Midwest Haiku Traveling Rock Garden
A unique rock garden is on display in the foyer of the Dover Public Library throughout the month of April. Matthew Markworth, a lifelong resident of the Midwest and an active member of Ohaio-ku (a haiku group in Ohio) will present a program about his passion for the rock garden on Thursday, April 30 at 6:30 PM in the community room of the library, located at 525 N. Walnut St. Markworth will speak about the process of placing a haiku poem, the poet’s name and publication date on the smooth surface of each rock.
The Midwest Haiku Traveling Rock Garden is a literary exhibit that celebrates haiku poetry written in the English language. The rocks in the exhibit are suitable for indoor settings and do not have a permanent home. The rock garden can travel to events with the curator Matthew Markworth or can be on loan to museums, libraries, and other venues. The rock garden has been on display at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Coshocton, Ohio, the Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods in Riverwoods, Illinois, and Mead Public Library in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Matthew Markworth, founder and curator of the Midwest Haiku Traveling Rock Garden, was born in Missouri but now resides in Miamisburg, Ohio, where he creates pieces for the rock garden. Markworth is an American ecommerce entrepreneur, former senior investment specialist with a major brokerage firm, and poet. His works appear in anthologies including The Ohio Haiku Anthology (2020); Lee Gurga and Scott Metz’s annual Haiku compendia for 2020–2023; A New Resonance 12 (2021); and the Red Moon Anthology (2019, 2020, 2022, 2023). Markworth has achieved the rare honor of winning First Place in the Robert Spiess Memorial Awards (2019), the Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards (2019), and the Harold G. Henderson Contest (2024). A haiku of his was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, another won a Touchstone Award for Individual Poems (2023), a third was shortlisted for a Touchstone (2020), and he has received two “Favorite Haiku of Issue” awards from Modern Haiku.
This program will be held on Thursday, April 30 at 6:30 PM at Dover Public Library, located at 525 N. Walnut Street. To register, visit www.doverlibrary.org/events or call the library at 330-343-6123.