Golden Haiku: 2021 Winners

The 2021 Golden Haiku competition was a record-breaking year. We received entries from 60 countries, 49 states, and the District of Columbia. Over 2,800 haiku were received, including 200 submissions from talented poets under the age of 18, as part of this year’s new Youth category. Winning poems can be seen on colorful signs throughout the Golden Triangle through April 2021.

All entries were reviewed and judged by a distinguished panel of published haiku experts including Abigail Friedman, Kit Pancoast Nagamura, and John Stevenson.

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.