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Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival announces winners of 2007 Haiku Invitational

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, February 27, 2007

Second annual Haiku Invitational attracted 1,130 entries from 32 countries

Four entries from Ottawa, Arizona, Poland and Ohio have been selected as the top Canadian, American, International and Youth haiku in the Second Annual Haiku Invitational, which attracted 1,130 haiku from 32 countries. The response to this year’s Invitational, which had a limit of one entry per person, was significantly higher than last year’s inaugural Invitational, where 540 writers responded from 27 countries.

"We were very pleased with the increased volume of haiku submissions this year, and hope people will enjoy reading the poems on the web site and hearing them at festival events," said Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (VCBF) judge Michael Dylan Welch. "Once again, we looked for freshness and authenticity in how the poets presented their cherry blossom images. The better poems excelled at objectivity, juxtaposition, clarity, and immediacy while producing an intuitive or emotional effect."

In addition, Welch and fellow judges Carole MacRury and Edward Zuk, all members of the Haiku Canada regional group Pacifi-kana, also selected numerous Sakura Award-winning haiku and Honourable Mention haiku.

"Sakura Award-winning haiku are poems that received top ranking from the judges," said MacRury. "From this top list, we chose four best poems, one for each category. Honourable Mention haiku are additional works of merit that we felt deserved recognition or encouragement."

Welch added that he hoped the poems they selected will serve as models to learn from, and that they will inspire more people to enter next year. "Haiku is both easy and challenging at the same time, and we hope that those who tried their hand at it will continue to celebrate the seasons of the year by writing haiku," said Welch.

Starting this week, the winning haiku inspired by the cherry tree will grace pink placards on 500 TransLink buses across the Lower Mainland. All selected haiku are viewable on the VCBF web site at www.vcbf.ca. On March 12, Michael Dylan Welch will present "Haiku: It’s Bigger Than You Think," a free haiku presentation and workshop at the Vancouver Public Library.

Inspired by the age-old cherry blossom viewing tradition of Japan, the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is uniquely West Coast. Other events include Plein-Air Blossom Painting, BC Blossom Watch Photo Contest, Cherry Jam Downtown concert, Cherry Blossom Trolley Tours, Blossom Dragon Boat Regatta, Arborcultural and Garden Talks.

The Haiku Invitational is made possible with the support of the Province of BC, City of Vancouver, JTB International (Canada) Ltd., Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, DP World Vancouver, Natureland Organics, Mission Hill Family Estate, Japan Airlines International, London Drugs, The BC Bearing Group, the Japanese Consulate General, Japanese Business Association of Vancouver and the Canadian Society for Asian Arts.

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival - 2007 Haiku Invitational Winners

Best Canadian Poem

street hockey
young boys shoot cherry petals
into the net

— Terry Ann Carter, Ottawa, Ontario

Best U.S. Poem

cherry blossoms
in every upturned face
a child’s eyes

— Karen Cesar, Tucson, Arizona

Best International Poem (outside North America)

cherry blossoms
just a little piece
of blue sky

— Grzegorz Sionkowski, Torun, Poland

Best Youth Poem (age 18 and under)

glistening on
the field’s dew
cherry blossom light

— Candis Rooker (15), Vermilion, Ohio

For contact information for VCBF judges or haiku winners, please contact:

Linda Poole
Phone: 604-739-3431

Grege Descantes
Phone: 604-646-3564

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