The Loke Hilikimani Haiku Contest was first held in 1987, the project of haiku poet and critic Leatrice Lifshitz of Pomona, New York. The contest was established in memory of Rose Hirshman, who published under the nom de plume of Loke Hilikimani and who died in 1984. The contest, coordinated by Lifshitz and sponsored by the Rockland County (New York) Haiku Society, ran for five years, 1987–1990 and 1992. Modern Haiku editor Robert Spiess was judge for all five contests.
General Procedures
The Loke Hilikimani Haiku Contest was open to all poets. Submissions of up to three haiku on a single sheet of paper with no identification of the author were invited, plus a second sheet with the same haiku plus author’s name and address. A fee of $1.00 per submission of one to three haiku was required. Deadline was typically the end of February.
The contest awarded prizes of $30.00, $15.00, and $10.00 as well as one to three ranked Honorable Mentions. Unfortunately, a record of the number of entries for each contest has not survived. The results of the contests were usually reported in the Haiku Society of America Newsletter and/or Frogpond.
Loke Hilikimani Haiku Contest (1992)
| Judge | Robert Spiess | |
| Number of entries | Not stated | |
| First Place | June Moreau | It has an odd shape too the ear that hears it— the loon’s voice |
| Second Place | Helen J. Sherry | sunset … a crow flies its call deep into the forest |
| Third Place | Marilyn Taylor | where the lamb has lain through this brown winter a crescent of green |
| Honorable Mention | Patricia Neubauer | house of mourning downstairs women whisper over teacups |
Loke Hilikimani Haiku Contest (1990)
| Judge | Robert Spiess | |
| Number of entries | Not stated | |
| First Place | Marlina Rinzen | After the storm the child pulling a wagon of rain |
| Second Place | David Elliot | All these weeks my bootprints frozen in mud |
| Third Place | Wally Swist | morning star— the hospice patient lingers |
| First Honorable Mention | Elizabeth St Jacques | the hole darkening in the lawn … a circle of sand |
| Second Honorable Mention | Peggy Willis Lyles | a black bear noses muscadines … slow summer stream |
| Third Honorable Mention | Helen E. Dalton | White cranes in flight on the celadon vase … one long-stemmed rose |
Loke Hilikimani Haiku Contest (1989)
| Judge | Robert Spiess | |
| Number of entries | Not stated | |
| First Place | Irene K. Wilson | morning shower the paperboy bikes into the rainbow |
| Second Place | Vincent Tripi | Crimson sunset … wild cherry wood smoking the beekeeper’s hand |
| Third Place | Rebecca Rust | fall rain, the hearse rolls slowly through the red light |
| First Honorable Mention | Lenard D. Moore | moonlit field— a dusting of snow on the rusty plow |
| Second Honorable Mention | Ross Figgins | the dragonfly hesitates above a broken mirror— first heavy drops of rain |
Loke Hilikimani Haiku Contest (1988)
| Judge | Robert Spiess | |
| Number of entries | Not stated | |
| First Place | Charles E. Cockelreas | Unloading sacks of rice at the polishing mill. A flurry of sparrow. |
| Second Place | Michael Ketchek | smoking a cigarette going to work at the reactor |
| Third Place | Timothy Russell | at the river’s edge ice melts from willow branches— a dangling fish-hook |
| Honorable Mention | H. F. Noyes | moonlit snowflakes floating into the cage of the silver fox |
Loke Hilikimani Haiku Contest (1987)
| Judge | Robert Spiess | |
| Number of entries | Not stated | |
| First Place | Elizabeth Searle Lamb | the brown-robed priest focusing on Indian dancers, sunflash off his Leica |
| Second Place | Frederick Gasser | monastery pond holding the moon still: a prayer circle |
| Third Place | Helen Dalton | the gnarled fingers of the deaf old man tuned to his cat |
| First Honorable Mention | Pat Campbell | Old man, old woman— Stopping arm-in-arm By the stone lamb |
| Second Honorable Mention | Donald McLeod | kitten watches a toadstool filling with moonlight |