FIRST PRIZE
$100
autumn
light
just
this much
to
go on
Francine
Banwarth
Dubuque,
Iowa
SECOND
PRIZE
$50
mountain
clearing
a hawk carves
all
the rest
Scott
Mason
Chappaqua,
New York
THIRD
PRIZE
$25
farmer’s
scythe
a
harvesting song
in
each sweep
an’ya
La Pine,
Oregon
HONOURABLE
MENTION
endless rain
in my mother’s kitchen
the snap, snapping of beans
T.A. Carter
Ottawa, Ontario
a heat wave
the butterfly
fans its shadow
Natalia L. Rudychev
Des Plaines, Illinois
autumn foliage past its
peak—
the pathway home
in sepia
Scott
Mason
Chappaqua,
New York
meadow pond
our blades slice figures
on the moon
Catherine J.S. Lee
Eastport,
Maine
retirement
home—
each
time the heron comes
another
goldfish gone
elehna de sousa
Salt Spring
Island, British Columbia
foreign
airport—
a
baby’s cry
takes
me farther from home
Michael
Dylan Welch
Sammamish, Washington
they
all hush
when she walks past
–sparrows
in the hedge
Liz Fenn
Wellsville,
New York
cattails
in moonlight--
no
such
urges
at my age
Bill
Pauly
Dubuque,
Iowa
JUDGE’S COMMENTS
Angela Leuck
Each of the three
prize-winning haiku immediately struck me as classics. In the case of the
first, the poem seems almost effortless, completely pared down and lacking in
embellishment or artifice. The poet began with the phrase “autumn light,”
followed by the simple commentary “just this much to go on.” This was a poem I
felt “in my bones.”
The second place poem
possesses a sense of timelessness, and its greatness hinges on the poet’s
choice of the verb “carves,” which gives us as well the pleasantly repeated “c”
sound.
The third place poem
also has an ageless quality. I could almost imagine it being written in the
time of Basho.
Of the poems selected
for Honourable Mention, the first four give us clear images of season and in
each case heighten our awareness through the skillful use of sound, sight and
touch. We can hear the “snap, snapping of beans” and the scrape of skates on
ice; we can see the sepia of late autumn foliage and the bright colours of the
butterfly; and we can feel on our skin the blistering heat of a summer day and
the exhilarating cold of a winter night.
The last four haiku
are closer to senryu and evoke an emotional response. They give us a moment to
reflect on the passage of human time, our connections to home and family and
those occasions of joy and sensuality that come and eventually pass us by.
It was a pleasure
judging this year’s Betty Drevniok contest, and I congratulate all the winners.
There were of course many other poems that I would like to have selected but
was unable to because of the necessity to choose. To their authors, too, I
offer a tip of my hat.
Angela Leuck is vice president of
Haiku Canada and the author of Flower
Heart (Blue Ginkgo Press, 2006).
THE BETTY DREVNIOK AWARD
Held
annually, the Betty Drevniok Award was established by Haiku Canada in 1998 in
memory of Betty Drevniok, Past President of the society. First Prize, $100;
second prize, $50; Third Prize, $25 for haiku. Haiku must be unpublished and
not under consideration elsewhere. A flat fee of $5 CDN (in Canada) or $5 US
(from entries outside Canada). Send up to 3 haiku. Submit two copies of each
haiku, each copy typed or neatly printed on a 3x5 card. One card in each set
must include the author’s name, address and phone number in the upper corner,
while the other card must contain no identifying marks for anonymous judging.
Postmark
Deadline: February 14th. If you are not a member of Haiku Canada and
wish a copy of the broadsheet with the list of winners (announced in May),
include a SASE (business size, Cdn stamps) or a SAE for $1 for postage
and handling. No entries returned, no further correspondence. Fee payable to
Haiku Canada. Send entries to,
The
Betty Drevniok Award
c/o
Ann Goldring
PO
Box 97, 5 Cooks Drive
Leaskdale,
Ontario, Canada L0C 1C0
Contest
Coordinator, broadsheet: Ann
Goldring Sumi-e Paintings: Kathleen Baldry
THE
BETTY
DREVNIOK
AWARD
2009
Angela Leuck, Judge
HAIKU
CANADA SHEET 2009
