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 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.

French Quarter Festival Performance!

Dance on over to the French Quarter Festival on Sunday, April 14, 2024 from 1:30-2:30, and join me for a Crescent City concert for children at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park at the 419 Decatur St location in the beautiful courtyard with plenty of dancing room for the whole family. Free!

WTUL Radio Kids Show 91.5FM

Tune to the WTUL Kids Show on WTUL 91.5 FM on Saturday, April 13 beginning at 9:00 AM where I will be an on-air guest singing some of my songs, reading some of my books and chatting with awesome DJ LizzE for the WTUL Marathon!

https://www.wtulneworleans.com/stream-wtul

Sneak Peek at the Cover for the New Book Petit Pierre and His Wild Adventure

Petit Pierre is back at it again, and so are Heather Stanley and I in this sequel book to Petit Pierre and the Floating Marsh. Here is the sneak peek at the book cover for Petit Pierre and His Wild Adventure. In this adventure, Petit Pierre must learn the vital life skill for pelicans—plunge diving. Will he make it? Find out this fall 2024 when the book is released by Pelican Publishing.