Hello Reader, welcome to The Haiku Project!
The Haiku Project was founded in 2022 by Giorgia Di Pancrazio and Bradley Ford. It is a multi-platform alternative pathway to wellbeing, inviting its community to reconnect with nature by practicing haiku. With its Zen inspired aesthetic ideals, writing haiku helps people to focus on the ‘here and now’ – it teaches them to appreciate simplicity and to find contentment in solitude. From June until August 2022, we delivered haiku workshops at Alexandra Park (Manchester, UK) – an actively community-oriented green space – to a diverse audience (poets, actors, musicians; people receiving treatment for substance misuse; practicing psychotherapists).
The project quickly attracted the attention of people around the world. For this reason, we have been delivering online workshops regularly since September 2022, exploring the history of haiku and its Masters, haiku writing techniques, aspects of Japanese culture, and how Zen philosophy can be applied to everyday life. Our aim is to enhance the skills of our participants, increasing their sense of presence in the world. By introducing meditative techniques into their writing practice, they can confidently employ their finely tuned observational skills to express their experiences.
In December 2022, Giorgia started a collaboration with The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press (Spain) and since then, she has been hosting workshops organised by the press. Following our successful collaborations, in February 2023, Giorgia officially joined The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press team as a co-editor and co-curator of the forthcoming haiku anthology To Live Here. The anthology represents the voices of our multi-cultural community. Writers were invited to submit haiku that embrace the theme of ‘home’: our connection with nature and the urban environment, and how climate change is affecting us and our habitat. All proceedings will be donated to Salford Loaves and Fishes Ltd, a charity organisation supporting adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
The Haiku Project is the winner of the Create Student Award 2023 (awarded by the University of Salford, UK).
What we offer:
Monthly newsletter
Haiku Journal (every Monday)
Online workshops (TBH)
Coming soon:
In-person workshops
Private sessions
Editorial services
Now, it is time to introduce ourselves!
I am Giorgia, Founder and Editor of The Haiku Project. From ballet dancer, fashion model, and musician (I’ve tried them all), I am an Italian writer and Japanologist based in Manchester (UK). I am particularly interested in art history, languages (I speak Italian, Spanish, and I have some basic knowledge of Japanese and French), cultures, and religions. You can find my article “Can Semiotics still be considered relevant in the twenty-first century?” here, and my most recent article “The Haiku Project” here.
I am Bradley Ford, co-founder of The Haiku Project. I am a writer and editor based in Manchester (UK). Aside from haiku, I am specifically interested in Medical Humanities and spiritual literature. For my sins, I have been a Chelsea fan since I learned to walk! You can find some rare footage of me discussing the relevance of T. S. Elliot’s The Waste Land 100 years after its publication here.