Haiku Contest Awards 2022
Thank you so much for participating in our haiku contest!
We are astonished we received such a large number of submissions from all over the world.
We appreciate the judges, Michael Dylan Welch for haiku in English, and Hisao Mogi and Mitsuyo Sakai from Rainier Ginsha for haiku in Japanese, for taking the time to review and select the winning poems.
We received
-
160 haiku poems in English, including 58 youth entries
-
37 haiku poems in Japanese, including 18 youth entries
-
From 32 countries
俳句コンテストにたくさんのご応募ありがとうございました!
世界中から集まった素晴らしい句の数々に感動しました。
英語俳句の選者、マイケル・ディラン・ウエルチさん、日本語俳句の選句を担って下さったレニア吟社の茂木ひさをさん、酒井光代さんに、感謝申し上げます。
-
英語俳句160句(うち子供の作品58句)
-
日本語俳句37句(うち子供の作品18句)
-
世界32か国より応募
日本語の選句及び選評はこちら
1st Place
sap season
a runner stops
to check her pulse
Brad Bennett
Arlington, Massachusetts, USA
Judge's Remarks:
If it’s sap season, it must be autumn. A jogger stopping to check her pulse also seems to bring us as observers into a moment of checking our seasonal “pulse.” How is our year unfolding? As summer wanes into the fall, we come to an instant of deeper reflection, even assessment, in thinking about our lives. The poem’s arresting first line begins a series of breathless S sounds (continued with “stops” and “pulse”). Combined with the “er” of “runner” and “her,” this poem’s sounds create a pleasing music and rhythm, even a heartbeat.
2nd Place
warming her hands between my own—
fallen leaves
Julie Bloss Kelsey
Germantown, Maryland, USA
Judge's Remarks:
The air has chilled in the autumn season, but here two friends or lovers have ventured out to enjoy the colorful leaves of autumn. This is a shared moment of personal intimacy, with one person warming the other person’s cold hands. This warmth is not just physical but emotional too.
3rd Place
red signal—
a few moments
with cherry blossoms
Saumya Bansal
Agra, India
Judge's Remarks:
Most adults have had this experience when pausing their cars at a stop light. We might be temporarily impatient at having to wait, but the mind of the haiku poet finds solace in such idle moments, in this case appreciating beautiful blossoms. We might not have noticed them if it weren’t for that red light. Even the traffic light’s color echoes with the pink blossoms.
Adult Honorable Mentions
the cough
that doesn't go away autumn cloud
Richa Sharma
India
Judge's Remarks:
As our worldwide pandemic continues, it’s hard to read this poem without thinking of Covid-19 illnesses that more and more frequently have reached us or people we know. Not only is the cough not going away, but the pandemic itself remains persistent, continuing to loom like an autumn cloud.
Adult Honorable Mentions
harvest moon
the first line of my poem
on the page
Minal Sarosh
Gujarat, India
Judge's Remarks:
The moon is an autumn season word in the Japanese haiku tradition, so what haiku poet could not feel that their poem’s first line has been provided for them as soon as they see a harvest moon? We also wonder, what will the rest of our poem say? In this case it’s a poem about writing haiku itself—or perhaps a longer poem. And we can thank the moon for inspiring us.
Adult Honorable Mentions
beach day
the seagulls rise
with the drawbridge
David Grayson
Alameda, California
Judge's Remarks:
A summer moment—visiting the beach. Only when the drawbridge rises do the seagulls respond, their lazy day interrupted. This poem’s pleasing movement and vivid image captures a visit to the seaside. The rising bridge suggests the departure of both boats and cars, indicating that this summer getaway has come to an end.
Youth Honorable Mentions
summer’s end
last skipping stone
left in my pocket
Iasmina Butnarescu
Botosani, Romania
Judge's Remarks:
What a youthful joy to skip stones in summertime. But this time that perfect “skimmer” stone is pocketed, as if waiting for summer to return.
Youth Honorable Mentions
drawing class
the old calligraphy
of migrating birds
Denisa Hritcu
Botosani, Romania
Judge's Remarks:
Nature and human behavior come together here, with the artist recording the flights of birds in a drawing class. This migration could be spring or autumn, but it feels more like autumn, perhaps because of the word “old,” which also suggests that the “calligraphy” of the birds predates any human art, a reminder that nature may be life’s highest art.
Youth Honorable Mentions
moving day
carving my name
on the old oak
Florin Panainte
Botosani, Romania
Judge's Remarks:
In a moment of nostalgia before leaving a treasured place, the poet takes the time to leave a record of their existence. It’s not just so future residents will know them, but so the poet will remember that place more deeply. It is indeed a “moving” day.
