Announcement from The Haiku Foundation:

“In 2022, as part of its mission to expand possibilities for English-language haiku, The Haiku Foundation added The Touchstone Award for Individual Haibun to the two other awards in its Touchstone Award Series: the Touchstone Award for Individual Poems and the Touchstone Distinguished Books Award. Collections of or including haibun have always been eligible for a Distinguished Book Award; this new Award allows for the recognition of individual pieces.”

“All awards seek to reward excellence and innovation each calendar year. Results are determined through a year-long nomination and selection process and are released the following year on April 17, International Haiku Poetry Day. Award recipients are selected by independent panels comprised of authorities in the field.”

(For details about the selection process and the panelists, see: Touchstone Award for Individual Haibun.)

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As stated in the Touchstone guidelines, journal editors may nominate up to 24 haibun, depending on how many they published overall for the year. And the number an editor may nominate from each issue is based on the total number of haibun published in the issue.

A total of 77 haibun appeared across the five issues (Numbers 16-20) of MacQueen’s Quinterly this year, and I’m happily nominating 17 of them as listed below.

The first list is alphabetized by author’s last name, and the second is arranged by Issue. There are no reprints included, since haibun that were first published elsewhere are not eligible. Also not eligible, haibun written by this year’s Touchstone Panelists: Marietta McGregor, Renée Owen, and Keith Polette.

(Note: The Awards Committee will also consider nominations from individual poets. For details, see Entry Form for Individuals’ Touchstone Award Nominations.)

With much gratitude to the 17 authors listed below for publishing with MacQ, I’m so pleased to post my nominations here for the Touchstone Awards for Individual Haibun. Results will be announced next Spring. Best of luck to all the nominees!

Update, 2 May 2024:

Results were announced in three stages in mid-April 2024. Three haibun nominated by MacQ were both long- and short-listed:

1. “A Thousand Thens” by Claire Everett
   
2. “Loaves and Fishes” by Lew Watts
   
3. “What’s Underneath” by Rich Youmans

A Thousand Thens and What’s Underneath were among a total of four haibun which received 2023 Touchstone Awards. Congratulations to all the poets!

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Nominations Listed in Order of Author’s Last Name:

1. Clear the Decks by Peggy Hale Bilbro
   
   
2. The Ashes of Ukraine by Rose Mary Boehm
   
   
3. Year of the Farrier by Lynn Edge
   
   
4. A Thousand Thens by Claire Everett
   
   
5. Graham Greene’s Footsteps by Keith Evetts
   
   
6. Blue, the Moving Valley of His Wake by Jonathan Humphrey
   
   
7. Anniversary by Maureen Kingston
   
   
8. Sensory Deprivation Tank by Kat Lehmann
   
   
9. (±)-2-Methyl-1,2,3,4,10,14b-hexahydropyrazino[2,1-a]pyrido[2,3-c][2]benzazepine by Mark Meyer
   
   
10. Off Time by Stella Pierides
    
    
11. Ache, with pollen and kink by Elisabeth Preston-Hsu
    
    
12. The Waves by Kala Ramesh
    
    
13. River Music by Charmaine Smith
    
    
14. Magicians by Stu Watson
    
    
15. Loaves and Fishes by Lew Watts
    
    
16. The Story of Fire by Scott Wiggerman
    
    
17. What’s Underneath by Rich Youmans
    

Nominations Listed by Issue:

1. MacQ-16 (1 January 2023):
   
   “Clear the Decks” by Peggy Hale Bilbro
   
   “Off Time” by Stella Pierides
   
   “The Story of Fire” by Scott Wiggerman
   
   


2. MacQ-17 (29 January 2023):
   
   “The Waves” by Kala Ramesh
   
   “River Music” by Charmaine Smith
   
   


3. MacQ-18 (29 April 2023):
   
   “The Ashes of Ukraine” by Rose Mary Boehm
   
   
“Anniversary” by Maureen Kingston

“(±)-2-Methyl-1,2,3,4,10,14b-hexahydropyrazino[2,1-a]pyrido[2,3-c][2]benzazepine” by Mark Meyer

“Loaves and Fishes” by Lew Watts



4. MacQ-19 (15 August 2023):
   
   “A Thousand Thens” by Claire Everett
   
   “Magicians” by Stu Watson
   
   “What’s Underneath” by Rich Youmans
   
   


5. MacQ-20 (15 September 2023):
   
   “Year of the Farrier” by Lynn Edge
   
   “Graham Greene’s Footsteps” by Keith Evetts
   
   “Blue, the Moving Valley of His Wake” by Jonathan Humphrey
   
   “Sensory Deprivation Tank” by Kat Lehmann
   
   
“Ache, with pollen and kink” by Elisabeth Preston-Hsu

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Links to our nominations for previous years:

Touchstone Awards for Individual Haibun, 2022