The Haiku Foundation is pleased to announce The Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards Shortlist for books of haiku and related forms published in 2018. The sixty-seven books nominated for this year’s award represent a rich variety of English-speaking books from many nations and haiku traditions. Each panel member reads a variety of books in the first round and nominates three books; the agglomeration of which forms the Shortlist. In the next round panel members will read each book on the Shortlist and recommend which books will receive the highest level of recognition.

It was with great difficulty that the panelists narrowed their choices to the 15 books on this list. I think I speak for the panel in saying that the shortlist could have included many additional titles. I wish to thank the Distinguished Books Award Committee: Randy Brooks, Michael McClintock, Patricia Machmiller, Julie Warther. and Don Wentworth.

On International Haiku Poetry Day, April 17, 2019, the Foundation will post the final Touchstone Awards for 2018.

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

The Touchstone Distinguished Books Award 2018 Shortlist

• Carter, Steven. Broken. (Uxbridge, UK: Alba Publishing, 2018)
• Fraticelli, Marco. A Thousand Years. (Carleton Place, ON: catkin press, 2018)
• Gaa-Moeller, Ben. wishbones. JS Graustein, calligraphy. (Meredith, NH: Folded Word, 2018)
• Kacian, Jim & the Red Moon Editorial Staff. old song: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2017. (Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2018)
• Hasegawa, Kai. Okinawa. Translations by David Burleigh and Tanaka Kimiyo. (Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2018)
• Kenney, Bill. senior admission. (Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2018)
• Larsson, Marcus. A Piece of the Berlin Wall. (Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2018)
• Luckring, Eve. The Tender Between. (Princeton, NJ: Ornithopter Press, 2018)
• Martone, John. My Afterlife. (Charleston, IL: Tufo, 2018)
• Rudychev, Natalia L. Simple Gifts (Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2018)
• Richardson, Kim. Night Ferry. (Uxbridge, UK: Alba Publishing, 2018)
• Rotella, Alexis (Curator/Editor). Unsealing Our Secrets. (Arnold, MD: Jade Mountain Press, 2018)
• Vukelic-Rozic, Djurdja. Nepokoseno nebo 2 / An Unmown Sky 2: An Anthology of Croatian Haiku Poetry 2008–2018. (Ivanic-grad, Croatia: Haiku Association “Three Rivers,” 2018)
• West, Harriot. Shades of Absence. (Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2018)
• Woerdehoff, Valorie Broadhurst and Connie R Meester. Tsugigami: Gathering the Pieces. (Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2018)

Bruce H. Feingold
Chair, Touchstone Awards Committee
The Haiku Foundation