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Alba Publishing

Alba Publishing is a publishing house based in Uxbridge, Hillingdon, London, England. It was established in 2005 by Kim Richardson, sole staff member, managing editorial and production work. Alba Publishing specializes in producing print books in the fields of haikai, tanka, and other short-form poetry as well as anthologies of primary and secondary school students’ work.

Alba Publishing was created by Kim Richardson in 1989, initially as a vehicle for his own freelance desktop publishing work, creating corporate brochures for companies in the U.K. The first book to be published under the Alba Publishing imprint was Double Rainbow (2005), a collection of haiku and senryu jointly authored by Richardson and Irish poet Maeve O’Sullivan. After 2011, with the publication of O’Sullivan’s first solo collection, Initial Response, the company’s list started to grow significantly. Since 2011 Alba Publishing has produced 159 books, of which 75 (listed below) are of haiku and related forms and topics. 

All editing, design, typesetting and production of Alba Publishing titles is carried out by Richardson, proprietor and sole member of staff. Printing and binding is done by printers in the U.K. for authors based in the U.K., U.S.A, and Europe, and in Ireland for authors based in Ireland. 

Richardson has also edited, designed, and produced more than 30 books for individuals and organizations, including more than a dozen anthologies of London primary and secondary school students’ work, as well as several titles for Anam Cara Publishing in West Cork, Ireland.

The mission of Alba Publishing is to offer the highest standards of editorial and production values in order to give authors a vehicle to show their work in the best possible light. This approach has so far resulted in 10 of Alba Publishing’s titles winning, being shortlisted for, or receiving honourable mentions in The Haiku Foundation‘s Touchstone Distinguished Books Awards and the Haiku Society of America’s Kanterman Merit Book Awards

Since 2011, Alba Publishing has published some of the most notable names in modern English-language haikai and tanka, including the late David Cobb, Steven Carter, Ken Jones, Noragh Jones, and Stuart Quine, as well as several living writers including Amanda Bell, Paul Chambers, Margaret Chula, Gilles Fabre, Tim Gardiner, Mike Montreuil, Clare McCotter, Sean O’Connor, Maeve O’Sullivan, Jim Norton, John Parsons, and Diana Webb.

As well as haiku and related forms, short fiction and long-form poetry are also part of Alba Publishing’s output, and it has published several collections for writers in the U.K., Ireland, and the U.S.A., including Angela McCabe, The Hibernian Writers, Kirstin Maguire, Ranald Barnicot, and the late Steven Carter.

