Folded Word
Exploring the world, one voice at a time.
Wishbones Wins a National Award
[photo courtesy of The Haiku Foundation]
Speaking of the award panel, they have a tradition of publishing commentary that gives a glimpse into their deliberations. We encourage you to read the discussion for all of this year’s winning poems and books on the foundation’s website, but we’ve chosen to quote the Wishbones commentary in its entirety here. That way we can replace their haiku quotes with the calligraphy versions to give you the full experience.
“Wishbones by Ben Moeller-Gaa is a beautifully produced collection of evocative haiku. Folded Word Press is to be commended for the calligraphy by JS Graustein presenting each haiku on a cream-colored page. Her calligraphy provides a human touch to the haiku, as if we are reading them from someone’s journal. The book starts with the title poem:
[We] especially like how this haiku moves from the physical connection of splitting a wishbone to the more symbolic expression. It invokes this childish ritual with the deeper realizations about serious wishes and differences. The haiku in Moeller-Gaa’s book continually play with ordinary events and their mystical underlying significance, for instance:
Sometimes the tension between the immediate and the unseen is the passage of time:
The author writes from a variety of circumstances and emotions. [We] appreciate the togetherness in this one:
Consider this more ominous one:
This is an outstanding collection of haiku because the author engages in deep thinking, close wondering, and heartfelt caring. Like most of our best writers, Ben Moeller-Gaa takes the time to notice significance in life and captures that significance in the literary art of haiku.”
Wishbones is currently available in our Global Edition, ISBN 978-1-61019-116-6, which may be ordered from your favorite online bookseller or special-ordered from your local bookshop. Since our Sustainable Edition sold out in under a month, we are working on a Special Edition to celebrate the book’s achievement. This new limited, numbered edition will include a foreword, author’s note, and other bonus material not available in previous editions. If you would like to be updated as we develop the Special Edition and open it up for pre-orders, please fill out the form below.
10 Comments on “Wishbones Wins a National Award”
Leave a Reply
Folded Word 
Beautiful haiku, congrats! The calligraphy adds to the beauty.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Dianne!
LikeLike
Congratulations!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations, Jessi & Ben! I’ve read and enjoyed the book and can testify that this award is well-deserved!
Joe :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Joseph Hutchison Colorado Poet Laureate (2014-2019) http://www.jhwriter.com ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, this is amazing! So so happy for Ben and everyone at folded word! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Debbie!
LikeLike
Thank you for all your support over the years 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you!
LikeLike
Very insightful poems—lovely.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Ben Moeller-Gaa Wins Haiku Foundation Award – Poetry Society of New Hampshire