The problem came to a head one day as I was driving through Tokyo. While waiting for the light to change, I saw the following public service announcement on the side of a bus: Omoiyari hitonikurumani konomachini (Sympathy / toward people, toward cars / toward this town). Seventeen syllables. Five-seven-five format. It must be a haiku, I thought. But when I reached the office and repeated the announcement to my Japanese coworkers, none of them thought it was a haiku. I knew they were thinking to themselves, What kind of a lunatic is she? One tried to break the news to me gently, It's not a haiku, it's an advertising jingle. Well, I knew it was an advertising jingle, but still, wasn't it an advertising jingle haiku?-From The Haiku Apprentice Abigail Friedman was an American diplomat in Tokyo, not a writer. A chance encounter leads her to a haiku group, where she discovers poetry that anyone can enjoy writing. Her teacher and fellow haiku group members instruct her in seasonal flora and fauna, and gradually she learns to describe the world in plain words, becoming one of the millions in Japan who lead a haiku life. This is the author's story of her literary and cultural voyage, and more: it is an invitation to readers to form their own neighborhood haiku groups and, like her, learn to see the world anew. "...A deft and seamless merging of genres: at once memoir, travel literature, and an unpretentious guide onto the terrain of Japanese poetry. It will appeal not just to poetry lovers, but to all readers who are curious about the world beyond their own borders." -- Foreword Magazine "Friedman is an appealing guide through an alternate Japan where modern people make poems about teacups and temples but also about skyscrapers and kidney surgery." -- East Bay Express "The book is not designed to make the reader a poet, but it does, perhaps, help us to pay more attention to our poetical eye." -- BiblioBuffet "The Haiku Apprentice gives the reader an original, thoughtful and personal glimpse of one expat's productive encounter with Japan." -- Metropolis "...Notable for its frankness and enthusiasm...Friedman has made a lively narrative out of the things she learned..." -- The Japan Times

"Close to the Wind" collects nearly a hundred haiku and senryu by attendees of the 2013 Haiku North America conference, held August 14 to 18, 2013 aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Edited by Michael Dylan Welch and William Hart, this wide-ranging anthology features many of the leading poets writing haiku in the English language, together with seaside-related illustrations by Naia. "Haiku is not a port in a storm." -Marlene Mountain

"Here, There, and Everywhere," edited by Michael Dylan Welch, collects 120 poems by 70 poets who have been active with the Redmond Association of Spokenword (RASP) in Redmond, Washington since this literary arts organization was founded in 1997 (its website is www.raspread.com). The book's poems are divided into three sections-here, there, and everywhere. This anthology celebrates a full range of poetry from this active region of thePacific Northwest. Editor Michael Dylan Welch has been curator for RASP readings since 2008. LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS: Kelli Russell Agodon, Elizabeth Atwood, Elizabeth Austen, Lana Hecthman Ayers, Peggy Barnett, Janee J. Baugher, Laura Lee Bennett, Katherine Grace Bond, Leslie Brown, Terry Busch, Dennis Caswell, Ana Christensen, Mary Eliza Crane, Pamela Denchfield, Tom Flynn, Erin Fristad, Jeannine Hall Gailey, William Scott Galasso, Maya Ganesan, Richard Gold, Cora Goss-Grubbs, Shane Guthrie, Elizabeth Carroll Hayden, Bill Hayes, Michael Heavener, Esther Altshul Helfgott, Janka Hobbs, David D. Horowitz, Winifred Jaeger, Christopher J. Jarmick, Aarthi John, Donald Kentop, Jared Leising, Marjorie Manwaring, Jack McCarthy, Rebecca Meredith, Denise Calvetti Michaels, Kevin Mooneyham, Paul E. Nelson, Dawn-Marie Oliver, Ken Osborne, James Parrott, Wendelle Peoples, dan raphael, Susan Rich, Stephen Roxborough, Raul Sanchez, Michael Schein, Monica Schley, Martha Silano, Annette Spaulding-Convy, H. R. Stahl, Heather Stark, ChiChi Stewart, Barbara Stoner, Adora Svitak, Ann Teplick, Linda Thompson, Vonnie Thompson, John Tripp, Marie Helen Turner, S. A. Upton, Qiaolan Wan, Michael Dylan Welch, David Lloyd Whited, Mark K. Whittington, Carolyne Wright, Bill Yake, Maged Zaher, Jason Zions.