The results of the IAFOR Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award 2018 were announced by Professor Myles Chilton at The Asian Conference on Arts & Humanities in Kobe, Japan, on March 30, 2018. This year the award, now in its eighth year, received more than 700 submissions from 71 countries. We would like to extend our thanks to all entrants for the fantastic range and quality of haiku submitted.

The Grand Prize Winner, 12 Runners Up and 20 Commended entries selected by His Excellency Dr Drago Štambuk, will follow here.


Grand Prize Winner

writing a haiku
a sudden wind slams
the door
Rosa Clement, Brazil

Comment from Dr Drago Štambuk:

To explain the inexplicable! As when nature, in a sudden, astoundingly wonderful move enters a poet’s preconception about haiku writing and does the job instead on his or her behalf. In cases such as the winning haiku, one can say that it has been written by divine, natural intervention.


Runners Up

time is paused
neither dead nor alive
a frozen embryo
Nataša Ilić,Croatia

tsunami
somewhere
a butterfly
Mark E. Brager, USA

father’s day
my father hugging
my son
Stephanie Visaya Bose, USA

leap year
a frog jumps
into March
Pamela A. Babusci, USA

wars
they have the plural
peace is one
Bojan Babić, Serbia

autumn moon
my old dog is blind
yet still howls
Neal Whitman, USA

poaching ban-
the ivory buddha
smiling
Pamela Cooper, Canada

winter–
my hair grows faster
than the grass
William Keckler, USA

ceasefire agreement
a turtle with broken shield
spreads fully its neck
Cezar Florescu, Romania

arms race
two men
flexing
Peter Newton, USA

Eclipse
The moon has bitten
Its bigger brother
Nikola Šimić Tonin, Croatia

a month behind …
nursing home calendar
droops on the wall
Joanne Morcom, Canada


Commended

she cleans
the dusty windows
first blossom
Mojgan Soghrati, Iran

in a missile crater
the wind leafs through
the New Testament
Aljoša Vuković, Croatia

silent shredder
graveyard
of all my thoughts
Roger Watson, UK

My son’s smile –
the cat
yawns.
Daniel Gahnertz, Sweden

restless morning
a fear of the roe deer
on the clearing
Slavica Grguric Pajnic, Croatia

housewarming dinner –
the smell of
wood varnish
Harrisham Minhas, USA

short vase
long stems
scissors still closed
Peg Duthie, USA

I’ve lost my heart in
too many elevators;
now I take the stairs
Caitlin Diana Doyle, USA

hospital bed
a child teaches his toy
to pray
Prahoveanu Raluca-Ana, Romania

autumn light
equally shining
apple and knife
Lyudmila Hristova, Bulgaria

After daddy’s death
I found my book in his room
” Freedom from the Known.”
LSherzad Shafi’ Babo, Iraq

another friend on chemo
mending
my black dress
Beth A. Skala, Canada

between gunshots
the beat of her heart
in the school closet
Jacquie Pearce, Canada

my child’s footprint
evaporates at once
deep summer
Agnes Eva Savich, USA

at the zoo-
a lion chasing a fly
out of the cage
Silva Trstenjak, Croatia

childless-
I carve the stone
into a shape
Seren Fargo, USA

late autumn sunlight
the amber of his whisky
through a paper bag
John Barlow, UK

northern raven
i seek the darkest shade
in the ink
Detelina Tiholova, Bulgaria

convalescence –
tired ivy branches
look for a wall
Leonardo Lazzari, Italy

In a coffin box /
Laying and raising /
Carpenter’s shadow..
Saradha Santosh, India