2024 Haiku Society of America Merit Books Awards

Haiku Society of America

Merit Books Awards for 2024

Laurie D. Morrissey and Elliot Nicely, judges

Judges' comments will be published when Frogpond publishes them.

First Place

Beverly Acuff Momoi. How the Wind Sighs. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2023

Second Place

Kristen Lindquist. Island. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2023

Third Place

James Roderick Burns. Crows at Dusk. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2023

Honorable Mentions (not ranked but in alphabetical order by author)

Annie Bachini and Helen Buckingham. Two Haiku Poets. North Shields, England: Iron Press, 2023

Carolyn Hall. Unmended Fences. Ormskirk, England: Snapshot Press, 2023

Jeff Hoagland. Scent of Juniper. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2023

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HAIKU ANTHOLOGY AWARDS:

Best

Stanford M. Forrester and Johnette Downing, Editors. Bird Whistle: A Contemporary Anthology of Bird Haiku, Senryu, & Short Poems. Windsor, CT: Bottle Rockets Press, 2023

Honorable Mentions

Christine Lamb Stern and Jeannie Rueter, Editors. Luminaries: Celebrating the Dojin of Yuki Teikei Haiku Society. San Jose, CA: Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, 2023

Jim Kacian & The Red Moon Editorial Staff. Skipping Stones: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2022. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2023

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HAIBUN BOOK AWARDS:

Best

Lew Watts. Eira. Ormskirk, England: Snapshot Press, 2023

Honorable Mentions

Reka Nyitrai and Alan Peat. Barking at the Coming Rain. Uxbridge, England: Alba Publishing, 2023

Sean O’Connor. A Patch of Earth. Uxbridge, England: Alba Publishing, 2023

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PROSE BOOK AWARDs:

Best

Roberta Beary, Lew Watts, and Rich Youmans. Haibun: A Writer's Guide. England: Ad Hoc Fiction, 2023

Honorable Mention

James Shea and Grant Caldwell, Editors, The Routledge Global Haiku Reader, London & New York: Routledge, 2023

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BOOK DESIGN & AESTHETICS - SPECIAL COMMENDATION:

Lisa Gerlits and Antoinette Cheung. Deepening Leaves: 2022 Seabeck Haiku Getaway Anthology. Bellevue, WA: Haiku Northwest Press, 2023

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LINKED VERSE - SPECIAL COMMENDATION:

Christine L. Villa, Editor. How the Wind Moves: An Anthology of Collaborative Spilt Sequences. Sacramento, CA: Velvet Dusk Publishing, 2023

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TRANSLATIONS BOOK - SPECIAL COMMENDATION:

Shelley Baker-Gard, Michael Freiling, and Satsuki Takikawa. They Never Asked: Senryu Poetry from the WWII Portland Assembly Center. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press, 2023

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The purpose of the Haiku Society of America's Merit Book Awards is to recognize the best haiku and related books published in a given year in the English language. Every year sees a fresh crop of fine individual collections, anthologies, translations, critical studies and innovative forms.

In the past, the HSA Merit Book awards were partially supported by a memorial gift. Leroy Kanterman, cofounder of the Haiku Society of America, made a gift to support the first place award in memory of his wife Mildred Kanterman. See the archives of Merit Book Awards.

The Merit Book Awards competition is open to the public. Books must have been published in the previous year and must clearly contain a printed previous year copyright. A member, author, or publisher may submit or nominate more than one title. At least 50 percent of the book must be haiku, senryu, or haibun, or prose about these subjects (books mostly of tanka, for example, are not eligible). HSA will also consider collections that have only appeared in an e-book/digital book format. Two print copies of the digital book may be sent by the publisher. Books published by HSA officers are eligible for this award. Books published by the national HSA organization, however, are not eligible.

See the contest rules for entering the next Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards competition.