2023 Tokutomi Memorial Contest Results
Contest Results Announced by the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society
by Kathabela Wilson, 2023 Contest Chair
The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society has announced the winners of the 2023 Kiyoshi and Kiyoko Tokutomi Haiku Contest.
The judges for the 2023 contest were Emiko Miyashita and Nanae Tamura. Yuki Teikei is deeply indebted to them for so graciously sharing their time and expertise.
- Emiko Miyashita, a Japanese haiku poet, resides in Tokyo. She has been a regular commentator for Geppo’s “Dōjin’s Corner,” the quarterly journal of YTHS, since 2014. She is a member of Haiku Canada, a council of the Haiku International Association, a vice-chair of the English-Speaking Union of Japan, and a director of the JAL Foundation.
- Nanae Tamura is a Japanese haiku poet, essayist, and translator. She translated and co-edited with Cor van den Heuvel the book Baseball Haiku: The Best Haiku Ever Written about the Game (2007). Her great pleasure is writing a column for the Shiki Newsletter, and being an active member of the Shiki Museum. Yearly, she judges the English entries to the Matsuyama City Haiku Post Contest, and once a month, she holds a kukai for two local haiku groups.
In addition to the three prize-winning haiku, ten equally-ranked haiku were chosen by the judges for Honorable Mention.
1st Prize:
first birdsong at dawn
umami percolates through
my mother’s kitchen
~ Wakako Rollinger
2nd Prize:
hillside snow angels
the Zephyr train engineer
blasts two short whistles
~ Alison Woolpert
3rd Prize:
they stop together
then move on separately
the rabbit and time
~ Clark Strand
An Honorable Mention was awarded to each of the following people:
Betty Arnold, Marcia Burton, Tracy Davidson, Johnnie Johnson Hafernik, Barrie Levine, Priscilla Lignori, Richard Matta, Desiree McMurray, Lorraine Padden, and Clark Strand.
Congratulations to all of these poets and great gratitude to the judges.
The illustrated brochure of all the haiku and the judges’ comments on the winners may be viewed by clicking on the brochure image at the top of this page, and/or downloaded here.