HAIKU JUNIOR results – NZPS International Poetry Competition 2026
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners and placegetters of the Haiku Junior category of the 2026 NZPS International Poetry Competition. Sandra Simpson was the judge for this category, and judging comments appear beneath each haiku.
FIRST PRIZE – SECONDARY
ELISSA CROY
St Andrew’s College, Ōtautahi Christchurch
down by the lake
a young girl
drifts away
There are many ways to read this haiku, which helped make it a clear winner. Is the young girl in, for example, a kayak and idling off shore; is she metaphorically drifting into her next stage of existence (from young girl to teen); is there something darker going on and this is the final scene before the lakeside community is asked to help find a missing child? With very few hard sounds in the haiku, perhaps the last scenario was not in the poet’s mind. A season is not made explicit, which is another way for the reader to “own” the poem. I see summer twilight, how about you?
SECOND PRIZE
TOM AMBURY
St Andrew’s College, Ōtautahi Christchurch
by the river
he holds a box
etched with his mother’s name
An astutely-written haiku that says a great deal without giving much away. I daresay most readers will picture a scattering of ashes but it’s not stated. How heavy that box must be for the person holding it – besides the ashes, physically light, there will be the emotions that go with the death of a parent. The time of day, weather, season, size of the river, urban/rural, what the box is made from, and the age of “he” are left up to us. The long third line unbalances the haiku, but perhaps this was a deliberate ploy to “unbalance” the reader when the word “mother” comes along.
THIRD PRIZE
EMMA ZHANG
St Andrew’s College, Ōtautahi Christchurch
cool shell
against my ear
whale song
A lovely moment captured well – and a sensory haiku to boot (touch and sound). The comparison/contrast of something washed up and subject to human touch – a universal experience – and something wild in the ocean is invigorating. The poet has made good use of repeating soft sounds which adds to the ‘otherworldly’ feel of this poem. Might the language of whales – which they send vast distances across oceans – have something to teach us? Perhaps, like the poet, we should listen carefully.
***
FIRST PRIZE – PRIMARY/INTERMEDIATE
ANGELA ZHAO
Write On School for Young Writers, Ōtautahi Christchurch
in the hut
a worn-out mug
the fading smell of cocoa
So nice to read a sensory haiku where the poet has really been paying attention – a “fading smell” must be hard to pinpoint and identify. After a hard day’s tramp, a mug of cocoa must be a welcome treat. Some unknown person has already been here and done that so not only is our poet literally walking to the hut, they are also metaphorically following in someone else’s footsteps. I would have preferred to see a break, for instance, an em dash, at the end of line two to aid the reader, but that’s a minor quibble and this is a worthy winner!
SECOND PRIZE
AMIR NOMOZOV
Kapakapanui School, Waikanae
kids talking
in the wind
of a dark sky
Among the “rules” of haiku is that they are not run-on sentences and that they comprise two parts. However, I think our audacious young poet pulls it off here, thanks to the mystery the haiku provokes. Is “the wind of a dark sky” different to other winds? I don’t know, so the poet has nudged me into thinking about it. And what are the kids talking about? Adults say “out of the mouths of babes”, meaning children, in their innocence, are honest and truthful. Perhaps we should listen to their conversations more often, particularly, ones that take place in foreboding circumstances.
THIRD PRIZE
CLAIRE ZHAO
Ōtautahi, Christchurch
a blanket of leaves
near the pedestrian lane
the old woman’s broom
What are we to make of this autumnal urban scene? Is it in New Zealand or a place where elderly women use simple straw brooms to daily sweep paths? Is the old woman present in the poem or are we “seeing” her ghost, with just her broom left behind? Does the “blanket of leaves” mean the old woman has been missing from her chore for a few days? Is she unwell, or has the weather been bad and like a fairytale old woman, she’s been safely inside with her black cat brewing potions? With no break defined, line 2 can be read with either line 1 or line 3 (making it a pivot), a clever way of keeping the reader off-balance.
HIGHLY COMMENDED (in no particular order)
dust motes dance
in the space
where I used to be
Prem Priyank
Secondary, Supaul, India
***
morning mist
the heat of my breath
claims the mountain
Prem Priyank
Secondary, Supaul India
endless steppe of green
the wind carries horse head tunes
Jack Foley,
St Andrew’s College, Ōtautahi Christchurch
***
after the funeral
he holds my hand tightly
a green balloon floats away
Tom Ambury
St Andrews College, Ōtautahi Christchurch
***
COMMENDED (in no particular order)
at the border
derelict buildings
I wait alone
Cooper Rogers
St Andrew’s College, Ōtautahi Christchurch
***
still mountains
spoken into creation
Oaklan Marshall,
St Andrew’s College, Ōtautahi Christchurch
***
above the clearing
the white tail’s roar
echoes the valley
Jack Wilkins
St Andrew’s College, Ōtautahi Christchurch
***
Pink Shirt Day
A flash of colour
Christmas cactus
Cartier Barrett-Rawiri
St Andrew’s College, Ōtautahi Christchurch
***
Thank you to all the students for your entries.