Writing Haiku for Healing and Hope
With Peter W. Yaremko
November 5, 2026, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
$65 (includes lunch)
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About this offering
Popular Mercy by the Sea presenter of day-long and weekend retreats in healing poetry, author and poet Peter W. Yaremko returns to lead a half-day program in writing haiku. Not just any haiku, but haiku that help heal emotional trauma and provide fertile ground for enduring hope.
In a supportive, no-critique, contemplative and scenic space, “Writing Haiku for Healing and Hope” is intended to teach you not how to write better, but how you might feel better.
A form of Japanese poetry stretching back more than a millennium, haiku is commonly known for its brevity – only three lines and some seventeen syllables that are uncommonly rich in meaning.
In a three-hour morning session followed by lunch and conversation, Peter will guide participants in learning the ins and outs of this ancient poetic tradition. There will be several periods of writing and discussion in a no-pressure, no-critique environment. The focus will be on haiku that are relevant to every kind of emotional trauma: grief, rupture of a relationship, illness, loss of hope, etc
Think of “Haiku for Healing and Hope” as an oasis in your day – one that promises to be uplifting, contemplative, experiential and fun.
About the presenter
Peter W. Yaremko began his career as a journalist in New York City and went on to head communications for business units of IBM and Siemens. He founded and operated for two decades a corporate communications agency partnering primarily with hi-tech Silicon Valley firms. He has had a novel published along with four non-fiction books, writes poetry that appears in numerous literary magazines, and posts a weekly blog. He has taught college writing classes and now volunteers with the American Cancer Society in teaching patients and caregivers to write healing poetry to help ease the emotional trauma of the disease. He also guides healing poetry retreats and workshops in person and via Zoom and brings comforting poetry to hospice patients and their families.