The first question to answer is why I've issued this anthology under the "Tom Howard" pseudonym, when my previous book of poetry, "Anyone for Love?", was credited to John Howard Reid. The answer is that many of the original poems in this collection won prizes and were originally published under the Tom Howard by-line and I thought it would confuse readers to suddenly reprint them under a different name.

everyone who appreciates poetry. I'll admit that some -- I emphasize "some" -- of my prizewinning poetry is rather quirky. But I am strongly influenced by Spanish verse and Spanish poetry is most definitely rather quirky. I've translated some really splendid examples for this book.

the 19 Spanish poets I've translated for this book. I love them all but especially fond of "Cervantes" by Ruben Dario, "The Air Itself Is Burning" by Rosalia Castro, "In the Depths of Twilight" by Ramon Lopez Velarde, and "Full Moon on the Lake of Christ in the Village of Yeltes" by Miguel de Unamuno.

that I was confined to only 148 pages if I wished to set a retail price of $10.50. Nonetheless, I think this book is most attractively designed, set up and illustrated and represents really fine value for the money.

start work on another collection. But first I need to find a poem in my files with a good visual title that I can illustrate with an equally impressive color photo.

glad that I started writing poetry at a young age. True, there have been years when I produced no poetry at all, but I've always eventually returned to my first literary love.

is happy to be a prizewinning poet and to share not only his poetry but a very small portion of the wealth of Spain with the English-speaking world.

it is wonderful to read, and beautiful to hold in your hand. I dislike electronic devices. They do not treat poetry with respect.

One good thing about reverting to the Tom Howard pseudonym, is that hopefully it may stop people asking who Tom Howard is! When the Tom Howard Contest commenced back in 1989, the name was well-known. Many times I've contemplated changing the annual $5,550 Tom Howard Contest for Poetry to some other name. Now it can stay as it is!

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