Each year the Irish Haiku Society conducts an international haiku competition. The 2018 competition was judged by Anatoly Kudryavitsky and the results were announced in December. Anatoly is Chairman of the Irish Haiku Society and editor of the Shamrock Haiku Journal.

For the 2018 competition, over 300 haiku were submitted by poets from 14 countries. The winning entry was:

equinox
the leaf scent half bitter
half sweet

(Scott Mason, USA)

With the runner-up being set out in a one-line format:

beyond the reach of light luminous fish

(Simon Hanson, Australia)

Scott Mason is also author of the award-winning book, The Wonder Code, which includes several linked essays about haiku plus a number of extensive galleries showcasing haiku from around the world. You can read my commentary on The Wonder Code here.

Among the seven Honourable Mentions in the 2018 Irish Haiku Competition were the following two poems:

ullchabhán réisc
san aer feanntach –
ciúnas

short-eared owl
in the chilly air –
silence

(Susan Flynn, Ireland)

a grub in the bark
the wattlebird’s beak
at the ready

(Gregory Piko, Australia)

You can read all the awarded poems on the Irish Haiku Society website, here.

And you can find the website of the Shamrock Haiku Journal here. Shamrock is an online journal presenting haiku, senryu and haibun from Ireland and the rest of the world in two issues per year – it’s well worth a visit.