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XI. PRESS HERE Haiku Books
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(Gar-note: I wanted to introduce our readers to one of our
subscribers, Michael Dylan Welch. Michael is the editor
publisher and everything else for a small press called
"Press Here". I've had the pleasure of reading, and enjoying
several of the books listed below, and would strongly
recommend them for their quality. Michael has shown himself
to be an outstanding poet as well as an outstanding editor
as exemplified by the following haiku)
after the quake
the weathervane
pointing to earth
("Frogpond" and "Tremors")
an old woolen sweater
taken yarn by yarn
from the snowbank
("Frogpond" 2nd prize "Henderson Haiku Contest")
summer moonlight--
the potter's wheel
slows
(2nd Prize -- Boston Haiku Contest)
Press Here was founded in 1989 by Michael Dylan Welch to publish
haiku books in English. The following books are available:
ON MY MIND
An interview with Anita Virgil by Vincent Tripi, introduced by
Garry Gay. Winner of a Merit Book Award from the Haiku Society
of America. "Art is a selfish mistress. . . . But, if you can
apportion her some time in which to bloom, if you can afford this
luxury, the results of life lived with eyes open to the world
about you will show in the work you produce."--Anita Virgil [1989
(third printing, 1993), 28 pages, ISBN 1-878798-00-6, $5.00 plus
postage]
RAKING SAND
An interview with Virginia Brady Young by Vincent Tripi,
introduced by Ebba Story. "Haiku is challenging, at least for
most poets. If you disagree and think it is easy to write,
perhaps you are settling too soon for too little."--Virginia
Brady Young [1993, 28 pages, ISBN 1-878798-07-3, $5.00 plus
postage]
STARSHIP EARTH
Award-winning environmental haiku and senryu by Adele Kenny;
includes translations from "The Canticle of the Sun" by St.
Francis of Assisi. A sample poem (a one-liner): "hairdo
perfectly sprayed she asks about fluorocarbons" [1990, 48 poems,
24 pages, ISBN 1-878798-01-4, $5.00 plus postage]
MET ON THE ROAD: A TRANSCONTINENTAL HAIKU JOURNAL
A travel journal and haiku anthology written and compiled by
William J. Higginson with Penny Harter on a cross-country trip
from New Jersey to New Mexico. Contains haiku and senryu by 48
different poets from the United States and Japan. "We are
grateful for both the opportunity to meet poets across the
country, and to share haiku and thoughts on haiku with them.
This book is dedicated in that spirit of sharing to our friends,
the haiku poets of North America and Japan."--William J.
Higginson [1993, 75 poems, 36 pages, ISBN 1-878798-10-3, $6.00
plus postage]
THE HAIJIN'S TWEED COAT
A unique haiku sequence by Michael Dylan Welch. Winner of a
Merit Book Award from the Haiku Society of America. "This
sequence, for me, rings as clear as the sound of a frog jumping
into a pond on a crisp day. It's the best nature sequence I've
read in years."--Alexis Rotella [1990, 8 poems, 12 pages, ISBN
1-878798-02-2, $4.00 plus postage]
TREMORS
Earthquake haiku and a haibun by Michael Dylan Welch, written
about the 1989 Loma Preita earthquake in San Francisco. A sample
poem: "after the quake / the weathervane / pointing to earth"
[1990, 22 poems, 1 haibun, 16 pages, ISBN 1-878798-03-0, $4.00
plus postage]
FIG NEWTONS: SENRYU TO GO
Humorous senryu by Laura Bell, Garry Gay, Christopher Herold,
Vincent Tripi, Michael Dylan Welch, and Paul O. Williams.
Edited and introduced by Michael Dylan Welch. "For a moment,
distinctions between haiku and senryu are not important; if just
one poem makes you chuckle, then this book has met its
goal."--Michael Dylan Welch [1993, 111 poems, 32 pages, ISBN
1-878798-09-X, $6.00 plus postage]
THE MEASURE OF EMPTINESS
An engaging collection of Midwest haiku by Lee Gurga, introduced
by Jerry Kilbride. Includes "A Talk with the Author" by Michael
Dylan Welch. A sample poem: "summer sunset-- / the baby finds
its shadow / on the kitchen wall" [ 1991, 71 poems, 88 pages
perfectbound, ISBN 1-878798-04-9, $7.50 plus postage]
HARVEST
The 1991 Haiku North America conference anthology, edited and
introduced by Michael Dylan Welch. "The conference which
inspired this anthology is justly labeled a celebration of North
American haiku. Indeed, the haiku community on this continent is
vibrant and growing, yet we are still small enough to be on a
first-name basis."--Michael Dylan Welch [1991, 52 poems, 20
pages, ISBN 1-878798-05-7, $5.00 plus postage]
THE SHORTEST DISTANCE
The 1993 Haiku North America conference anthology, edited and
introduced by Ebba Story and Michael Dylan Welch. "We are drawn
together over the shortest distance--shorter even than the
written forms we cherish. We meet in the moment where hearts and
minds open and rejoice. There is no distance here."--The Editors
[1993, 51 poems, 20 pages, ISBN 1-878798-11-1, $5.00 plus
postage]
FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG
Tanka by Christopher Herold, David Rice, Pat Shelley, Dave
Sutter, Kenneth Tanemura, Michael Dylan Welch, and Paul O.
Williams. Edited and introduced by Michael Dylan Welch. Press
Here, 1994, 115 tanka by San Francisco area poets, 48 pages, 5
1/2 x 8 1/2 inches, 1-878798-12-X, paper, $7.00 plus $1.00
postage and handling (checks payable to Michael D. Welch).
Order from Press Here, P.O. Box 4014, Foster City, CA 94404.
"Hovering above the fog of objective and subjective concerns is
an effable spirit, a spirit that defies description but once
tasted is never forgotten. It is toward this tanka spirit that
the poets in this book travel -- to seek, with intuitive longing,
what the masters sought." -- from the Introduction.
To order any of the above books, please include postage and
handling as follows: For the first book, add $1.00; add an
additional 75 cents for each additional book. Send your check or
money order in U.S. funds, payable to Michael D. Welch to the
following address:
Press Here
P.O. Box 4014
Foster City, CA 94404
Thank you for your orders!
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