Polish Haiku Association organized PIHC – VII Edition 2017, whose results were announced on December 31.
Guidelines
Submission period: October 15 – November 30, 2017
Haiku: one (not previously published in any form, not submitted anywhere), one person can send only one haiku – multiply submissions will not be accepted
Language: English
Theme: free
Style: with kigo (seasonal reference – any), three lines, within the 5-7-5 syllable pattern, no strict syllable count
Fee: none
Jury: Hidenori Hiruta (Founder of the Akita International Haiku Network) – Final Judge, Marta Chocilowska (Treasurer of the PHA) and Robert Kania (President of the PHA) – Pre-Selectors
Coordinator: Krzysztof Kokot – haiku poet
Results: up to 31 December
Prizes: diplomas and gifts for 1st (one haiku), 2nd (one haiku) and 3rd prize (one haiku), diplomas for commendations (ten haiku)
Organizer: Polish Haiku Association (PHA)
Note: any correspondence regarding this contest (queries, doubts etc. ) should be mailed to pihc@psh.org.pl
Online entry form:
the deadline has expired
VII PIHC 2017 – results
FINAL JUDGE’S GENERAL COMMENTARY
Hidenori Hiruta’s Profile : https://akitahaiku.com/2010/04/10/haiku-by-hidenori-hiruta-in-japan/
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
春の庭
生色が戻る
彼女の頬に
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
母親の子守歌－
満月が半分になった
イワシ雲で
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
朝の霜
孫娘が測る
私の足跡を
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
最初の歩み．．．
桜の花を摑む
ふっくらとした拳の中に
***
Sound of raindrops
dispersing our silence
under an umbrella.
Zlata Bogović, Croatia
雨滴の音
私たちの沈黙を散らす
雨傘の下で
***
by moonlight . . .
i slip into the stars of
my kimono
Veronika Zora Novak, Canada
月光によって．．．
私は着物の星の中に滑り込む
***
Autumn moon
the burnt almond scent
as she leaves the room
John Hawkhead, United Kingdom
秋の月
焼いたアーモンドの香り
彼女が部屋を出るとき
***
one last look before
getting on the tourist bus–
maples in Senshu Park
David McMurray, Japan
最後の一見
観光バスに乗る前に――
千秋公園の紅葉
***
snip of paper –
painting in a black ink
an autumn leaf
Maria Piasecka, Poland
切り取られた小片の紙－
黒いインクで描いている
秋の葉
***
autumn wildflowers —
feeling like picking one up
on her party dress
Minh-Triêt Pham, France
秋の野花－
一本を摘みたいような気分
彼女のパーテイドレスに
***
Snow at night
hidden under the wing
the duck’s head
Pasquale Asprea, Italy
夜の雪
翼の下に隠れる
鴨の頭
***
winter evening
I knit another row
of stars
Andy McLellan, United Kingdom
冬の夜
私は別の星の列を編む
***
winter alone . . .
sometimes a chimney gust
stirs the embers
Lorin Ford, Australia
冬一人．．．
時々煙突の突然の噴出が
燃えさしをかき立てる
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 Hirut, 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
Akita International Haiku Network 