November 9, 2020

2020 Tokutomi Contest Results

2020 Tokutomi Memorial Contest Results

Contest Results Announced by the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society

by Kathabela Wilson, 2020 Contest Chair

The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society announces the winners of the 2020 Kiyoshi and Kiyoko Tokutomi Haiku Contest.

The judge for the 2020 contest was Emiko Miyashita. Yuki Teikei is deeply indebted to her for so graciously sharing her time and expertise.

  • Emiko Miyashita (1954- ), a Japanese haiku poet,  has attended the Haiku Retreat of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society (YTHS) at Asilomar, on and off, since 2000. On her first visit she read from her translation of Love Haiku: Masajo Suzuki’s Lifetime of Love. She is a judge for the monthly haiku contest organized by the English-Speaking Union of Japan, writes a column for the Haiku International Association, and conducts thirty kukai a year. She enjoys commenting on haiku for “Dojin’s Corner” in Geppo, the quarterly journal of YTHS. She is a member of Haiku Canada, a director of the Japan Airlines (JAL) Foundation which has organized the World Children’s Haiku Contest since 1990, and a grandmother of three little girls.

In addition to the three prize-winning haiku, ten equally-ranked haiku were chosen by the judge for Honorable Mention.

1st Place:

the hoot of an owl
the way Mother put up with
my bedtime questions

~ Gregory Longenecker

 

2nd Place:

the sequined costume
of the baton twirler gleams
young dandelion

~ Clysta Seney

 

3rd Place:

first flute of bamboo
one hole for each old regret
spaced unevenly

~ Bill Cooper

An Honorable Mention was awarded to each of the following people:

Roger Abe, J Hahn Doleman, Gregory Longenecker, Carole MacRury,
Lorraine Padden, Linda Papanicolaou (2), Debbie Strange, Genevieve Wynand (2).

Congratulations to all these poets and great gratitude to the judge.

The illustrated brochure of all the haiku and the judges’ comments on the winners may be viewed and/or downloaded here.