The Heron's Nest

The Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards for 2018

Judge's Comments—Gary Hotham

Over 1800 haiku were submitted. I did read all the haiku entered since I wanted to get an understanding of the whole state of the contest entries. I didn't read them all at once but like how I read any collection of poetry—in bits and pieces, fits and starts, back and forth.

I am not going to comment on each haiku I chose. No special pleading from my heart—you probably won't agree with me anyway. I'll let you deal with the haiku with your own bare hands. You don't need the leather gloves of my prose. My fear is that my comments will be a disservice to the author—confusing the reader with thoughts and interpretations contrary to the writer's intent. Ask my wife. But right up front I'm going to list some thoughts as to what I was looking for in the entries. And things I don't desire to see as I read through them. Then you can read the haiku I selected and enjoy them in their own space. I don't want to cut in on your dance with the haiku. Or weave my own clothes for the haiku.

• I'm always looking for fresh images. What parts of this world or subject matter I haven't seen used or talked about before in a haiku. Perhaps the fresh and new is more difficult to find after all the haiku that have been published and for all the haiku I have read but for some of us finite beings there is always the prospect of something new under the sun. Some bright and shiny object to catch one's attention.
• I'm looking for haiku that have a new way of saying or observing or thinking about the world. In most cases the haiku will be using images that have been used many times by others and even me—falling snow, falling rain, falling hair... But will it be as James Tipton said, rather well many years ago, a haiku "discovering new energy through words put together with precision and emotion."
• I am looking for words that put me in the haiku—the moment or the state of being. Words that create something I can experience. Sharpen my understanding. Deepen my awareness. Pinch my mind awake. So do the words work. Is this the best way to arrange the words for the moment the writer is trying to bring the reader into. Do the words have the power. Word power is important for any poem but especially for the haiku since there are so few in the poem. That is a very challenging and exciting part of creating a haiku—using a few words to explore the wonders of earth and perhaps beyond to the far reaches of our universe.
• I am not looking for haiku in which the writer tells me explicitly how to think or feel. The writer needs to be subtle. Probably more subtle than subtle. If you must be obvious hide it! Yes, the poet has a point of view in the haiku, a reason for writing it and wanting to share it but sometimes too much is shared. More than I need to know. Keep it in your diary.
• Obvious dislike. No clickbait headlines. No political opinions, please. I can wallow in those by turning to FOX or CNN, Facebook or Twitter, or for some of us geezers, the opinion pages of newspapers or magazines.
• Watch out for the facts of life! —for science, geography, sports, math, history... If you are going to use a fact then at least check it out in Wikipedia. As a long-time student of history I don't like historical inaccuracies in a haiku or any other creative form. They are a strong distraction. For example, a cherry blossom haiku where George Washington is lying about cutting down the cherry tree. Don't be a Parson Weems of haiku!
• Please! No virtue signaling, or in the good old days, self-righteous indignation. There are enough soapboxes especially with the Internet (blog me silly) and pulpits (secular or religious) for that kind of activity. Bob Spiess warned me about that years ago when responding back to one my submissions to Modern Haiku. Yes, Bob speaks from the grave. Anyway, I really don't need to know from the haiku what a good person you are—I'm going to assume it.

Now I'm sure there are things I am looking for in a haiku that I am not fully conscious or aware of—or would even be able to begin to clearly express so that others could understand. But that might be the thing that makes a haiku resonate for any of us. This or that haiku fills a need we had never noticed before. And because it happened once we continue to read and re-read and write haiku.

Now for my top three and some almost top three. May one of them resonate as well with you.

First place

Second place

Third place

Honorable Mentions

The Readers' Choice Awards for 2018

One hundred fifteen readers of The Heron's Nest have provided us with their selections of the best poems we published during 2018. We published 491 poems in Volume 20. Of these, 388 received at least one reader nomination. Ten points were awarded for a first-place nomination, nine for second, and so on.

Here are the top poems and poets as identified for these Readers' Choice Awards:

Grand Prize

Haiku of the Year (25 nominations, totaling 188 points)

First Runner-up

(19 nominations, totaling 129 points)

Second Runner-up

(17 nominations, totaling 111 points)

Third Runner-up (tie)

(13 nominations, totaling 86 points)

(9 nominations, totaling 86 points)

Other Highly Rated Poems:

73 points: "tornado siren" — Chad Lee Robinson — June

65 points: "oars up" — Joe McKeon — June

61 points: "daily walk" — Tom Clausen — June

57 points: "sunlit afternoon" — Jacquie Pearce — September

53 points: "quietness" — Lenard D. Moore — March

53 points: "drought" — Ibrahim Nureni — September

52 points: "giant sequoias — Sam Bateman — December

52 points: "summer's end" — Barbara Snow — September

49 points: "at both ends" — Matthew Caretti — March

47 points: "summer visit" — Sushma A. Singh — December

45 points: "his life ends" — Gary Hotham — September

42 points: "the shape" — Michele L. Harvey — March

42 points: "ocean of stars" — Ron C. Moss — June

42 points: "deep winter" — Agnes Eva Savich — December

40 points: "spring wind" — Laurie D. Morrissey — March

Popular Poets

This category represents the total number of points awarded to each poet for his/her entire body of work in Volume 20.

Grand Prize — Poet of the Year

Debbi Antebi: (27 nominations, naming 2 of 2 poems published in Volume 20 = 196 points)

First Runner-up (tie)

Alan S. Bridges: (22 nominations, naming 6 of 6 poems published = 142 points)

Claire Everett: (21 nominations, naming 3 of 4 poems published = 142 points)

Third Runner-up

Madhuri Pillai: (19 nominations, naming 1 of 1 poem published = 129 points)

Other Popular Poets

Rick Tarquinio (5 of 5 poems, totaling 110 points)

Chad Lee Robinson (5 of 6 poems, totaling 108 points)

Glenn G. Coats (3 of 3 poems, totaling 99 points)

Michael McClintock (5 of 6 poems, totaling 90 points)

Joe McKeon (4 of 6 poems, totaling 90 points)

Erin J. Jones (1 of 1 poem, totaling 86 points)

James Schlett (1 of 1 poem, totaling 86 points)

Francine Banwarth (4 of 5 poems, totaling 79 points)

Robert Witmer (4 of 4 poems, totaling 79 points)

Christopher Herold (4 of 5 poems, totaling 78 points)

Julie Warther (3 of 4 poems – before she joined our staff, totaling 77 points)

Michele L. Harvey (5 of 5 poems, totaling 75 points)

Chen-ou Liu (4 of 4 poems, totaling 75 points)

Hilary Tann (4 of 5 poems, totaling 75 points)

We congratulate the poets honored in this year's Readers' Choice Awards and offer our sincere and deepest gratitude to the readers who devoted their time, effort, and discernment to the nomination process. Whatever value these awards may have comes directly from this community of readers.