Golden Triangle in Washington, D.C. Announces 2018 Golden Haiku Winners

Washington, DC (February 20, 2018) – Award-winning haiku poetry submissions from around the world and around town will soon adorn the bustling sidewalks of Washington, D.C.’s Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID), a 43-block neighborhood that stretches from the White House to Dupont Circle. Having received entries from 45 countries and 34 states, and the District of Columbia, the Golden Triangle BID today proudly announces the 2018 awardees of its fifth annual Golden Haiku contest.

The internationally recognized contest invites poets to submit up to three haiku to be judged by an expert panel. For the contest’s purposes, the Golden Triangle uses the American Haiku Society’s guidelines for contemporary haiku. This means that although participants can adhere to the familiar 5-7-5 syllable rule, it is not required. Haiku are meant to be short, breezy poems that evoke an image in the reader’s mind. This year’s contest theme was “Spring in the City.”

Throughout March, the Golden Triangle streets will come alive in the form of colorful signs displaying the haiku, which will be posted throughout the neighborhood on sidewalk tree boxes. Those to be featured include award-winning poems and judges’ favorites. In total, more than 260 signs of haiku submissions will be posted within the Golden Triangle BID.

This year’s Golden Haiku award-winning authors and their selected haiku submissions are as follows:

First Place: Debbi Antebi (London, England)

the twitch
of a cat’s ear
spring drizzle

Second Place: Garry Eaton (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

a basketball spins
on the edge of the hoop
spring equinox

Third Place: Mary Kendall (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)

cherry blossoms
migrating from there
to here

DC Winner: Elizabeth Steinglass (Washington, D.C.)

always
one step ahead
sidewalk sparrow

Each of the award winners will receive gift cards as prizes.

“In a neighborhood celebrated for its iconic streets, in the heart of the nation’s capital’s central business district, we are proud each year to showcase the art of haiku through a contest that continues to grow rapidly in participation and stature,” said Leona Agouridis, Golden Triangle BID Executive Director. “Seeing this poetry displayed so beautifully along our busy streets really puts a smile on the faces of the people who pass by, as the grayness of winter slowly gives way to the many colors and images of spring.”

The Golden Triangle’s esteemed panel of judges included:

• Abigail Friedman, the author of The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan (Stone Bridge Press); I Wait for the Moon: 100 Haiku of Momoko Kuroda (Stone Bridge Press); and Street Chatter Fading (Larkspur Press). She is on the Board of Trustees of the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C., and, in 2014, she founded The Wisteria Group.
• John Stevenson, managing editor of The Heron’s Nest. A former President of the Haiku Society of America, he has served as editor of Frogpond. John Stevenson is the author of books such as “Quiet Enough,” “Some of the Silence,” “Live Again,” and “(d)ark.” Stevenson judged the competition from his home in Albany, New York.
• Kit Pancoast Nagamura, a columnist for The Japan Times for over a decade. She appears as a regular on NHK WORLD‘s “HAIKU MASTERS” and “Journeys in Japan” programs. In addition, Nagamura is a recent prize winner in Japan’s prestigious Ito-en Oi Cha Haiku Contest, and a member of the Haiku International Association. She judged the contest from her home in Japan.

For more information about the Golden Haiku contest and a full list of award winners, honorable mentions and judges’ favorites, visit www.goldentriangledc.com/haiku.

About the Golden Triangle BID

The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID) is a non-profit corporation that works to enhance the Golden Triangle — the 43-block neighborhood that stretches from the front yard of the White House to Dupont Circle. The primary focus of the BID is to provide a clean, safe, and vibrant environment within this remarkable neighborhood, and to retain and attract businesses to the Golden Triangle. Founded in 1997, the Golden Triangle BID encourages economic development through capital improvement projects, a variety of engaging events, and public art projects. The BID connects its members to numerous resources, events, and information in and around the neighborhood and strives to increase quality of life through public safety and maintenance services. Together with corporate and government partners, the BID develops and implements programs that strengthen the vitality of the Golden Triangle. Learn more at: https://goldentriangledc.com.

Media contact:

Steve Simon, ssimon@goldentriangledc.com, 202-463-6986

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