The Touchstone Distinguished Books Award Committee Announces Its Shortlist for 2016

The Haiku Foundation is pleased to announce The Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards Shortlist for books of haiku and related forms published in 2016. The eighty books nominated for this year’s award represent a rich variety of English-speaking books from many nations and haiku traditions. It was with great effort that the panelists narrowed their choices to the 15 books on the list. On April 17, the Foundation will post the final awards for 2016.

We extend our congratulations to the following authors and publishers (books are arranged by alphabetical order by author):

Ludmila Balabanova. Dewdrops on the Weeds, Small Stations Press, 2016.

Amanda Bell. Undercurrents, Alba Publishing, 2106.

Brad Bennett. a drop of pond, Red Moon Press, 2016.

Ernest Berry. Haiku Green Tea & Sushi, Prisma Print, 2016.

Edited by Robert Epstein and Miriam Wald. Every Chicken, Cow, Fish and Frog: Animal Rights Haiku, Middle Island Press, 2016.

Sylvia Forges-Ryan. What Light There Is, with haiga by Ion Codrescu, Red Moon Press, 2016.

Jay Friedenberg. elemental, Red Moon Press, 2016.

Deborah P Kolodji. highways of sleeping towns, Shabda Press, 2106.

Bill Kenney. the earth pushes back, Red Moon Press, 2016.

Edited by Jeannie Martin & Peter Newton, Photographs by Joyce Clement. Evening Stillness, Haiku Circle 10th Year Anthology, Haiku Circle Press, 2016.

John Martone. retreat, samuddo / ocean 2016.

Sean O’Connor. Let Silence Speak, Alba Publishing, 2016.

Wally Swist. The Windbreak Pine: New and Uncollected Haiku, 1985 – 2015. Edited by John Barlow, Snapshot Press, 2016.

Sheila Windsor. Totem, Yet To Be Named Free Press, 2016.

Ruth Yarrow. Lit from Within: Haiku and Paintings, Red Moon Press, 2016.

I wish to thank the entire Distinguished Books Award Committee: Randy Brooks, Tom Clausen, Rebecca Lilly, Michael McClintock and Julie Warther,

Bruce Feingold
Chair, Touchstone Awards Committee
The Haiku Foundation