The Heron's Nest

The Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards for 2026

Don't miss your chance to participate. Send your poems by the June 1 deadline!

Maximum number of haiku allowed: two (2) haiku in English.

 Judging criteria: Selection will be blind to authorship and the sole criterion will be excellence.

Judge: to be identified with the winners.

Entry fee: None.

Eligibility: All haiku poets other than the staff of The Heron's Nest and the contest judge.

Awards: First Place - $200, a copy of Red Leaves: Selected Haiku of Peggy Lyles and a miniature crystal turtle.

Second Place - $100 and a copy of Red Leaves: Selected Haiku of Peggy Lyles.

Third Place - $50 and a copy of Red Leaves: Selected Haiku of Peggy Lyles.

Honorable Mention (up to five recipients) - award certificates and recognition on our "Awards” page.

NOTE: Monetary awards to non-US winners will be made through PayPal, where possible, in order to avoid the high cost of bank processing fees.

Deadline for entries: June 1, 2026.

How to enter: By email to John Stevenson at ithacan@earthlink.net

Put "Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards" in the subject line; provide haiku in the body of the email only; attachments will not be opened. Include your name and your location as you would like to see each listed.

The submitted poems must not have been published; not accepted for publication; not under consideration by anyone other than us until we announce the contest results.

Announcement of results: July 31, 2026 on our web site.