Poet Profile

Jay Friedenberg

Jay Friedenberg is a member of the Haiku Society of America, and in 2018, he joined the staff of the Society's journal Frogpond as Associate Editor. He is a regular attendee and presenter at the New York Metro Haiku Society of America organization. He is also a member of the Spring Street Haiku Group that meets monthly in New York City. His work appears in numerous U.S. and international journals including Frogpond, Modern Haiku, The Heron’s Nest, Acorn, Mayfly, Tinywords, Chrysanthemum, and World Haiku Review. His Twitter feed as HaikuMan can be found at: https://twitter.com/JayFriedenberg.

Awards and Other Honors: Some of his awards and other honors include: work selected for big data: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2014 (Red Moon Press, 2015); Second Place, Haiku Society of America's Gerald Brady Award for Senryu (2015); Second Place, Kusamakura International Haiku Contest (2015); Finalist, Iris Magazine International Haiku Contest (2015); Special Mention, World Haiku Contest sponsored by Lyrical Passion E-zine (2016); Special Mention, British Haiku Society Awards (2016); Highly Commended, Iris Magazine International Haiku Contest (2016); Shortlist, Haiku Foundation Touchstone Book Awards for Elements (2016); guest speaker, Seabeck Haiku Getaway (2016); featured poet, Cornell University Mann Library (November, 2016); work selected for dust devils: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2016 (Red Moon Press, 2017); Entry chosen, Golden Triangle Haiku Contest (2017); First place and $250 Grand Prize, World Haiku Contest by Lyrical Passion Ezine (2017); Third Place, Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Award (2017); Winning entrant, 9th Annual Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum Haiku Contest (2017); featured poet, My Haiku Pond Facebook group (September-October, 2017); work selected for old song: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2017 (Red Moon Press, 2018); Entry chosen, Golden Triangle Haiku Contest (2018); Honorable Mention, Irish International Haiku Contest (2018). Four haiku selected for publication on the Per Diem web page of The Haiku Foundation and The Haiku Foundation App.

Books Published: One Rock out of Place (Alba Publishing, United Kingdom, 2013); Elemental (Red Moon Press, 2016).

gibbous moon
becoming
who I want to be

supernova
we are all made
of stardust

a shovelful of dirt
in the grave -
November rain

dreams of far-off lands
distant smoke
from a chimney

the stories told
by each generation
sedimentary rock

the shifting contours
of a starling cloud 
unsettled dusk

Credits: All selections from Elemental, Jay Friedenberg (Red Moon Press, 2016).