April is poetry month, and the Waterford Public Library will host several age-specific Zoom workshops on Haiku and Japanese Micro Poetry throughout the month. Much more than just counting lines and syllables, each haiku presents a season and a single moment in nature. Poet Jennifer Y. Montgomery will guide participants through the basics of Haiku writing and its history. All attendees will be asked to think about their favorite season and write and illustrate it in their own poems.

These Haiku Zoom workshops will be on:

Wednesday, April 20 from 4:15 to 5 p.m.

Haiku for Kids: An Introduction to Poetry in Writing (ages 5 – 11)

Monday, April 25 from 6:30 to 7:30

Teen Haiku Poetry Writing (ages 12 – 18)

Wednesday, April 27 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Haiku and Japanese Micro Poetry for Adults

Jennifer Y. Montgomery is a poet, writer, visual artist, storyteller, attorney and pie baker who lives in Connecticut. She grew up in rural North Dakota and her poems have appeared in Poetry Quarterly, Red Weather, Haiku Journal, Failed Haiku and several others. Jennifer Montgomery may be reached at runswithfoxes@gmail.com.

To register for any of these Haiku Zoom workshops go to waterfordpubliclibrary.org, After registering for the event, you will receive a confirmation email containing a Zoom link to participate in in the program.

All events are free and open to the public.

Also at the library, during the months of April and May, the Waterford Public Library will host a series of six creative workshops with the organization PeaceLove. The goal of these expressive art workshops is to create peace of mind, foster mental health wellness and promote resilience in a non-judgmental safe space.

The first workshop scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. for Tuesday, April 26 is titled "Creative Calisthenics." In this session, participants will be encouraged to get out of their comfort zones through an exciting and unexpected exercise with paint.

All six workshops are limited to 15 people, and held in-person with registration required.

PeaceLove founders, cousins Matt Kaplan and Jeff Sparr, wanted to change the way they saw people approaching mental health. In fact, Jeff began painting at the suggestion of a friend. Despite having no formal training, Jeff found painting relieved the symptoms of his OCD and he wanted to share the positive benefits good creativity could be for your mental health. For more information visit peacelove.org. The workshop will be facilitated by local Peacemind Creators, Dea Vernott, Laura Cotto and Grace Nelson trained to deliver ongoing workshops consisting of visual arts, storytelling, sound, and movement with the purpose of providing new resources and skills to achieve mental wellness. To register go to waterfordpubliclibrary.org, After registering for the event, you will receive a confirmation email.