Modern Haiku 2012 Award Winners

Modern Haiku publishes the winners of The Robert Spiess Memorial 2012 Haiku Awards in the most recent issue. The judges, Melissa Allen and Carlos Colón, say “As a memorial to Editor Bob Spiess, who died on March 13, 2002, Modern Haiku sponsors The Robert Spiess Memorial Award Haiku Competition. We are grateful to Modern Haiku for allowing us to judge this year’s entries for the Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award Competition. The theme for 2012 was to write haiku in the spirit of the following Speculation by Robert Spiess from his book, A Year’s Speculations on Haiku (Modern Haiku Press, 1995):

Haiku have three forms or manifestations: the written, which enters the eye; the spoken, which enters the ear; and the essential … which enters the heart. [Prompted in part by a passage by Sa’in al-Din ibn Turkah.]

There were many excellent haiku that were worthy of commendation. Although it was difficult deciding on the poems for Honorable Mentions, we quickly settled on the three winning poems.”

First Prize
Scott Mason

Second Prize
Duro Jaiye

Third Prize
Susan Constable

Honorable Mentions
Margaret Chula
Michele L. Harvey
Kirsty Karkow
Scott Mason