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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