The 26th HIA Haiku Contest Prize Winners
Haiku in Overseas
Prize Winners, selected by Toshio Kimura
| while the embers glow in a mountain lodge oven — full Hunter’s Moon | Kanchan Chatterjee （India） |
This is a night scene at a remote lodge deep in the mountains. The embers in the fireplace still glows red, probably after dinner has finished. This alone brings a scene clearly to reader’s mind. It is quiet, and when looking up, the moon is floating in the night sky. The “hunter’s moon” is the next full moon after the mid-autumn full moon（harvest moon）. When the harvest is over, then animals fattened up during summer and autumn would be hunted. Now, readers wonder what was cooked in the oven.
| mountain mist lifts… voices of cows’ bells become cows’ bells | Maya Daneva （Netherlands） |
In the misty mountains, it seemed that the cattle were nowhere to be seen and the voices of cow’s bells could only be heard echoing in the distance. As the mist hanging over the mountains began to lift, the sound became a visible figure, dotted here and there across the meadow. The change from hearing to seeing is described in this haiku as if it were a scene from European landscape paintings. Cattle in Europe mainly grazes on natural grass, whereas cattle in Japan is raised in barns and fed a lot of grain: Different regions seem to have different tastes in meat.
Honorable Mentions, selected by Toshio Kimura
| migrating geese the farmhouse door never locked | dl mattila （USA） |
| the moisture on the dog’s nose first cold | Olivier Schopfer （Switzerland） |
| torn apart fence — fattened geese gone with no return | Zlata Bogovic （Croatia） |
| the moon slips… the fisherman’s rod suddenly heavier | Steliana Cristina Voicu （Romania） |
Prize Winners, selected by David Burleigh
| the moon slips… the fisherman’s rod suddenly heavier | Steliana Cristina Voicu （Romania） |
When we read the first words of this haiku, we imagine that the moon may have slipped down behind a tree, or the top of a hill, or even a building, and it is not until the rest comes into focus that we realise that the moon is reflected on the water where a man is fishing. He is dreamily waiting, and the slight disturbance captures his attention, alerts him to a fish on the line. It is the almost unnoticed change that makes this verse so effective, both quiet and quietly dramatic. A most successful haiku.
| falling acorns a key turns tumblers in a lock | Richard L. Matta （USA） |
The first line suggests the season, with the falling acorns, but it is not clear until the second and third lines what the situation is. The acorns are falling, but is it the sight or sound of them that is more noticeable? Then the key turning in the lock focuses our attention, the clicking sound of the inner movement, so that we imagine someone, just home, opening a door, perhaps on an autumn evening, about to go inside but having noticed and taken with them what is happening outside. A delicately evoked moment.
Honorable Mentions, selected by David Burleigh
| a frog crosses the Milky Way — stars go out | Lyudmila Hristova （Bulgaria） |
| last refugees the cherry trees remain to bloom in the village | Edward Tara （Romania） |
| refugee camp the moon imprisoned in a puddle | Ravi Kiran （India） |
| nearing dusk a curled leaf enters the church door | Federico Peralta （Philippines） |