VII PIHC 2017 – results
FINAL JUDGE’S GENERAL COMMENTARY
Hidenori Hiruta’s Profile : https://akitahaiku.com/2010/04/10/
Hidenori Hiruta’s Haiku Website : https://akitahaiku.com/
Hidenori Hiruta’s Haiku Blog: http://akitahaiku.blogspot.jp/
The winter solstice is approaching. Recently in the evenings illuminated objects have appeared with LED bulbs lit up colorfully in the street or in the park. It feels as if illuminated trees or cartoon characters celebrated the coming of the longest night.
This winter, to my great honor, I was given a chance to read haiku sent to the VII Polish International Haiku Contest whose coordinator is Krzysztof Kokot. By December 25, I will have appreciated 44 haiku chosen by Robert Kania and Marta Chocilowska (who selected it from 366 submitted haiku), selecting 3 prize-winning haiku and 10 commended haiku and giving some comments. I hope that you will enjoy reading them as Basho used to lean his back against a post and read poetry in his winter seclusion.
Hidenori Hiruta
WINNERS
(gifts and diplomas)
FIRST PRIZE
spring garden
the color returns
to her cheeks
Darrell Lindsey, USA
Hidenori Hiruta’s judging comment: Spring is here in the garden. Nature has awakened, with plants and trees sprouting new leaves and fresh spring flowers blooming there. In a warm breeze the garden is filled with the scent of life and growth and the riot of colors in the blooms of early flowers. Changing seasons have a profound effect on plant and animal life as well as on human life. Spring is the time of renewal of all living creatures.
SECOND PRIZE
mom’s lullaby –
the full moon now halved
by sardine clouds
Indra Neil Mekala, India
Hidenori Hiruta’s judging comment: This haiku reminds me of Issa’s haiku.
名月を取ってくれろと泣く子かな 一茶
Meigetsu wo totte kurero to naku ko kana
The child sobs,
“Give it to me!”
The bright full moon.
Issa
In the prize-winning haiku, the little child wants to get the full moon, sobbing in her mom’s bosom. Her mom sings a pleasant song to help her go to sleep. But it was in vain. Instead the sardine clouds do that. Half of the moon is invisible now. At last the little child goes to sleep.
Notes: Kobayashi Issa (小林 一茶) (1763 – 1828) is regarded as one of the haiku masters in Japan.
THIRD PRIZE
morning frost
granddaughter measures
my footprint
Mohammad Azim Khan, Pakistan
Hidenori Hiruta’s judging comment: Play is lots of fun for children. While in play, children want the time and opportunity to examine everything they see. And they find something new, expanding their scope. Granddaughter in this haiku is no exception. Even on the frosty morning, grandfather is the best toy for his granddaughter to play with. Seeing her grandfather’s footprint on the frost, granddaughter wants to measure his footprint. She finds how big his footprint is, having a new scope on how small her own footprint is. Play provides rich learning opportunities.
10 COMMENDATIONS – diplomas
(listed in seasonal order from spring to summer, autumn and winter)
first steps…
catching cherry blossoms
in chubby fist
Nancy Brady, USA
***
Sound of raindrops
dispersing our silence
under an umbrella.
Zlata Bogović, Croatia
***
by moonlight . . .
i slip into the stars of
my kimono
Veronika Zora Novak, Canada
***
Autumn moon
the burnt almond scent
as she leaves the room
John Hawkhead, United Kingdom
***
one last look before
getting on the tourist bus–
maples in Senshu Park
David McMurray, Japan
***
snip of paper –
painting in a black ink
an autumn leaf
Maria Piasecka, Poland
***
autumn wildflowers —
feeling like picking one up
on her party dress
Minh-Triêt Pham, France
***
Snow at night
hidden under the wing
the duck’s head
Pasquale Asprea, Italy
***
winter evening
I knit another row
of stars
Andy McLellan, United Kingdom
***
winter alone . . .
sometimes a chimney gust
stirs the embers
Lorin Ford, Australia
JURY COMMITTEE SUMMARY
Thanks to all 366 authors from 54 countries who have sent their haiku to the VII Polish International Haiku Competition. Like in the previous year, haiku was received by Krzysztof Kokot. Then he sent anonymously to Marta Chociłowska and Robert Kania, who chose haiku (taking into account their simplicity, originality, imagery, etc.) and sent them to Hidenori Hiruta, who made the final verdict.
Participants: Austria (3), Australia (12), Bangladesh (2), Belgium (1), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1), Brazil (3), Bulgaria (20), Canada (12), China (1), Colombia (1), Croatia (44), Cyprus (1), Denmark (1), France (8), Germany (13), Ghana (3), Greece (1), India (21), Ireland (2), Israel (1), Italy (16), Japan (1), Kenya (1), Lithuania (9), Macedonia (1), Malaysia (1), Malta (1), Montenegro (3), Netherlands (3), New Zealand (9), Nigeria (9), Norway (6), Pakistan (1), Philippines (4), Poland (24), Portugal (1), Romania (24), Russia (5), Serbia (11), Singapore (1), Slovenia (4), Spain (2), South Africa (1), Sri Lanka (2), Sweden (2), Switzerland (3), Tajikistan (1), Trinidad & Tobago (1), Tunisia (1), Turkey (1), Uganda (1), Ukraine (1), United Kingdom (23), USA (40).
Hidenori Hiruta, Final Judge (Founder of the Akita International Haiku Network)
Marta Chocilowska, Pre-selector (Treasurer of the Polish Haiku Association)
Robert Kania, Pre-selector (President of the Polish Haiku Association)
Krzysztof Kokot, Coordinator (Co-editor of the European Quarterly Kukai)
31.12.2017