The HaikuNow! International Haiku Contest, administered in three categories: Traditional, Contemporary, and Innovative, ran for five years, from 2010 through 2014. Any poet could enter one poem in any or all of the categories each year, and there was no entry fee. Results were traditionally announced on April 17 as part of the celebration of first National, and later, International Haiku Poetry Day.
The HaikuNow! International Haiku Contest was one of the earliest projects created and implemented by The Haiku Foundation. It was first conducted in 2010 and ran for five years. Contest results were traditionally announced on The Haiku Foundation website on April 17 as part of the celebration of first, National Haiku Poetry Day, later International Haiku Poetry Day.
The contest was administered in three categories:
Traditional (5–7–5 or nearly so), with a kire (cut) and a kigo (season word);
Contemporary (a freer approach to syllable count and adherence to “classical” topics); and
Innovative (everything else); haiku submitted in this category tended to be concrete poems or visual haiku (“eyeku”).
Any poet could enter one poem in any or all of the categories each year, and there was no entry fee. A winner of any category automatically became the screener for that category the following year.
Each year, the Traditional category was adjudicated by a guest judge, typically a well-known poet, scholar, or critic from outside the haiku community. Jim Kacian, president of The Haiku Foundation, judged the Contemporary and Innovative categories.
The HaikuNow! contest was discontinued following the 2014 iteration. It was determined by the THF Board of Directors that there were sufficient haiku contests available to haiku poets from other providers and that foundation resources spent on the contest could be better utilized on other projects.
The essential contest results are presented in the table below. The complete archives of the HaikuNow! International Haiku Contests are available on the THF website [https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/haikunow-archive/].
HAIKUNOW! INTERNATIONAL HAIKU CONTEST 2014
| Contest Coordinator | Maria Eugenia Moreno (Brazil) |
Overall number of entries | 1,124 |
Traditional Category
| Judge | Thomas A. Clark (U.K.) |
| Pre-selector | John Hawkhead (U.K.) |
| Number of entries | 455 |
| First Prize ($100) | Nicole Pottier (France) |
| Runners-up ($25) (2) | Robert Davey (U.K.) |
| William Hart (U.S.A.) | |
| Commended (2) | Michael Henry Lee (U.S.A.) |
| Stephen Toft (U.K.) |
Contemporary Category
| Judge | Jim Kacian (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | Don Baird (U.S.A.) |
| Number of entries | 374 |
| First Prize ($100) | Cherie Hunter Day (U.S.A.) |
| Runners-up ($25) (2) | Stewart C. Baker (U.S.A.) |
| Mark Smith (U.S.A.) | |
| Commended (2) | Dietmar Tauchner (Austria) |
| William Hart (U.S.A.) |
Innovative Category
| Judge | Jim Kacian (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | Christopher Patchel (U.S.A.) |
| Number of entries | 295 |
| First Prize ($100) | Joseph Salvatore Aversano (Turkey) |
| Runners-up ($25) (2) | Kevin Goldstein-Jackson (U.K.) |
| Tom Painting (U.S.A.) | |
| Commended (2) | Philip Rowland (U.K./Japan) |
| Deborah P Kolodji (U.S.A.) |
HAIKUNOW! INTERNATIONAL HAIKU CONTEST 2013
| Contest Coordinator | Maria Eugenia Moreno (Brazil) |
| Overall number of entries | 957 |
Traditional Category
| Judge | Peter Duppenthaler (U.S.A./Japan) |
| Pre-selector | Michael Henry Lee (U.S.A.) |
| Number of entries | 372 |
| First Prize ($100) | John Hawkhead (U.K.) |
| Runners-up ($25) (2) | Anatoly Kudryavitsky (Ireland) |
| anonymous | |
| Commended | Seánan Forbes (U.K.) |
Contemporary Category
| Judge | Jim Kacian (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | Cara Holman (U.S.A.) |
| Number of entries | 330 |
| First Prize ($100) | Don Baird (U.S.A.) |
| Runners-up ($25) (2) | Lorin Ford (Australia) |
| Veronika Zora Novak (Canada) | |
