Wildflowers in Oyster Stone is a charming book of short form poetry which give us an insight not just into Claire Thom´s life and psyche but also the land she has chosen as her home. I particularly enjoyed the haibun, a form which suits Claire’s writing skills. Bashō, the Japanese master of the form would approve, I feel, of her haikai style. There is nothing pretentious about Claire’s poetry. It is accessible to all. If I didn’t already love the Spain of which she writes, I would fall in love with it from her work. —Patricia McGuire, Managing Editor of The Poetry Pea Journal and host of The Poetry Pea Podcast This engaging collection contains haiku and tanka verse, plus four haibun. The opening piece starts with a haibun—recognized by the fact they combine prose and one or more haiku as “a single genre born out of two distinctly separate genres of writing.” The haiku that individually follow appear to me as if they trail that first haibun, Mount of Tariq : whether this is intended or not, it’s been fascinating to this reader (me). The ‘extended’ haibun effect—probably just simply a good choice in the making of the order of the poems—is a plus effect that I personally and deeply appreciate. Here is the penultimate haiku: long walk on the beach stretching my shadow I imagine myself, and my shadow, exercising while catching the sun, and holding the book in one hand, with a cold delicious glass of something as the sun slowly sinks across my own beach. —Alan Summers, founder of Call of the Page Claire´s collection includes wonderful images throughout, interlacing three forms of poetry – haiku, tanka and haibun. Cádiz sounds like a wonderful city nestled amongst beautiful scenery. I hope to visit one day and to sample some of these scenes captured in Claire´s book. —Robert Kingston, Current chair of the Essex Haiku Group and Winner of the British Haiku Society Award for Haiku 2016 Claire Thom’s new collection of amazing haiku, Wildflowers in Oyster Stone, collects some of the freshest and more singularly striking haiku I have read in some time. Her very spare word count and style reminds me of John Brandi’s with their clever “twists” that give the most wonderful “double exposure” effect of a singular moment, such as in “on the rocks/ sidestepping/ crabs” Although most are held in the spare hands of three lines, Thom occasionally delves into a more “American haiku” style, departing from the constrictions of the three-lined, 5-7-5 haiku style preferred by some purists. —David Anthony Martin , author of Bijoux About the Author Claire Thom is a Scottish poet, writer, teacher and examiner based in the south of Spain. She is the founder and EIC of The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press and host and producer of The Wee Sparrow Poetry Podcast . She has had poems published by a variety of presses including The British Haiku Societys Blithe Spirit, Cold Moon Journal, Contemporary Haibun Online, Failed Haiku, Haiku in Action Nick Virgilio, hedgerow, Japan Society London, King River Press, Poetry Pea Journal, Red Moon Press, Scarlet Dragonfly Journal, Shadow Pond Journal, Suspect Device, The Mainichi , Trash Panda , Under the Basho and Wales Haiku Journal . Claire is a Kyoto Haiku Project ambassador, a member of The British Haiku Society , and a Touchstone Award for Individual Haiku nominee.