2025 Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems — Short List
The Short List of exceptional poems published in 2025
2025 Touchstone Distinguished Books Award — Short List
The shortlist of the best books of haiku and related work published in 2025
2025 Touchstone Awards for Individual Haibun – Short List
THF announces the shortlist for 2025 Toucstone Awards for Individual Haibun
Book of the Week – the anabasis of man by Michael O’Brien
Michael O’Brien’s the anabasis of man presents parallel haiku that juxtapose theology, contemporary culture, and existential inquiry through sharp and often unsettling pairings.
The Touchstone Distinguished Books Award — Long List 2025
The Haiku Foundation for the first time announces a Long List for its Distinguished Books Award category.
2025 Touchstone Awards for Individual Haibun – Long List
2026 touchstone haibun awards longest
2025 Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems — Long List
The Long List of exceptional poems published in 2025
Book of the Week – waking on the bridge by Martin Shea
In waking on the bridge, Martin Shea’s haiku move through trains, shorelines, and city spaces, capturing transitional moments with clarity and restraint.
The 2025 Touchstone Awards: The Whats, Whens, Whys, and Hows…and Soon, the Whos!
The Long List of the best poems published in 2021
Book of the Week – & Y Not by Stanley Pelter
Stanley Pelter’s & Y Not combines prose, haiku, and visual elements to examine childhood, politics, identity, and the evolving possibilities of haibun.
Book of the Week – small events by w.f. owen
In small events, w.f. owen blends narrative prose and haiku to explore childhood, war, illness, and loss through a series of reflective and restrained haibun.
Book of the Week – The Red Moon Anthology 1996
Edited by Jim Kacian, The Red Moon Anthology 1996 gathers selected haiku, senryu, haibun, and linked forms, offering a snapshot of English-language haiku at a pivotal moment.
Book of the Week – Basho’s Haiku (Volume 1) by Toshiharu Oseko
Toshiharu Oseko’s Basho’s Haiku: Literal Translations presents Bashō’s poems with Japanese text, literal English, and detailed notes, offering readers a clear view of the language, context, and aesthetics behind the work.
Book of the Week – Stone Frog: American Haibun & Haiga Volume 2 (eds. Jim Kacian & Bruce Ross)
Edited by Jim Kacian and Bruce Ross, Stone Frog: American Haibun & Haiga, Volume 2 collects contemporary haibun and haiga that blend narrative prose, haiku, and image, highlighting the form’s range and evolving practice.
Book of the Week – Mount Gassan’s Slope by Ann Newell (translated by Kenichi Sato)
A bilingual collection by Ann Newell with translations by Kenichi Sato, Mount Gassan’s Slope combines haiku, senryu, and sumi-e, drawing on themes of nature, travel, and inner attention.
Book of the Week – Favorite Haiku: Brief Essays 1975-1998, Volume 3 by H. F. Noyes
H. F. Noyes’s Favorite Haiku: Brief Essays 1975–1998, Volume 3 pairs selected haiku with brief critical commentary, offering a reflective look at how haiku communicates meaning and experience.
Book of the Week – How to Haiku by Jim Kacian
How to Haiku is Jim Kacian’s guide to understanding haiku as a poetic practice, exploring how moments of experience are shaped into literature.
Book of the Week – Commonplace Book by John Martone
A visual haiga sequence by John Martone, Commonplace Book pairs sky images and text to explore impermanence and attentive perception.