| Commended (2) | Sandra Simpson (New Zealand) |
| David Caruso (U.S.A.) |
Innovative Category
| Judge | Jim Kacian (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | Peter Newton (U.S.A.) |
| Number of entries | 255 |
| First Prize ($100) | Christopher Patchel (U.S.A.) |
| Runners-up ($25) (2) | Eduard Țară (Romania) |
| John Fedyna (U.S.A.) | |
| Commended (2) | Terri L. French (U.S.A.) |
| Lorin Ford (Australia) |
HAIKUNOW! INTERNATIONAL HAIKU CONTEST 2012
| Contest Coordinator | Maria Eugenia Moreno (Brazil) |
| Overall number of entries | 891 |
Traditional Category
| Judge | Jane Hirshfield |
| Pre-selector | Peter Newton (U.S.A.) |
| Number of entries | 358 |
| First Prize ($100) | Michael Henry Lee (U.S.A.) |
| Runners-up ($25) (2) | William Cullen, Jr. (U.S.A.) |
| Alice Frampton (U.S.A.) | |
| Commended (3) | Kathy Lippard Cobb (U.S.A.) |
| June Rose Dowis (U.S.A.) | |
| Alegria Imperial (Canada) |
Contemporary Category
| Judge | Jim Kacian (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | Francine Banwarth (U.S.A.) |
| Number of entries | 316 |
| First Prize ($100) | Cara Holman (U.S.A.) |
| Runners-up | Glenn G. Coats (U.S.A.) |
| Michael Henry Lee (U.S.A.) | |
| Commended | Mark E. Brager (U.S.A.) |
| Mark Smith (U.S.A.) |
Innovative Category
| Judge | Jim Kacian (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | Christopher Patchel (U.S.A.) |
| Number of entries | 217 |
| First Prize ($100) | Peter Newton (U.S.A.) |
| Runners-up ($25) (2) | Jana Žufić (Croatia) |
| Darrell Lindsey (U.S.A.) | |
| Commended (4) | Rebecca Winsor (U.S.A.) |
| Bruce H. Feingold (U.S.A.) | |
| Scott Mason (U.S.A.) | |
| Tom Painting (U.S.A.) |
HAIKUNOW! INTERNATIONAL HAIKU CONTEST 2011
| Contest Coordinator | Laura Sherman (U.S.A.) |
| Overall number of entries | 858 |
Traditional Category
| Judge | Jane Hirshfield |
| Pre-selector | Julie Bloss Kelsey |
| Number of entries | 315 |
| First Prize ($100) | Tom Painting (U.S.A.) |
| Runners-up ($25) (4) | Melissa Spurr (U.S.A.) |
| Deb Baker (U.S.A.) | |
| Christopher Patchel (U.S.A.) | |
| Marion Alice Poirier (U.S.A.) |
Contemporary Category
| Judge | Jim Kacian (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | Maria Eugenia Moreno (Brazil) |
| Number of entries | 303 |
| First Prize ($100) | Francine Banwarth (U.S.A.) |
| Runners-up ($25) (4) | Sandra Simpson (New Zealand) |
| an’ya (U.S.A.) | |
| C. R. Manley (U.S.A.) | |
| Peter Newton (U.S.A.) | |
Innovative Category
| Judge | Jim Kacian (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | Melissa Allen (U.S.A.) |
| Number of entries | 240 |
| First Prize ($100) | Christopher Patchel (U.S.A.) |
| Runners-up ($25) (4) | Willy Cuvelier (Belgium) |
| Nan Dozier (U.S.A.) | |
| Rafał Zabratyński (Poland) | |
| Seneca Kennedy (U.S.A.) |
HAIKUNOW! INTERNATIONAL HAIKU CONTEST 2010
| Contest Coordinator | Alice Frampton (U.S.A.) |
| Overall number of entries | More than 700 |
Traditional category
| Judge | Billy Collins (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | Peggy Willis Lyles (U.S.A.) |
| Number of entries | More than 100 |
| First Prize ($100) | Cherie Hunter Day (U.S.A.) |
| Runners-up ($25) | John Tiong Chung Hoo (Malaysia) |
| Victor Ortiz (U.S.A.) | |
| Madeleine Findlay (U.S.A.) | |
| Cory Ryant (U.S.A.) |
Contemporary Category
| Judge | Jim Kacian (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | John Stevenson |
| Number of entries | More than 100 |
| First Prize ($100) | Lorin Ford (Australia) |
| Runners-up ($25) | Vanessa Proctor (Australia) |
| Chad Lee Robinson (U.S.A.) | |
| Rosie Roumeliotis (Greece) | |
| Nora Wood (U.S.A.) |
Innovative Category
| Judge | Jim Kacian (U.S.A.) |
| Pre-selector | Philip Rowland (U.K./Japan) |
| Number of entries | 240 |
| First Prize ($100) | Olga Dugan (France) |
| Runners-up ($25) | Cherie Hunter Day (U.S.A.) |
| Tom Clausen (U.S.A.) | |
| Scott Mason (U.S.A.) | |
| H. Gene Murtha (U.S.A.) | |
COMPILED BY: Jim Kacian and Haikupedia editors
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