Petit Pierre is at it again, and we are thrilled to share this book trailer to this upcoming sequel!
Ukulele Workshop for Teens and Adults at the Nantucket Atheneum!
Nantucket Atheneum Here We Come!
Haiku Society of America 2024 Merit Book Award Winner!
I couldn’t be happier to hear the news that my long-time friend Stanford Forrester and I received a Merit Book Award for our bird anthology Bird Whistle! I regard Stanford as a modern haiku master, and to share an award with him is incredible! Thank you HSA for this amazing honor! Here the information below:
Haiku Society of America’s 2024 Merit Book Awards for Best Haiku Anthology: Stanford M. Forrester and Johnette Downing. Bird Whistle: A Contemporary Anthology of Bird Haiku, Senryu, & Short Poems. Windsor, CT: bottle rockets press.
Copies may be purchased from bottlerocketspress.com
First Place in the 2024 Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award!
Results from the 2024 Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award have been announced. Congratulations to the following poets:
First Place
Mercury retrograde —
the old clock
tock-tick
Johnette Downing
Second Place
y axis to x axis all day snow
Brad Bennett
Third Place
in remission
f
i r e
f l
i e
s
Frank Hooven
Honorable Mention (ranked)
sundial
a ladybug rests
at noon
William Cullen Jr.
the silence
after the read receipt …
young stars
Aidan Castle
perhaps one day I'll be a real boy …
yellow oak
Joshua St. Claire
middle age
the invisible wings
of a hummingbird
Sasha A. Palmer
his face
on the ultrasound …
throb of fireflies
Aidan Castle
Results including the judge’s commentary will appear in the summer issue of Modern Haiku (to be mailed soon) and online at our website shortly.
Thank you to this year’s judge, Sandra Simpson, and to everyone who participated!
Summer Reading Program Concerts at a library near you!
Summer Concerts at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park Visitor's Center
Haiku Reading and Workshop
I will be reading my haiku from my Singing Waters book, and giving a haiku workshop for National Poetry Month at the Old Metairie Library at 2350 Metairie Road this Saturday, April 13, 2024 from 2-4. If you ever wanted to write or learn more about the haiku basics, this free workshop is for you! Grown-ups only.