About Me

Hi, I'm Holli Rainwater.  I live in a small red house in the woods with Kevin, whom I met in 9th grade algebra class.  We are the parents of three grown sons, one daughter-in-law, one daughter-out-law, and the grandparents of two young girls, several dogs, and six cats.  These people have provided us with endless laughs, inspiration, and insight into what it means to be human.

I am a member of the Ohio Poetry Association and the Haiku Society of America.  My haiku have appeared in various OPA publications, including A Rustling and Waking Within and Everything Stops and Listens.  My poems have been recognized with several awards including a Sakura Award in the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Haiku Invitational and Honorable Mention in the Peggy Willis Lyles Award.  My work has also appeared in a number of haiku anthologies and international haiku journals, including  Frogpond, One Hundred Gourds, Presence, Haibun Today, Heron's Nest, Kingfisher, Mayfly, Wild Plum, and Modern Haiku.  

I am the co-author, along with Robin Mullet, of The Curve of Her Arm, a collaboration of free verse and haiku on the art and practice of qigong.  (Night Ballet Press, 2019)

I worked at a public library for 25 years where I got paid to explore all kinds of interesting topics and share my love of good books with my community. Now I work at the Johnson Humrickhouse Museum where I get to care for and ponder artifacts and the lives of those who made and used them.

I also love to dance. Whenever I hear beautiful words I want to dance them, hence the name of this blog, "Dances With Words." For years I have choreographed poems, psalms, prose, and lyrics using dance, sign language, pantomime, qigong, and tai chi. I have performed these dances in worship services, conferences, poetry readings, libraries, museums, and in my kitchen. I have also taught these dances to others in play shops and in my Chi Classes—my own fusion of qigong, tai chi, and poetry. I have a goal of teaching my dances to my granddaughters, who also love to dance. 

I am a Wisdom Tracker and a Dangerous Old Woman in training. 

Contact me at hhrainwater@gmail.com