Home > Newsroom > GLOBAL HAIKU CONTEST ATTRACTS POEMS FROM DC TO AUSTRALIA AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN
Washington, D.C. (March 15, 2023) – The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID) today announced the winners of its 10th annual Golden Haiku contest. Selected haiku are printed on 200 colorful signs displayed along some of Washington DC’s most iconic streets in the Golden Triangle neighborhood and posted on the BID website.
More than 3,100 haiku were written by 1,600 people in Washington, DC and around the world as part of the unique downtown DC tradition to welcome spring. The judges were especially happy with the first-place winning haiku, which was written by Rich Schilling and reads:
“dusk
a deeper shade
of crow”
For the first time, Golden Haiku had participants from all 50 states across the U.S., plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Worldwide submitters represented 75 countries. A unique partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs helped promote the contest internationally.
“As sure as the cherry blossoms bloom, so too are hundreds of haiku written each spring here in DC,” said Leona Agouridis, President and CEO of the Golden Triangle BID. “The tradition gets better each year, as we continue to see excitement in other countries for marking the start of spring with evocative poems that add cheer to our sidewalks and tree boxes,” Agouridis added.
More than 260 children from elementary, middle, or high schools, participated in the youth category of the contest. The youngest poet was a Kindergarten student from Palo Alto, California.
This year’s theme, Notes to Nature, encouraged poets to share how nature’s surroundings inspire them. In DC’s downtown commercial core, where the Golden Triangle is located, many workers returning to offices are taking time to enjoy the neighborhood’s green spaces, which include seven parks and hearty landscaping across 44-square blocks.
The Golden Haiku competition follows the Haiku Society of America’s guidelines for modern haiku, which does not require the traditional 5-7-5 structure. Removing the strict structural requirements for syllables frees the author to use evocative language to capture a moment or expression of beauty in a short, descriptive verse.
The winning haiku were selected by a panel of haiku experts, including Abigail Friedman, Lenard Moore, Kit Pancoast Nagamura, and John Stevenson. Winning authors received prizes up to $500.
Winning haiku can be seen on colorful signs brightening the Golden Triangle sidewalks throughout the spring. The full list of winning haiku and printed signs are available on the Golden Triangle BID website.
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About the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District
Formed in 1998, the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID) enhances Washington, DC’s central business district, the 44-square-block neighborhood stretching from The White House to Dupont Circle. For more information, visit: goldentriangledc.com on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Media Contact: Miranda Woolston, mwoolston@goldentriangledc.com, 202-684-8923
