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WHO
Anyone in the world, of any age or background, may participate (SCP Membership not required). Among members of the Society of Classical Poets, everyone including Advisory Board members may participate, if not involved in judging the contest. The winner, if not a U.S. resident, must have a PayPal account or a bank that accepts U.S. checks, in order to receive prize money.
IMPORTANT: By submitting haiku to this contest, the contestant declares that the poems are his or her own work, and that they were written in the last twelve months and therefore are not a repeat submission from a previous year. Poems written using artificial intelligence (AI) are not allowed. Please submit using your first and last name, as we may find it difficult to distinguish between contestants who have similar first names.
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PRIZE
$200
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JUDGES
J. Thomas Rimer, Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature, Theatre, and Art at the University of Pittsburgh; former chief of the Asian Division of the Library of Congress.
Margaret Coats, Ph.D. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University; retired from a career of teaching literature, languages, and writing that included considerable work in homeschooling for her own family and others.
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WHEN
Now until September 25, 2026, 6 p.m. EST (New York time). Results to be announced October 9, 2026. Please check back on October 9 or after to view the “Best Haiku of 2026” selected from this competition.
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HOW
Post your entries in the Comments below. (Click “Next” at the bottom-right of the comments to see all of the submitted poems.)
PLEASE NOTE: If you are having trouble submitting in the comments section below, you may email them instead to [email protected] with subject line “HAIKU.” Our apologies for the inconvenience.
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WHAT
Each competitor may post in the comments below up to three haiku of traditional form: three lines per poem with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second, and 5 in the third. Entrants are recommended to conform to other traditional haiku requirements outlined HERE.
If you want coaching on haiku features, please read the examples and explanation before submitting your entries. Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment. This is permitted until the competition closes, but do take reasonable care to complete work to your satisfaction before you enter it. Please do not use the Comment area as your scratch pad. That is discourteous to other competitors, to interested readers, and to the judge and will disqualify you.
Entries that do not meet basic traditional haiku requirements may be deleted. Anyone who submits more than three entries will have ALL his or her entries disqualified, unless excess entries are clearly withdrawn by a later Comment.
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PAST WINNERS
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Haiku
by “Clear Dew” Ibuse
You don’t have a choice
but to just keep on going,
semi no koe.
A helpless dew drop
A leaf blade bending to help
Gravitational
An impending sneeze
Holding a breath to expunge
Sharp bursts of relief
The morning sun rays
Caress and comfort cold skin
Soothing sensations
Summer floods recede
rescuers search the river
for missing idols
Third One
My son’s little stones
Found inside my grandma’s purse
Rest by her ashes
crunch of lifeless leaves
paws defile what autumn weaves
grave that no one grieves
stirring softly blurred
trickling snow with trill of bird
winter homeward heard
wings aflutter thrum
laden feet so softly drum
spring of life to come
Autumn Coal Camp
Red leaves veil black steel
Creek water carries coal dust
Mountains take it back
Spring Rhododendron
Pink blooms guard old stones
Names fade beneath petals
Mountains keep their own
Summer Evening
Cicadas call dusk
Porch lights wake along the ridge
Fireflies answer
Where do I come from
I want to know who I am
Victor Frankenstein
footprint
a track left behind
an imprint soon to vanish
nothing left to chow
Aguacero
Gota a gota
va cayendo sobre la
gris ciudad del sur
a last quarter moon
the old badger boar follows
a well-trodden pad
needles of the pine
wasp mandibles close around
the warmth of sunshine
moonlight finds them too
long-hollowed-out hazelnuts
under the floorboards
summer cicadas
mother braids her daughter’s hair
one white strand slips free
first frost in the field
wind fills the scarecrow’s torn sleeve
crows peck at the corn
Spicy leaves skitter
crispy crunchy confetti
salutes summer’s end
Black earth chopped and plowed
sugary frost now shelters
resting soil below
No buzzing or sting
politely waits until spring
this bug’s a lady
Noisy mix: Growing
Grass, seedlings, and weeds. Black
Crow trying to sleep.
The black bird strutting
Proudly under the light
Yellow eyes not singing.
Moon resting against
The cold windowpane–too soon
To climb into bed.
fanning feathers flick
fleeing flames in fertile fields
pheasant festival
winter wind whistles
while timpani tap tap time
crystal deco rime
furtive fire flashes
phoenix rising from ashes
dawns destiny day
#3
morning mist lifting
shaggy slope-shouldered bison
turn to bales of hay
post-its and dogears
in my mothers old bible –
apocalypse now
Well phrased and lineated, Marcel.
Each line is its own unit, with no filler
(the common weakness of 17ers
is padding to make the count),
and connects well with the others.
Capitalize Bible? That is the convention,
so much so that the lower case seems
to be making a statement, which is fine,
if that’s what you want.
And possessive apostrophe for mother’s too.
Pristine powder snow
Hundreds of happy skiers
Avalanche triggered
morning summer breeze
jumping on the trampoline
a child’s dream so high
inside the temple
a peaceful white-fronted goose
blossoms on his back
early morning moon
young hare on a grassy slope
chews daffodil heads
don’t talk about spring
shut up and let me listen
to the birds’ fresh songs
summer’s golden glow
fading in merciless heat
to fields’ dull yellow
rain, less refreshing
as summer melts into fall
drop hits dead brown leaf
1.
Autumn light skims ink—
Through a lens, one printed dot
Fine teeth fringe the edge.
2.
Cold November rain—
As the envelope is sealed,
A wet stroke gleams once.
3.
Rain ends before dusk—
Cedar tips hold one last drop,
A stone answers once.