First Prize (and winner of the Jeanette Stace Memorial Prize): Claire Knight (United Kingdom) - fluttering to the creak

Second Prize: Ernest J Berry (Picton) -  bedside vigil 

Third Prize: Sandra Simpson (Tauranga) -  great-grandfather's diary -

Fourth prize: Patricia Prime (Auckland) -  table for two -

Fifth Prize: Steve Cordery (Tauranga) -  the scent of jasmine

Highly Commended:

Melanie Barnes (Upper Hutt): ‘boarding school at 7': Nathalie Buckland (Australia): ‘picnic area...'; Steve Cordery (Tauranga): ‘holding hands'; Helen Lowe (Christchurch): ‘after the funeral'; Joanna Preston (Christchurch): ‘new glasses'; Eleanor Rae (Christchurch): ‘christmas lily'; Sandra Simpson (Tauranga): ‘through the dome'; Helen Yong (Christchurch): ‘camping ground...'.

Commended:

Ernest J Berry (Picton): ‘early snow'; Owen Bullock (Waihi): ‘an ambulance'; Karen Peterson Butterworth (Otaki): ‘Heathrow' and ‘2 am police call'; Ngaere Campbell (Coromandel): ‘winding road at evening'; Kirsten Cliff (Tauranga): ‘marriage ceremony'; Cameron Elliot (Tauranga): ‘city centre'; Maureen Irvine (Coromandel): ‘dead transistor radio ...'; Scott Mason (USA): ‘twang of the fence wire - ‘; Sandra Simpson (Tauranga): ‘country war memorial'.

Judge's Report:

opening the mail
a ream
of haiku

That's how it began - 505 haiku waiting for me to read, enjoy, sort and finally rank the top thirty or so outstanding entries. After an initial run through, it seemed wise to make a start on my final report, and clarify what I would be looking for!

First up, although a haiku captures a moment in time it has to do a lot more than that. We can run outside with a digital camera these days and quickly capture a moment. A reaction of "Oh, that's nice" may be an acceptable response. A similar approach with a ‘haiku' could result in "that's nice - but so what?" A good haiku should never result in "So what?"

Likewise, all other things being equal, I would be looking for fresh images and images that truly reflected the culture in which the writer lived. I'm afraid a "cherry-blossom" haiku would be at an immediate disadvantage and have to work really hard to overcome a history of overuse.

Likewise, a good haiku should usually suggest time of year by its imagery rather than stating specifically ‘winter', ‘autumn', ‘summer' or ‘spring'.

I would expect that the best haiku would stop me in my tracks - I would grab hold of the contrasting images conjured up by the writer, would maybe empathise with the thoughts, would be struck by the freshness, the strength, the realisation that "Yes, that's so true". The "Ah" factor.

I would not distinguish between haiku and senryu from the point of view of favouring one or the other.

I would keep in mind the excellent "Guidelines for writing haiku" found in the appendix of the first New Zealand Haiku Anthology (1993). To quote Cyril Childs : "Haiku is about what is happening now, about keenly perceived moments in time. Haiku is about images (often unexpectedly juxtaposed) that arouse interest and emotions; about layers of suggestion and implication - these give haiku their all important ‘depth'. Haiku is about sparseness and clarity, the right choice of words that conveys images explicitly and emotions implicitly. Haiku provide jumping-off points for readers to explore their own experiences. Haiku is about being part of the world around us".

Over the course of two weeks I read through all the entries several times, gradually letting go of some each time as I aimed for my final selection from which I would choose the top five, followed by Highly Commended and Commended. In general I was impressed by the quality, so much so that when I thought I was quite close to the final selection process, I discovered that I actually still had 185 haiku to choose from! There followed a few more ruthless readings, then a change of mind on some and I ended up with 25 from which to make my final selections. The wonderful thing about haiku is that we are all able to interpret them in different ways according to our own unique experiences. So, a haiku that particularly impresses me may do nothing for some other reader. This leads me to comment (as I usually do when judging a competition of any poetic form): "Remember that the results in a competition are just one person's opinion. The important thing is to express yourself, write as well as you can, steadily improve, and share your work - especially through ‘live' performance. Read as many published poets as you can, and support any live readings you hear about". Here are my choices:

First

fluttering to the creak
of ice caverns
Himalayan prayer flags

My choice of haiku for first place hit me immediately - it brought to mind an interview I had seen with a community of people who lived, I think, in Nepal. Their whole future was under threat (as is the world's) from the effects of global warming and particularly in their case the retreating glaciers, upon whose water supply they depended at certain times of the year. I was also reminded of the power and danger of the ice formations, after the collapse of an ice shelf at Fox Glacier in NZ which killed two tourists recently. Daily we read of how the world's leaders are dragging their heels on dealing with global warming. This haiku leaves us with the striking image of an old indigenous people's reliance on prayer to bring a solution.

Second

bedside vigil
the man in the moon
almost gone

So many questions from a simple-looking haiku ... Who was the vigil for? What was the relationship? At first glance we expect that the person in the bed is an older person, soon to leave this life. The mention of "the man in the moon" suggests that the visitor has been there a long time, maybe literally all night or maybe even longer. Night-time is almost over, the vigil is almost over, just as a life is about to end. But then that phrase "the man in the moon" suggests nursery rhymes and that a child may be involved. That makes the whole situation much more poignant.

Third

great-grandfather's diary -
his sketch of an iceberg
fading away

OK - so it's another global warming one! Topical yes, but such an important issue ... Neat images from a bygone era - a time when people used to keep a diary. Had great-grandfather been on a cruise to see icebergs? Was he going overseas to serve in some war in Victorian times where he had come across icebergs? Had he just seen photographs or read books about icebergs, even before the invention of ‘moving pictures'? We don't know, but we can conjure up all kinds of possibilities. It was a time before anyone talked about global warming or abuse of the Earth's resources. At the end, the sketch of the iceberg is "fading away" just as the real icebergs are in today's environment.

Fourth

table for two -
I share it with a stranger
and my notebook

Ah! Here's a more light-hearted one! "Table for two" is simple, but was it the only table available and was the sharing a matter of necessity? Was the writer (probably female) going to use her notebook as a barrier between her and the stranger? Was the stranger a man? Was the notebook in fact a book or a small computer? Was the table booked in advance, knowing that it would be shared with a stranger? If so, was that stranger someone the writer was going to interview? Was it a blind date? Were the two people actually in a relationship that was ‘past its use-by date'? Had the other person become a stranger through time? Was the writer going to end a relationship? Had the relationship already ended and were the two people meeting in a public place to discuss settlement details? Many possibilities from the seemingly innocuous three short lines.

Fifth

the scent of jasmine
as he makes the bed

Seems simple enough ... but in a stereotypical way, why is "he" making the bed? It suggests that he is living alone, whether permanently of temporarily. Was he in a relationship that has recently ended? Was it recent enough that the smell of his partner's fragrance is still on the sheets? Is it the beginning of a new relationship where a new partner has stayed overnight, possibly for the first time and he is lingering over the scent of her? Is he merely making the bed and the scent of jasmine wafts in from outside through an open window, bringing other memories altogether? Is he staying somewhere away from home, and the scent of jasmine reminds him of home, a partner, a lover? Again, many questions from a seemingly very simple haiku. Of course, there is no answer!


[As for the] Highly Commended and Commended entries [s]ometimes the borders were blurred, and there were a large number of very good submissions. It's been a pleasure to judge this year's competition.


Tony Chad - June 2009


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