Haiku in English
Haiku in Japanese
1st Place - 特選1席
傍らに語らう人がいて桜
Mitsuharu Mano
Puyallup, WA, USA
選評:
この句を読んでほわっと優しい気持ちになるのは、普段使い慣れている言葉で詠まれているからです。簡単な表記に私達はいろいろな想像を膨らませます。なかなかの俳句巧者です。(光)
2nd Place - 特選2席
亡き父を組立ててゆく盆帰省
Tatsuya Ii (井伊辰也)
Smyrna, Delaware, USA
選評:
お父さまが亡くなってから初めてのお盆であろうか、帰省する乗り物の中で、父との思い出が次々と浮かんでくる。いろいろな思い出をつなぎあわせて、どんな父親だったかが次第に形になっていく。組み立ててゆくという措辞が見事である。(ひ)
秀作 - Adult Honorable Mentions
芽柳の 風をとらへる 軽さかな
Lada Vishtak
Seattle, Washington, USA
選評:
風が何かをとらえたという俳句はよく見ますが、芽柳が風をとらえたと言う発想は面白く、読者にも柳の下にいるような存在感で迫って来ます。揺れる柳が見えるようです。(光)
秀作 - Adult Honorable Mentions
子の笑い 翼果散るまで 上がりけり
Richard Tice
Kent, Washington, USA
選評:
翼果とはカエデやトネリコの種子で風に乗って種子を遠くまで運ぶ。翼果は季語になっていないが、シアトル近辺では秋によく見かける。
子供の笑い声が澄んだ秋の空気のなかで、翼果を散らせるように響きわたっている。秋の季節感が感じられる句である。(ひ)
秀作 - Adult Honorable Mentions
蝋梅や 母の笑顔の ふと浮かび
Keiko Kushigemachi
Torrance, California, USA
選評:
花の少ない冬に優しい香りと共に咲く蝋梅は春が近い事を告げています。作者のお母様はもしかしたらこの季節にお亡くなりになられたのか。作者の思い出の花なのでしょう。(光)
児童の句 - Youth Honorable Mentions
すぐそこと ずっと遠くが 麦の秋
Emily, age 12
Tokyo, Japan
選評:
麦の秋は麦がこがね色に実るころの夏のきせつのことばです。
こがね色に実った麦畑が目の前からずっと遠くのちへいせんまで続いている。アメリカの大きな麦畑のけしきが目に浮かぶとても良い俳句です。(ひ)
児童の句 - Youth Honorable Mentions
兄ちゃんに 野いちごなげて どなられる
Naoki Ii (井伊直紀), age 11
Smyrna, Delaware, USA
選評:
おとうとにとって兄ちゃんは現場の先生。あれはだめ、これはだめ、と言われながら、言いながら、お互いに大人になって行くんです。もちろんその背景には、優しいお父さんとお母さんがいます。(光)
児童の句 - Youth Honorable Mentions
春の山 素敵な色だ 行きたいな
Kay Yeager, age 11
Tokyo, Japan
選評:
よく山を見ていましたね。春になっていろいろな木が芽を出して緑色になってきました。それを素敵な色って言ったんですね。いいなあと思います。これからもいろいろな所でみたことを俳句にして下さいね。季節のうつりかわりがわかって楽しくなると思います。(光)
児童の句 - Youth Honorable Mentions
母さんの りんごパイの香 ピアノまで
Takuya Ii (井伊拓也), age 12
Smyrna, Delaware, USA
選評:
りんごは秋のきせつのことばです。りんごは酸っぱい味のものがパイには向いています。ピアノの練習をしているとお母さんの焼くパイの香りがただよってきました。練習が終わったらパイを食べられる。練習にも力が入りますね。(ひ)
About the judges:
For haiku in English
Michael Dylan Welch is founder of National Haiku Writing Month and the Seabeck Haiku Getaway, cofounder of the Haiku North America conference and the American Haiku Archives, webmaster for Haiku Northwest (www.haikunorthwest.org), and president of the Redmond Association of Spokenword. He was keynote speaker for the 2013 Haiku International Association conference in Tokyo and has been teaching haiku for thirty years. His haiku have won numerous prizes and have been translated into at least twenty languages. Michael’s website, devoted mostly to haiku, is www.graceguts.com.
For haiku in Japanese
Rainier Ginsha (レニア吟社) is a Seattle-based Haiku club since 1934. Hisao Mogi (茂木ひさを) has been served as the president of Rainier Ginsha since 2012. He is also a photographer and submitting haiku to Hototogisu, the traditional haiku club founded by Kyoshi Takahama in 1897. Mitsuyo Sakai (酒井光代) has been a member of Tachibana Ginsha in California since 1998 and has been a member of the Rainier Ginsha since 2011. She is also an executive member (dojin) of the Haiku Society Dancho in her hometown, Aomori. A monument with her Haiku was built at the gateway of the Shirakami Mountains.
Both judges are the authors of the monthly article “Kongetsu-no-kigo (seasonal word of the month)” on the community paper “Soy Source.”
Rainier Ginsha HP: https://sites.google.com/site/haikunorthwest/rainier-haiku-ginsha