Porad, Francine

Francine Porad lived, wrote and painted in the Seattle area. She served as President of the Haiku Society of America from 1993-1995 and as editor of Brussels Sprout, an international journal of haiku and art, for eight years. Many of the 22 collections of Porad's published haiku are accompanied by her art. Her haiku may be found in publications in the U.S., Canada, England, Croatia, Australia, Romania and Japan and her work is in many haiku anthologies. She was a frequent guest lecturer and juried many national and international haiku/senryu/tanka competitions. Her awards include: the Itoen Tea Contest in Japan, 1998 and 1996; the Japan Poetry Society's International Tanka Competition, 1993; and the National League of American Pen Women's Oregon State Haiku Contest, 1995.

Porad's most recent publication is "on crimson wings", an anthology honoring the Seattle Japanese Consulate Centennial in August of 2001 which she co-edited; it is also available online as an e-book/screensaver. She was also involved in a long-time collaboration with Marlene Mountain of Tennessee and Kris Kondo of Japan which is titled "Other rens". Porad collaborated extensively over the years, having written renga with many well-known haiku poets. A sampling of Porad's haiku can be found online at: http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~loudon/francine.htm

Additional personal data: Born Sept. 3, 1929 to Gertrude and Morris Harvitz in Seattle. Married Bernard L. Porad on June 12, 1949. Six children: Laurie, Bruce, Ken, Constance, Marci, Jeffrey. BFA: University of Washington, 1976. In addition to her haiku work, active in the art community, exhibiting and lecturing. Widely traveled. Porad passed away in September 2006.