Haiku Society of America, Merit Book Awards, 2025

Thrilled to have received 3rd Place in the Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards for 2025 (for books published in 2024) for Random Blue Sparks (Snapshot Press, 2024)

My thanks to the judges! Commentary to follow:

 

Snapshot Press, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2025

Award Runner-up, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2025 (for September)

Publication - The Haiku Calendar 2026 (Snapshot Press, 2025) 

cattle roundup

a charred bean can

full of rain

1st Place (joint)

Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest, 2024

The Haiku Foundation: The Touchstone Award for Distinguished Books, 2024

I'm honoured that my haiku collection, Random Blue Sparks, was selected for the following honours. My thanks to the esteemed panel of judges, and to John Barlow of Snapshot Press!

April 3, 2025:

Thrilled to say that Random Blue Sparks was one of 76 books longlisted for the 2024 Haiku Foundation Touchstone Distinguished Books Award!

April 10, 2025:

Doubly thrilled to say that Random Blue Sparks was one of 18 books shortlisted for the 2024 Haiku Foundation Touchstone Distinguished Books Award!

Random Blue Sparks, Snapshot Press, December 2024

Random Blue Sparks - a haiku collection released by Snapshot Press on December 30, 2024

https://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/books/random_blue_sparks.htm

Winner of the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Awards

http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/contests/book_awards/results.htm

I'm beyond honoured to announce that my book-length haiku collection, Random Blue Sparks, winner of the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Award, was published by the press on December 30, 2024. Thank you to John Barlow for selecting and sequencing these poems, and to Chuck Brickley for his valuable insights. I'm also grateful to Chuck Brickley, Ron Moss, and Tom Clausen for their generous blurbs. Special thanks to my husband, Larry, who is my first reader and second pair of eyes.

Praise for Random Blue Sparks:

'Debbie Strange's first full-length collection of haiku offers a stunning display of sensory artistry inspired by the landscapes and ecosystems of Western Canada. Random Blue Sparks is a wonderfully vibrant gathering of moments to savour.'

—Chuck Brickley

Author, earthshine

'From finely tuned observations of the tiniest life forms to quiet reverence for open landscapes of earth and sky, this brilliant collection is a timely reminder of the relevance of nature haiku in today's climate.'

—Ron C. Moss

Author, The Bone Carver

'Illuminating the essence of experiences and things, Random Blue Sparks is a compelling love letter to the prairies, mountains and waters of the western provinces of Canada. These indelible haiku brim with poetic joie de vivre.'

—Tom Clausen

Author, Growing Late

Haiku

stormlight

a pronghorn outruns

the rain

meadowlarks

the grace notes that follow

me home

weaving light

into this day of mourning . . .

damselflies

submerged log

the descending sizes

of painted turtles

weathered oars

we fold our worries

into the river

(note: this collection contains sixteen award-winning haiku)

Snapshot Press, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2024

Award Runner-up, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2024 (for August)

Publication - The Haiku Calendar 2025 (Snapshot Press, 2024)

foreclosure

a barn spider ties up

loose ends of light

Presence, Number 75, March 2023

Short-listed for the Best-of-Issue Award

 

Snapshot Press, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2023

Award Runner-up, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2023 (for May)

Publication - The Haiku Calendar 2024 (Snapshot Press, 2023)

spring breeze

a porcupette's quills

begin to stiffen

Geppo, Volume XLVII.2, May 2022

The Haiku Foundation: The Touchstone Award for Distinguished Books, 2020

I'm honoured that my eBook, Prairie Interludes, has been shortlisted for the 2020 Touchstone Distinguished Books Award. The shortlist is comprised of 17 books selected from 72 nominations. My thanks to the esteemed panelists, and to John Barlow of Snapshot Press!

http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/ebooks/Prairie_Interludes.pdf

 

Snapshot Press Book Awards, 2020

I'm beyond honoured to announce that my full-length haiku manuscript, Random Blue Sparks, has received the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Award!

Random Blue Sparks - a haiku collection released by Snapshot Press on December 30, 2024

https://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/books/random_blue_sparks.htm

Winner of the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Awards

http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/contests/book_awards/results.htm

From Snapshot Press:

Snapshot Press is an independent publisher specializing in English-language haiku, tanka and other short poetry by authors from around the world.

Founded in 1997, our publications include anthologies, single-author collections, and annual editions of The Haiku Calendar. Our books have been honoured by the Haiku Society of America, The Poetry Society of America, and The Haiku Foundation.

From Michael Dylan Welch in Modern Haiku:

Snapshot Press sets the platinum standard for design and production values among haiku and tanka books. Their quality is unsurpassed. Indeed, books from Snapshot Press are always a tactile and poetic delight.

 

Prairie Interludes - eBook, Snapshot Press, 2020

Honoured to have my free eBook, Prairie Interludes, published by Snapshot Press (UK)! A thousand thanks to the editor, John Barlow, for selecting this collection as a winner in the 2019 Snapshot Press eChapbook Awards.

This book is comprised of seasonal nature haiku influenced by life on the prairie:

http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/ebooks/Prairie_Interludes.pdf

Please enjoy the other titles available from this highly esteemed small press.

Snapshot Press, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2020

Award Runner-up, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2020 (for December)

Publication - The Haiku Calendar 2021 (Snapshot Press 2020)


northern lights
the blur of scarves
as skaters pass

Zatsuei Haiku of Merit
The R.H. Blyth Award 2019, World Haiku Review, March 2019

Snapshot Press, The eChapbook Awards, 2019

I'm thrilled and honoured to announce that my haiku manuscript, Prairie Interludes, is a winner in the 2019 Snapshot Press eChapbook Awards!

The following link will take you directly to Snapshot Press, and I will post the link to my free ebook when it becomes available:

http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/index.htm

From Snapshot Press...

Snapshot Press is an independent publisher specializing in English-language haiku, tanka and other short poetry by authors from around the world.

Founded in 1997, our publications include anthologies, single-author collections, and annual editions of The Haiku Calendar. Our books have been honoured by the Haiku Society of America, The Poetry Society of America, and The Haiku Foundation.


'Snapshot Press sets the platinum standard for design and production values among haiku and tanka books. Their quality is unsurpassed. Indeed, books from Snapshot Press are always a tactile and poetic delight.'

—Michael Dylan Welch in Modern Haiku

Snapshot Press, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2019

Award Runner-up - The Haiku Calendar Competition 2019 (for August)

Publication - The Haiku Calendar 2020 (Snapshot Press 2019)


bobolinks
perched on thistle heads
the rain-streaked sky


first published in The Heron's Nest, Volume 17, Number 3, September 2015

Snapshot Press, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2018

Award Runner-up - The Haiku Calendar Competition 2018 (for the month of October)

Publication - The Haiku Calendar 2019 (Snapshot Press 2018)


fading dreams . . .
the golden smoke
of tamaracks

Snapshot Press, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2017

Award Winner - The Haiku Calendar Competition 2017 (for the month of May)

Publication - The Haiku Calendar 2018 (Snapshot Press 2017)


starflowers
light the woodland . . .
we find our way