Home > Events & Programming > Golden Haiku Poetry Competition
The internationally recognized, annual Golden Haiku competition invited poets to submit up to two original, self-authored haiku. Submitted haiku will be reviewed by a panel of judges, authors of winning haiku will be awarded monetary prizes, and selected haiku will be displayed on signs in tree box gardens throughout the neighborhood in mid-March. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @goldentriangledc to keep up with Golden Haiku news.
Originating in Japan, haiku is the shortest form of poetry in the world. In a short descriptive verse, it captures a moment in the poet’s life or simply expresses the beauty of nature.
For more than a decade, the Golden Triangle BID has hosted the Golden Haiku poetry competition to bring pops of warmth, color, and inspiration to the streets of DC’s downtown during the late winter months and into the spring. Each year, we invite the public to write and submit original, contemporary haiku for this temporary community art project. In 2021, we introduced a youth category, inviting students to explore haiku and perhaps become published poets, and in 2024 a sub-group for Regional/DC youth was added. The competition is open to all ages, worldwide.
Submissions are reviewed by an expert panel of judges; winning poets receive prizes, and selected haiku are displayed on colorful street signs in the tree boxes lining some of Washington DC’s most iconic streets from March into May. The colorful haiku signs brighten the winter landscape for all passersby to enjoy, reminding them during those late winter months that spring is just around the corner.
The competition’s popularity has grown each year; it is internationally recognized and beloved by locals and visitors alike. In 2025, we received 4,750+ haiku worldwide, including entries from 66 countries.
Golden Haiku 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. Learn more about how to write a contemporary haiku here.
All entries are reviewed and judged by a distinguished panel of published haiku experts (see below) who select first, second, and third place adult winners, a regional favorite, and youth winners.
Adult: First Place – $500 Second Place – $200 Third Place – $100 Regional/DC – $200 Youth: High School – $150 Elementary/Middle School – $75 Regional/DC High School – $150 Regional/DC Elementary/Middle School – $75
The 2026 Golden Haiku submission deadline was January 11, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EST.
Each participant was allowed to enter only once, submitting a maximum of two original, self-authored haiku via an online submission form. Poems that had been previously published or under consideration for publication were allowed. Winners will be notified by email and publicly announced in mid-March.
Abigail Friedman is an award-winning author of numerous works on haiku, including 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 a former diplomat and is on the Board of Trustees of the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C.
Lenard Moore has been authoring haiku for more than 40 years. He was the first African American president elected of the Haiku Society of America, and was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in 2024. His published poetry has been translated into multiple languages and includes Poems of Love & Understanding (Carlton Press), The Open Eye (NC Haiku Society Press), and Desert Storm: A Brief History (Los Hombres Press).
Kit Pancoast Nagamura has been a columnist for The Japan Times for over a decade and appeared as a regular on NHK World‘s Haiku Masters and Journeys in Japan programs. She has won one of Japan’s prestigious Ito-en Oi Cha Haiku Contest prizes and is a member of the Haiku International Association. Her book, Grit, Grace, and Gold, was published in 2020, and her haibun have been translated in Japanese and Polish in the collection Japonia in 2023. Her photos and a one-line haiku appear in the 2024 Whiptail Journal. She will be judging from Japan.
This free in-person workshop in partnership with the Japan-America Society of Washington DC explored the art of haiku. During the workshop, attendees engaged in an interactive session where they delved into the essence of haiku, its structure, and the art of capturing moments in just a few lines. Award-winning Golden Haiku judge Abigail Friedman guided attendees through various writing exercises, provide valuable feedback and tips.
If you have any additional questions, please contact feedback@goldentriangledc.com.
Check out this haiku video series featuring Golden Haiku competition judge, Abigail Friedman:
Read this list of five ideas to help you get started writing contemporary haiku.
Other helpful resource sites:
