary Haiku Festival tote bags

To ensure that Haiku Festival endures long after the lives of our founders, please give generously. Thank you for your support. See you at the Festival!  www.HaikuFest.com

Thank yous

Contribute any amount or choose from the levels below.

• $25
  Name listed on our website ($0.00 is tax deductible.)
• $50
  Website listing, Kidstuff CD--original music by Regina Harris Baiocchi ($0.00 is tax deductible.)
• $100
  Web listing, CD, 10th Anniversary Haiku Festival tote bag ($0.00 is tax deductible.)
• $250
  Web listing, CD, tote bag,VIP seating at 10th Annual Haiku Festival Awards Program Saturday, 26 April 2014, Harold Washington Library Auditorium ($0.00 is tax deductible.)
• $500
  Web listing; CD; tote bag; VIP seating; Poetry volume; Private reception with Special Guest Poet, Professor Sonia Sanchez ($0.00 is tax deductible.)

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Regina Harris Baiocchi

Regina Harris Baiocchi writes notes and words to fill vessels called music, poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Regina is driven by her curiosity to create art that is informed by research, speaks to diverse audiences, and moves people to participate …

View Regina Harris Baiocchi's profile

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• Thank you to the following for contributing to 3Arts with the recommendation that we support this project.

  • Mark Becker

  • Greg Baiocchi

  • l shoulterkarall

  • Sydney Sidwell

  • Regina Harris Baiocchi

  • Guillermo Delgado

  • Linda Tate

  • Monica O'Connell

  • Sharon Klopner-Masters

  • Dee Alexander

  • Justin Schmidt

  • Elizabeth Wilson

  • Henry McGee Jr.

  • Valerie Wallace

  • Michael Watson

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  • Janet Sullivan

  • Anonymous Supporter

  • Kathleen Egnor

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  • Anonymous Supporter

  • Don Baiocchi

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  • EILEEN BAIOCCHI

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  • Mark Baiocchi

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  • Laura Parsons

  • colleen mcallister

  • Jose Correa

  • chad furbee

  • Richard Nunley, Jr.

  • Andrew L. Ross

  • Josephine Gandolfi

  • Janice Misurell-Mitchell

  • Laura Parsons

  • donna raclaw

  • Amanda Brown

  • M Allen

  • Regina Harris Baiocchi

  • RODNEY GIPSON

  • Gregory Baiocchi

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