My work as a poet and artist has continued to blossom in these past several years, especially my work as a haiku and senryu poet. I've worked hard to submit to journals and other publications to build my resume as a poet. As of mid-2022, I have published 121 haiku/senryu in over 25 journals consistently. In 2022, I was elected as the South Region Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America. As a Regional Coordinator, it is my job to connect with the members in Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas, and keep them abreast of haiku happenings and work to involve them in haiku groups locally and beyond. I also submit a monthly article to the Haiku Society of America’s newsletter keeping them informed of happenings in our area. I have been the leader of a local monthly haiku critique group, Northwest Louisiana Haiku Association, for several years in person and via email since the pandemic. I am also the leader of another monthly email haiku critique group (LaMis) that encompasses haiku poets in South Louisiana and Mississippi. This group began in 2022. In November 2019, I was asked to do a presentation at the South Region Haiku Conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where I spoke about managing haiku submissions. In April of 2022, I was given the opportunity to do an hour-long solo reading of both my haiku and free verse poetry for Texas A&M University Texarkana Campus via zoom as part of National Poetry Month. This was open to the public and to the English students of the campus. Awards 2021 (32 haiku published in 13 journals throughout the year) • Honorable Mention - Haiku Society of America Gerald Brady Senryu Contest • Honorable Mention - Haiku Society of America Harold Henderson Haiku Contest • Sakura Award – Vancouver Cherry Blossom Contest • Two senryu published in Prune Juice Journal nominated for a Touchstone Haiku Award • Chosen as a winner for a haiku calendar page for the month of August – Snapshot Press Calendar Competition 2022 (To date, 21 haiku published in 16 journals) • Honorable Mention Gene Murtha Senryu Contest • Honorable Mention Golden Triangle Haiku Contest (This contest is held every year in the Golden Triangle District around our nation’s capital in Washington D.C. The honorable mention haiku were placed on trees throughout the district during the Spring of 2022) Associations • Member of The Shreveport Writer’s Club • Director of The Northwest Louisiana Haiku Critique Group • Director of The LaMis Haiku Critique Group • Member of local Wednesday Writer’s Group • Member of The Haiku Society of America • South Region Coordinator Haiku Society of America • Member Northwest Louisiana Culturalyst Directory culturalyst.com/junerosedowis Current Projects • Continuing to submit to haiku/senryu publications • Submitting both a book of haiku poetry and a book of free verse poetry to potential publishers. • Working with fellow writer, M.L. Dumars for a possible grant project in 2023. Artist Statement Writing: By its very nature, haiku poetry brings the world into focus, pauses, if you will. In the midst of our very busy, chaotic lives, it gives meaning to every single detail we encounter. In order to see surroundings in such a way, always observing, one must force themselves to not only slow down, but to appreciate what they find when they do. This is what speaks to my heart about haiku. It is a way of experiencing the world, recording it in the space of a breath, and being made whole in the process. My hope is that as you read my work, your heartbeat slows, your breath deepens, and you connect with the moments I have shared. And that you go forth viewing the world with new eyes. My free verse poetry seeks to speak for the marginalized, speak for the beauty of the world, and speak for the need to slow down. My writing genres have included everything from essay to journalism, but my first love is poetry. Art: I thrive on using what I have in unusual ways to create something new. I am mostly drawn to mixed media, collage and acrylics.