Author: Kim Richardson

Alba Publishing titles containing haiku, tanka, and related forms

  • Ashraf, Hifsa. Her Deep-rooted Scars: Haiku, Monostiches, Cherita. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2021.
  • Austin, Gavin. Changing Light: Haiku and Senryu. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2018.
  • Beaudry, Micheline. La nuit d’eau / The Water’s Night. English translations by Mike Montreuil. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2014. In French and English.
  • Bell, Amanda. The Loneliness of the Sasquatch. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2018.
  • Bell, Amanda. Undercurrents: A Psychogeography of Irish Rivers in Haibun and Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2016.
  • Butler, Peter. The Trouble with Mona Lisa: A Haibun Collection. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2015.
  • Carter, Steven. After Blossom Viewing: Zen Parables with Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2012.
  • Carter, Steven. American Gothic. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2015.
  • Carter, Steven. Broken: A Meditation. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2018.
  • Carter, Steven. The Chrysanthemum Garden: Further Zen Stories and Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2012.
  • Carter, Steven. City of Shaded Light: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2014.
  • Carter, Steven. The Dead Look On: Selected Parables, Fables, Haibun and Others. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2016.
  • Carter, Steven. The Distances of Sleep: Haiku and Tanka. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.
  • Carter, Steven. The Distances: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.
  • Carter, Steven. Ekphrasis: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.
  • Carter, Steven. Gingko Leaves: More Zen Stories and Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2012.
  • Carter, Steven. A Green Pebble: Selected Haiku, Haibun and Tanka. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2016.
  • Carter, Steven. Heart Murmurs: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2014.
  • Carter, Steven. Honey of Generation: Haibun & Tanka Prose. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2017.
  • Carter, Steven. Interiors: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2012.
  • Carter, Steven. Invisible Rivers: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.
  • Carter, Steven. Leaves and Angels: Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.
  • Carter, Steven. Letters to My Parents: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2014. Hardcover version of the E-book Dear Corlies, Dear Dorothy: Letters to My Parents (2013).
  • Carter, Steven. Ocean in the Drop: Haiku and Tanka. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2014.
  • Carter, Steven. Pillars of Fire: Haibun and Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2011.
  • Carter, Steven. River Mist: Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.
  • Carter, Steven. River Willow: One-line Senryu. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2017.
  • Carter, Steven. Snow Moon: Haiku and Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2011.
  • Carter, Steven. The Sound of Purple: Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.
  • Carter, Steven. A Wilderness of Mirrors: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2014.
  • Chambers, Paul. Latitudes: Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2017.
  • Chambers, Paul. This Single Thread: Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2015.
  • Chula, Margaret. One Leaf Detaches: Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2019.
  • Cobb, David. Marching with Tulips: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.
  • Cobb, David. What Happens in Haibun: A Critical Study of ‘Marching with Tulips’. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.
  • Fabre, Gilles. Along the Way: A Search for the Spirit of the World. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2020.
  • Feula, Dianne, and Josji Vijay. Invisible Footprints: Tan Renga Poems. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2018.
  • Fitzgerald, Diarmuid. Thames Way: Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2015.
  • Fitzgerald, Diarmuid. A Thousand Sparks: Haiku & Senryu. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2018.
  • Friedenberg, Jay. One Rock Out of Place: A Haiku Collection. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.
  • Gardiner, Tim. The Flintknapper’s Ghost: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2018.
  • Gilfillan, Mark. Ghost Moon: Haiku & Senryu. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2017.
  • Gilfillan, Mark. A Portable Universe: Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2019.
  • Gonzalez, John. In the Lantern Light: Haiku and Senryu. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2016.
  • Gonzalez, John. Narrow Path: Tanka. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2018.
  • Hawkhead, John. Small Shadows: Haiku and Senryu. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2016.
  • High, Graham. Now. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2014.
  • Jones, Ken. Bog Cotton: Haiku Stories & Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2012.
  • Jones, Noragh. The Dog of Darkness: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2017.
  • Jones, Ken. Gone Away: Haiku Stories. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2015.
  • Kelly, David J. Hammerscale from the Thrush’s Anvil. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2016.
  • Kent, Brendon. Moon on Water: Haiku, Senryu, Tanka. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2018.
  • Kerr, Susan Lee. The Walk Home: Haiku, Senryu, Tanka. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2020.
  • Maya, Giselle, and Patricia Prime. Shizuka: Tanka Sequences, a Solo Sequence, Haibun and Tanka Prose. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2015.
  • McCotter, Clare. Black Horse Running: A Collection of Haiku, Tanka, and Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2012.
  • Montreuil, Mike. Dangling Modifiers: Haiku and Senryu. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2016.
  • Norton, James. The Fragrance of Dust: Haiku Stories Poems. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2012.
  • Norton, Jim, editor. Unravelling: Anthology of the Redthread Haiku Sangha 1997–2019. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2020.
  • O’Connor, Sean. Even the Mountains: Five Years in a Japanese Village. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2017.
  • O’Connor, Sean. Let Silence Speak: A Haiku and Haibun Collection. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2016.
  • O’Sullivan, Maeve, and Kim Richardson. Double Rainbow: Haiku Poetry. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2005. Also available as an e-book.
  • O’Sullivan, Maeve. Elsewhere: Around the World in Poetry, Haiku & Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2017.
  • O’Sullivan, Maeve. Initial Response: An A–Z of Haiku Moments. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2011. 156 haiku.
  • O’Sullivan, Maeve. A Train Hurtles West: Haiku Poetry. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2015.
  • O’Sullivan, Maeve. Wasp on the Prayer Flag: Haiku and Senryu. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2021.
  • Parsons, John. In a New Garden: Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2012.
  • Quine, Stuart. Sour Pickle: One-line Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2018.
  • Quine, Stuart. Wild Rhubarb: One-line Haiku. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2019.
  • Richardson, Kim. Night Ferry: Haiku, Senryu, Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2018.
  • Rowlands, John. Cylymau Tywod / Knots of Sand: Haiku and Senryu. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2017. Haiku; in Welsh and English.
  • Shimield, Andrew. A Little Rain: Haiku & Senryu. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2017.
  • Smith, Robert E. Between Mountain and Ocean: Writings with Photographs. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2021.
  • Smith, Robert E. Patchwork: Writings and Photographs. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2016.
  • Stevenson, Richard. A Gaggle of Geese: Haiku, Senryu, Tanka, Kyoka, and Zappai. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2017.
  • Webb, Diana. Pocketing the Tide: Haibun. Uxbridge, U.K.: Alba Publishing, 2013.

Updated on February 15, 2022