AHA Contest 2024 Results:

Again, it has been an honour to convene the 2024 Hortensia Anderson Haiku Awards (aha). A Total of 1124 entries received from across the globe including the following countries Azerbaijan,Australia, Belgium, Bharat, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, France, Ghana, Greenland, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy. Jamaica, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mexico, Nepal, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland,Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, The Philippines, Turkey, UK, USA. A special thank you to friends on social media who distributed our competition flyer via Facebook pages and posted our competition details on their personal Web pages. It has been a pleasure to work with an’ya and the contest judge peterB.- Marilyn Humbert, Contest Coordinator


Judges Comments by peterB


Out of so many entries, this First Place haiku entered by Brad Bennett, I liked immediately. What grabbed my attention was that it ‘shows” us a happening without specifically “telling” us what actually created it. On a dark night, wind, rain and the tides steal the mornings clues, but with a calm bright overnight, we can now see two sets of flipper marks, going “from the sea and back” making this old sea turtle ritual easy to recall. 


FIRST PLACE


moonrise...

flipper marks from the sea  

and back


Brad Bennett

USA


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What’s an ice flower? One is an actual “plant” the other a near-arctic nature phenomena. Window panes turn moisture into bizarre ice patterns, and empty window frames can have true “frost weed” that obscures the empty portal with frosty ice designs…you may have seen it and just never thought to write about it in juxtaposition with “lace curtains”.


SECOND PLACE


ice flowers –

the abandoned house 

has lace curtains


Ana Drobot

Romania


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In this Third Place haiku,  a falling star episode certainly excites the senses, and breaks the visuals of an “orderly sky”. It also presents quite a unique perspective to a commonplace event. Thanks to the author for submitting this entry.


THIRD PLACE


sudden relief

from an orderly sky

falling star


Lisa Anne Johnson

USA


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HONORABLE MENTION


Fresh hay lying where cut, or on the barn floor after stacking, is both a great feedlot and playground for all the creatures; common sights like this are universal, memorable, and kitten-cute.


fresh hay  –

kittens figure-eighting

the mare's legs


Julie Schwerin

USA


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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS - AHA 2024 - GUIDELINES

 

The 1st “aha” (Annual Hortensia Anderson) Haiku Contest held in 2013 was created to honor the memory of a well-known and respected New York-based haiku poet, Hortensia Anderson. 

Deadline: open 1 January 2024 to 31 January 2024; results posted on this website in March 2024.

Sponsor: the United Haiku and Tanka Society.

Coordinator: Marilyn Humbert, Australia. 

Adjudication: Peter B, , USA. 

Eligibility: Open to everyone worldwide.

Awards: This contest is FREE for up to 10 entries, all rights remain with the haiku poets. Printable Certificates will be emailed to winners for 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place, and one HM.

Submissions: Entries must be the original work of the author, be unpublished and never posted publicly anywhere, and not under consideration elsewhere for the entire time period it takes to complete the judging. This contest is un-themed, open to all age groups worldwide, any season is acceptable, and there is no specific syllable requirement with the exception of a short, long, short rhythm written in 3 lines of text. Entries that do not follow these guidelines will not be considered, read carefully.

Entry Fee: None, it’s FREE

Guidelines: Use the subject heading (aha entry), and type each individual haiku only, (no senryu) in the body of your email. Include your name, country, and email contact. Please type in this email: 

mhumbert1953 at gmail dot com (no political or inappropriate material will be considered by the staff).

From Marilyn: “all entrants will be advised that I have received their entry, but if you haven’t heard from me within 7 days, please re-send.”

Notification: ONLY the winners will be notified and ONLY via email, (and if you have no email address available, (please provide a proxy email address.) If you don’t hear anything back by 1 March 2024, your entries are automatically free to submit elsewhere.

Publication: Winners’ will be posted in March 2024 on the UHTS website with Judge’s commentary. 

Thank you for your participation to honor the memory of a wonderful person who contributed so much of herself to the haiku community over the years, Rest in Peace Hortensia.