Each year, the New Zealand Poetry Society Te Rōpū Toikupu o Aotearoa conducts an international competition with categories for haiku and for longer poems. For the past 38 years, an anthology has been produced to showcase poetry from the competition.

The 2025 anthology, titled There Are Rabbits Here, was edited by Amelia Kirkness and Jackson McCarthy. It contains the winning poems selected by each of the judges, plus additional poems selected by the editors.

The judge of the Adult Haiku section, Scott Mason, commented that:

My principal judging criterion was simply this: Did I feel somehow touched or even moved by the experience conveyed in and by the haiku I just read?

With that in mind, Scott chose the following haiku as his overall winner:

handmade cup
where my lips part on its rim
the potter’s touch

Katherine Raine
First Place

The longer one stays with this poem, the more intimate the experience becomes. Perhaps the potter’s hands have touched the person through the crafting of the cup. Or perhaps the poem recalls a time when the potter’s hands actually touched those lips. A lovely poem indeed.

Katherine is a skilled poet, having now won first prize in this competition on three occasions. Katherine says she writes haiku as a personal expression of her relationship with nature. Her haiku about that relationship have consistently touched a chord with readers over many years.

Here are three more of the awarded haiku from the competition, including one of my own:

first light
a kokako fledgling
off key

Sue Courtney (Highly Commended)

fuelled
by the sea breeze
cartwheels

Ravi Kiran (Commended)

the sound of wind
against the window
mother’s secret

Gregory Piko (Commended)

The endearing character of Sue’s poem is enhanced by the careful repetition of sounds, while Ravi’s poem captures the sheer joy of a day spent ‘freewheeling’ at the beach. With regard to my haiku, Scott Mason said this is:

A poem infused with mystery, or yugen; I especially love the almost incantatory phonic doubling of “wind” and “window.”

You can purchase a copy of There Are Rabbits Here from the New Zealand Poetry Society via this link. However, if you are outside New Zealand, it may be best to email the Society first to confirm postage rates.

If you would like to submit entries of your own for the 2026 poetry competition, details are provided here. The competition opens on 15 March every year and closes on 31 May.