Alison Kehler, co-creator of Haiku By Two, was quoted in an article posted on the BBC News web site.

The article, “EU president Herman Van Rompuy and his love of haiku,” was written by Stephen Mulvey and posted on Saturday, March 20, 2010.

In it, Mulvey interviews Herman Van Rompuy, who became president of the European Union in 2009, about his love of haiku.

Alison Kehler learned about Van Rompuy and his haiku blog back last fall. She blogged about the world leader and his haiku-ing ways on her web site, Haiku By Two, in a post titled Euro Union Prez and Haikuer Van Rompuy.

BBC writer Mulvey picked up on her post and pulled from it to complete his recent article. Kehler’s quote appears toward the end. It reads …

“OMG! I love this guy!” writes Alison Kehler at haikubytwo.com.

“I think I have a new criterion for future politicians… the wisdom of haiku… and correct me if that’s not a great quality for leadership!”

by Kelly

I’m a radio star!

Well, perhaps not quite. But I did get my name mentioned on air along with two of my haiku!

Many months ago, I submitted two of my travel-themed haiku to Rick Steves (travel guru extraordinaire) for inclusion in one of his future radio programs. Well, the future finally arrived. My haiku were read on Saturday’s show, which was December 12, 2009.

You can listen to the entire broadcast online. The first half of the program is about how Christmas is celebrated in Wales. The second half of the broadcast is all about sheep. Yes. Sheep.

The travel haiku don’t come in until the very end–specifically at minute marker 50:25. Once the program uploads, you can easily skip ahead to the best part, which is–of course–the haiku part!

My haiku are the second and third to be read.

Here is the link to the radio program.

And if you want to try your own hand at travel haiku to see if you too can get yours read on the air, this page will tell you how to do it: Travel Haiku with Rick Steves.

THat

Haiku By Two is featured in the August 2009 issue of the Minnesota Women’s Press.

The web site’s co-creator, Kelly Westhoff, wrote the piece for the publication’s monthly column, Book Shelf, in which a reader shares her fascination with a particular subject and a list of five books written by women on the topic.

The article explains the origin of the web site, Haiku By Two, offers a collection of haiku titles and shares a couple haiku.

Read the article by following this link:
How to Haiku

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Haiku By Two Celebrates National Poetry Month

Minneapolis, Minn., April 1, 2009 — April is National Poetry Month and Haiku By Two has planned a slew of activities in celebration.

Every Monday morning throughout the month of April, Haiku By Two will post an open submission topic and invite readers to share their own haiku on the subject.

Early risers can check the web site (www.HaikuByTwo.com) on Monday, April 6, 13, 20 and 27 at 6 a.m. EST to learn the haiku topic for the week. Submissions will be accepted throughout the month and posted as reader comments.

Plus, three guest haiku’ers will share their work on Haiku By Two in April.

Stephanie Watson, author of the middle-grade novel, Elvis and Olive, will kick off the month as a guest haiku’er with five petite poems dedicated to her dog, Nino.

The second guest haiku’er, Jen, will share five haiku in which she grapples with the concept of what it means to accept someone as a Facebook friend.

The third guest haiku’er, Sarah R. Bloom, is a professional photographer who will share a series of photos with accompanying haiku.

In addition, Haiku By Two will post two new reviews of haiku books throughout the month, as well as interviews with their authors.

Be sure to check out Haiku By Two throughout the month of April in order to celebrate National Poetry Month!

National Poetry Month is sponsored by the Academy of American Poets. Learn more at poets.org.

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Haiku By Two Counts its February Visitors

Minneapolis, Minn., March 1, 2009 — Now that February 2009 has come to a close, Haiku By Two is able to look back, tally its hits and celebrate its growth.

The site counted 729 unique visitors in February 2009, a jump of roughly 300 readers as compared to the previous month.

In the month of February, Haiku By Two logged the most number of hits on the 16th. On that day, 141 visitors were logged. The least number of visits occurred February 4; on that day, only 62 visits were logged.

Haiku By Two continued to post book reviews and haiku interviews throughout the month of February.

Alison interviewed Kari Anne Roy, author of the book, Haiku Mama and keeper of a blog called Haiku of the Day.

