Blog, blog items, Haiku, of this world

‘Of This World,’ receives HSA Merit Book Award (books published 2017)

Delighted to announce that my book Of This World (Red Moon Press) was awarded a merit book honorable mention in the Haibun category by the Haiku Society of America! 

HSA Merit Books Award

Heartfelt thanks to Michelle Elvy, Jim Kacian, Clare MacQueen and Johannes S. H. Bjerg for their help and support with bringing this book to life.

While waiting for the judges comments and public announcement by the Society, here is more information and praise for the book:

Of This World

Stella Pierides has cultivated a terse, idiosyncratic style in her haibun that is instantly recognizable, and as a consequence is one of the shining lights of this burgeoning genre. Of This World certainly is, but it also takes us out of the world at large and into private spaces we feel privileged to witness. A unique and satisfying read.

 

Red Moon Press
Amazon Europe
Amazon UK

I am grateful for the generous comments:

This is how it’s done! Stella Pierides — in a hushed voice — takes me through what it is to be human — and part of the human history from the roots of Western culture in Diogenes’ tub to the ‘modern’ human — with all the questions and doubts, the uncertainties that come from that.

— Johannes S. H. Bjerg, Writer

Of This World’s marvelous, emotionally resonant haibun are steeped in the grace of the garden, rooted in a physical reality so sensuous that you can smell the fragrance of baking bread, of olives and garlic, of lemon and magnolia blossoms — and yet they also spiral on the updraft of metaphor as poet Stella Pierides ‘put[s] our hearts in the shoes of the hummingbird.’

— Clare MacQueen, Editor-in-Chief, KYSO Flash

A treasure trove of language and image. Pierides walks through dark streets of history, through alleyways of memory – emerging in shiny, unexpected places. Compact, urgent and closely observant, these minute offerings will captivate readers of both poetry and short fiction. An enormously engaging collection.

— Michelle Elvy, Writer and Editor

*
Of This World
ISBN: 978-1-936848-80-5
Pages: 124
Size: 6″ x 9″
Binding: perfect softbound

100 Days of Summer, Blog, Other Writers

73/100 Lighthousekeeping #100daysnewthings

Image

Here is book cover 7 for the book cover challenge from Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy. No explanation required, no reviews, just the covers.

Lighthousekeeping,

Thank you, Shrikaanth, for sending the challenge my way! I enjoyed presenting the book covers in the form of an installation and I plan to continue this practice beyond the 7 covers…

73/100 #The100DayProject #100daysnewthings

Blog, Haiku, Other Writers

Book Stuff

Book Stuff: swaps, gifts, small talk is a (closed) Facebook group founded and administered by poet Gillena Cox. It is a place to highlight and share our work: whether already published or to-be-published/forthcoming.
Today, I was thrilled to see Gillena’s post, reproduced here with her permission:

Books,In the Garden of Absence, Ekphrasis,
❧✿❧Saturday Share # 42❧✿❧
Stella messaged me telling me she wants to send me 2 of her books, so i sent her my snail mail address. I received her gifts on 14th June 2018. Both these publications resonate well with me, since i am an ’empty-nester’. My husband left our home wanting to broaden his horizons. When they were ‘broad enough” he returned to Trinidad and opted to live in a house owned by his mother. My children left our home wanting their own space, when they thought, they were “big enough”. All of these leavings, i handled gracefully, giving each one, my blessings. What does this have to do with gifts from Stella, well…
Her haiku mirror life – the non linear journey, of evolving stations. Her themes of loneliness, absence and the capacity to be creatively alone are her flag poles. We are given insights into views from her garden, just when she opens her door, at the market place. We are treated to light bouncing off aubergines, flowers opening and coquettish butterflies. Ordinary yes. Yet peculiar to her, Stella the haiku poet. These scenes she freezes for us readers , leaving us in awe.
My favourite from the book ‘In the Garden of Absence‘
“on the clothesline
three skirts four blouses
missing you”

❧✿❧

‘Ekphrasis: Between Image and Word‘ is a collaborative work of [painting], of oils and words. Stella’s daughter [Maria Pierides] uses her oil and mixed media, Stella her words. Beautiful pictures are given to us, resulting from the creativity of these two. They paint for us the pictures of nature and her fickle heart. By her colour, sound, seasons.
My favourite is #21 ‘Colours surround me, swirls. Oil and mixed media on canvas 60 x 60cm’ To which Stella replies
“blue note
the baker’s dog
howling”

THANKS AGAIN STELLA for these sweet treats.
much love
gillena
❧✿❧Its Saturday Have a good one❧✿❧

Thank you, Gillena, for your generous comments.

 

100 Days of Summer, Blog, Haiku

70/100 ‘waiting for the tide’ #100daysnewthings

A hot, humid day. I’m looking at cooling photos like this one from a visit to Wells-next-the Sea, North Norfolk.

There’s always a cooling breeze there. I can almost feel it. A sort of teleportation…

waiting for the tide

that’s not waiting for me—

children crabbing

Wells-next-the-Sea,

70/100 #The100DayProject #100daysnewthings

Literature, Art, and Life through the Lens of Haiku

Stella Pierides

Literature, Art, and Life through the Lens of Haiku

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