{"id":76306,"date":"2026-03-02T00:01:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T05:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehaikufoundation.org\/?p=76306"},"modified":"2026-01-23T07:16:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T12:16:24","slug":"book-of-the-week-the-red-moon-anthology-1996","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehaikufoundation.org\/book-of-the-week-the-red-moon-anthology-1996\/","title":{"rendered":"Book of the Week – The Red Moon Anthology 1996"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”76307″ onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”” link=”https:\/\/thehaikufoundation.org\/omeka\/items\/show\/44″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text css=””]The Red Moon Anthology 1996<\/em>, edited by Jim Kacian with an international editorial board, gathers what the editors considered the finest English-language haiku and related forms published during the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Foreword clearly frames the project that at certain moments, haiku becomes more than personal expression and enters literature. The anthology sets out to preserve those moments.<\/span><\/p>\n

The book is organised by form: haiku, senryu, linked forms, haibun, and essays. What emerges is not a single aesthetic but a field of approaches. The opening haiku section moves swiftly between the spare and the quietly expansive. Consider:<\/span><\/p>\n

noon . . .<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nthe glare of white sheets<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\non the washing line<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The image is stark, nearly blinding. There is no overt commentary, yet the heat and emptiness of midday settle in. The ellipsis slows the reader, allowing the brightness to expand before the sheets come into view.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elsewhere, emotional depth arrives through restraint. Kay F. Anderson writes:<\/span><\/p>\n

deep silence<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nthe orphaned nestlings<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nthis third morning<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The poem withholds explanation. “Third morning” carries duration and loss without elaboration. We are asked to stand in that stillness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pause for a moment as you read through the anthology. Which poems ask you to linger, and which move past quickly? Do you find yourself drawn more to image-driven pieces, or to those where human presence edges closer to the foreground?<\/span><\/p>\n

The senryu section sharpens its focus on human interiority. Jeremy Bahl offers:<\/span><\/p>\n

turning the TV off<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nI appear<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\non the screen<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The humour is immediate, but beneath it is a subtle meditation on self-recognition and emptiness. In another register, Jan Bostok writes:<\/span><\/p>\n

paralyzed child<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nher left side<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nsmiles at me<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The compression intensifies the emotional field. There is no overt sentimentality; instead, a direct presentation that allows readers to complete the emotional arc.<\/span><\/p>\n

The linked forms and haibun expand the anthology’s scope. Christopher Herold’s “Voices of Stone” interweaves prose and haiku to record a Zen monastery experience. The haiku<\/span><\/p>\n

in the fire<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\na log shifts<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nthe flow of thought<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

functions as both literal description and metaphor, showing how haibun allows reflection to unfold in layers.<\/span><\/p>\n

What makes the anthology compelling is its range. We move from pastoral stillness to hospital corridors, from children at play to ageing and memory, from humour to grief. The editorial process, outlined early in the book, required multiple anonymous votes before inclusion, reinforcing that these selections represent shared recognition rather than individual taste.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Red Moon Anthology 1996<\/em> stands as a snapshot of English-language haiku at a particular moment: diverse, international, and increasingly confident in its own idiom. For readers, it offers both pleasure and study. For writers, it provides a map of what was possible-and perhaps still is.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can read the entire anthology in the THF Digital Library<\/a>. As you explore it, share one poem that still feels immediate nearly three decades later.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Do you have a full-length or chapbook-length book published in 2021 or earlier that you would like featured as a Book of the Week? Contact us for details. Haiku featured in the Book of the Week Archive are selected by the THF Digital Librarian, Vidya Premkumar and are used with permission.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edited by Jim Kacian, The Red Moon Anthology 1996 gathers selected haiku, senryu, haibun, and linked forms, offering a snapshot of English-language haiku at a pivotal moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1830,1768,47],"tags":[291,78,3707,412],"post_series":[],"class_list":["post-76306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapbook-archive","category-featured-content","category-features","category-news","tag-book-of-the-week","tag-jim-kacian","tag-the-red-moon-anthology-1996","tag-thf-digital-library","entry","no-media"],"yoast_head":"\nBook of the Week - The Red Moon Anthology 1996 - The Haiku Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Red Moon Anthology 1996 is an anthology that attends closely to English-language haiku and related forms, highlighting literary achievement across a single year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thehaikufoundation.org\/book-of-the-week-the-red-moon-anthology-1996\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book of the Week - 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