Next, Alison and Kelly jointed reviewed hand-made, personalized, haiku tea cups made by MyTeaCups.com.

After reviewing the cups, an interview with Alexis Siemons, the  cups’ creator, was posted.

February also brought the first guest haiku’er to Haiku By Two. Children’s author, Lynne Jonell, began a one-week stint as a guest writer.

Throughout the month, Haiku By Two continued to reach out and attract more readers. Readers can now follow the site on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

The site is also now a member of the Bust Girl Wide Web and Blogs by Women.

Lastly, the web site found itself the subject of an article in a local newspaper and of a St. Louis blogger.

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Plymouth Sun Sailor Publishes Story About Haiku By Two

Minneapolis, Minn. February 25, 2009 — The Plymouth Sun Sailor, a local newspaper in the Twin Cities metro area, published an interview with Haiku By Two co-creator, Kelly Westhoff.

The article explains the origins of the web site and tells how it is bringing Westhoff and Alison Kehler, her haiku partner, closer together in friendship.

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Chat Just Because Blogs Haiku By Two

Minneapolis, Minn., February 16, 2009 — Caroline Bertani, a jewlery maker in St. Louis, recently posted a blog entry about Haiku By Two.

Her jewelery business, Just Because Jewelery, encourages women to do something special for themselves “just because.”

Her blog entries are an outgrowth of that mission, and Bertani posts whimsical missives along with frequent reader giveaways.

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Haiku By Two Joins Twitter and Facebook

Minneapolis, Minn., February 11, 2009 — In an ever expanding quest to attract more visitors, Haiku By Two has joined Twitter and Facebook.

Readers are encouraged to “follow” the site on Twitter or “become a fan” on Facebook.

To find the site on Twitter, go to: www.twitter.com/HaikuByTwo

To find the site on Facebook, click this link. Or, once logged into a personal Facebook account, search for “Haiku By Two.”

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Haiku By Two Counts its January Visitors

Minneapolis, Minn., February 2, 2009 — Now that January 2009 has come to a close, Haiku By Two is able to look back at its first month of life, tally its hits and celebrate its success.

The site counted 423 unique visitors for January 2009.

Most of those visitors were repeat readers who came back to the site again and again.

Haiku By Two logged the most number of hits for the month on the last day of the month; on January 31, it tracked 116 visits. January 28 was runner up with 110 visits.

The least number of visits occurred on January 3, just three days after the launch. On that day, only 34 visits were logged.

In the month of January, Haiku By Two posted three book reviews and one author interview.

First, Alison and Kelly jointly reviewed a book called A Year of Mornings, by Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes. They credited this book as their inspiration for starting Haiku By Two.

Next, Kelly reviewed a book of haiku written from a dog’s point of view called Dog Ku. She also interviewed the book’s human author, Steve D. Marsh.

Lastly, Alison reviewed a book called Haiku Mama, a tiny tome filled with poems about motherhood.

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Announcing the Launch of Haiku By Two

Minneapolis, Minn., January 1, 2009 — The start of the new year marks the start of HaikuByTwo.com, a Web site that will post one haiku a day for the entire year.

Haiku By Two was created by Kelly Westhoff and Alison Kehler in an attempt to reestablish a friendship complicated by distance, career, marriage and motherhood.

Currently, Westhoff is an active freelance writer in Minnesota while Kehler, who lives in New York, is the busy mother of an energetic toddler.

The two women met and became friends, however, in 1997 when they were employed as English teachers at the same language school in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Both Westhoff and Kehler mark this experience abroad as a pivotal time in their lives. Because of this, they have always strived to maintain contact. In recent years, though, their friendship has waned.

The purpose of Haiku By Two, therefore, is to rekindle their friendship while practicing art, a pursuit which is important to each of the women.

Westhoff, who holds a degree in creative writing, finessed all the text on the site. Kehler, who earned a degree in fine arts, created the art for the site.

Every day for the entire calendar year of 2009, either Westhoff or Kehler will post a new haiku.

Haiku By Two will also post reviews of haiku-related products and interviews with haiku authors.

In addition, the site will host readers as guest haiku artists.

For more information, contact:
Kelly Westhoff; kelly at haikubytwo dot com.