Congratulations to Jacquie Pearce, winner of the 2018 Haiku Contest!

BC writer Jacquie Pearce is celebrating National Haiku Writing Month with the League of Canadian Poets as the winner of the League’s inaugural National Haiku Contest. Chosen by guest jurors Terry Ann Carder and Naomi Beth Wakan, two of Pearce’s poems were selected through blind judging from more than 500 submissions.

Unable to choose between the final two poems—starkly different, but “both so excellent in their own way,” the jurors decided to have the two poems as co-winners of the contest. “Each haiku presented a ‘naked’ image which gave rise to so many ideas and feelings, and that, I feel, is the essence of good haiku writing,” says juror Naomi Beth Wakan.

after the rain

my daughter jumps into

each piece of the sky

Comments from Terry Ann: “after the rain” is a haiku that beautifully combines the “small picture” (the jumping daughter) and the “cosmic picture” (the sky reflected in the puddles, which ends up in pieces because of the disturbance of the water). The puddle is never actually mentioned, but we understand this, through the first line. There is a joyful hopefulness emanating from this haiku; a child who is allowed to express herself by jumping in puddles, will one day solve some of the world’s problems. An intimacy between a mother who is observing and a daughter who is playing.

Statement from Jacquie: “When my daughter was little, she loved rain and puddles. One day, when she was in kindergarten or grade one, it was pouring rain while I walked to the school to pick her up. The whole way there, I complained to myself, thinking what a lousy, wet day it was. Then, my daughter stepped out of the school and exclaimed with huge delight, “it’s raining!” She felt such joy in response to the rain, that it turned my own thinking on its head, and helped me to see the world with a renewed sense of wonder. That’s what haiku does as well. Approaching life with a “haiku mind” helps me notice little things around me and see ordinary moments with a sense of newness and significance.”

lingering grief…

a trace of Fukushima

in the Salmon

Comments from Terry Ann: “lingering grief…” expresses a contemporary sadness by pointing to the continuing pollution damage from the fall out of the recent Fukishima nuclear accident. It is a global concern. Haiku are usually not known for their “messages” but this poem is simply (and profoundly) stating a truth; an understanding in the moment, that deeply affects us all. Michael Dylan Welch, respected haiku poet, scholar and activist, speaks of the continuing moment, which is applied here with the use of ellipsis. Darkly poignant. Of our time.

Comments from Naomi: “It was hard to choose between the two winning haiku because they were both so excellent in their own way. The one describing the child jumping in puddles, and the mother so simply describing the sky reflected in the puddles was such a joyful one reflecting the promise of youth. Yet the one reminding us that in all our actions, even that of eating a piece of salmon, are moral and political issues that must be considered, presented a bitter truth. So bitter and sweet, I felt, were both necessary to be present in my choice. Each haiku presented a “naked” image which gave rise to so many ideas and feelings, and that, I feel, is the essence of good haiku writing.”

Jacquie Pearce grew up on Vancouver Island. She has published poetry, short non-fiction and several novels for children. Her haiku have won awards and appeared in a variety of publications, including the Haiku Canada Review, Frogpond, The Red Moon Anthology and Of Skin on Skin, and an anthology of erotic haiku. Blog: www.wildink.wordpress.com; Website: www.jacquelinepearce.ca

Honourable mentions:

abandoned bird nest

snowfall filling

our empty spaces

By Marianne Paul

Marianne Paul’s haiku have appeared in various publications, including (among others) the Literary Review of Canada. She has won the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival haiku invitational contest (Canada division) and the Jane Reichhold Memorial Haiga Competition (mixed media category). She is the author of the novel Tending Memory and the poetry collection Above and Below the Waterline, published by BookLand Press. Marianne is a member of Haiku Canada.

a student globe

in the attic

the world I once knew

By Beth Skala

crossing mountains

two men talk

of sons

By Dorothy Mahoney

Dorothy Mahoney’s book, Off-Leash (Palimpsest Press, 2016)) contains several haibun. Palimpsest will publish her next book in 2020.

About National Haiku Writing Month:
NaHaiWriMo was created in 2010 by Michael Dylan Welch (see also www.graceguts.com). The first National Haiku Writing Month, with most activity on the NaHaiWriMo page on Facebook, took place in February 2011. Facebook and Twitter participants enjoy the daily writing prompts year round, but February is the “official” month for NaHaiWriMo. Visit www.nahaiwrimo.com to get involved.

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