Name: The Secrets of Haiku – A Workshop with Plymouth Laureate of Words R.C. Thomas
Start: 2026-02-28T12:30:00+00:00
End: 2026-02-28T15:30:00+00:00
Location: Plymouth Libraries

$The Secrets of Haiku \u2013 A Workshop with Plymouth Laureate of Words R.C. Thomas$

Learn the ancient tradition of reading and writing haiku with new Plymouth Laureate of Words and experienced haiku writer R.C. Thomas, and contribute to a ‘haiku walk’ installation which will see poems written by the group installed at different locations throughout the city.
Have you ever wondered how haiku really work? Whether there’s something beyond those simple three lines that you’re missing?
In this hands-on workshop, Plymouth Laureate of Words, R.C. Thomas, will let you in on the secrets of how to read and write haiku. You’ll learn the origins of this ancient Japanese form, before dismantling the 5-7-5 model through accessible writing exercises and examples from classic and contemporary poets, to create your own meditative slices of minimalism.
This workshop will lead to a temporary ‘haiku walk’ installation around the city to be launched at Sound: Plymouth Poetry Festival, 10th April – 19th April 2026. Your attendance to the workshop will guarantee the installation of your poem, and you will be supported with editorial feedback. Please ensure you’re able to attend the workshop before registering, and please let us know as soon as possible if you can’t attend. As this workshop is part of the process of creating the haiku walk, it’s especially important that those who book tickets are in attendance on the day.
Literature Works are pleased to be collaborating on this event with Plymouth Central Library, who are hosting the event for us in the Scott Room.
R.C. Thomas is a published poet with haiku appearing in top haikai publications, including Frogpond, Modern Haiku and Presence. He was selected as one of the ‘Top Creative Haiku Authors’ in Europe in 2021 and 2022, received joint first place in the Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest 2022, first place in the Third Maya Lyubenova Haiku Contest, and had a ‘Selected Haiku Submission’ in the 13th Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest. His haiku 'silver lining' was also shortlisted for The Haiku Foundation's Touchstone Award for Individual Poems:
silver lining—
what the storm takes
from the magpie’s fable
His book of wildlife haiku and illustrations, Faunistics, was published in 2024, and his collaborative book of tan-renga with Hifsa Ashraf, Infinity Strings, was published in 2025. Copies of both books will be available to purchase on the day of the workshop at a reduced price.