Awards will be presented in the following ten categories:

General Topics (Regional*)
   1) Children, grades K-3
   2) Children, grades 4-6
   3) Youth, grades 7-9
   4) Youth, grades 10-12

Haiku about Ukiah (Regional*)
   5) Benj Thomas Prize** — Haiku about Ukiah, grades K-6
   6) Haiku about Ukiah, grades 7-12
   7) Dori Anderson Prize*** — Haiku about Ukiah, Adults

Haiku en Espanol, Temas Generales (Sumisiones Regionales*)
   8) Para menores de 18 anos
   9) Para mayores

International, General Topics, Adult:
  10) Jane Reichhold International Prize****

*Regional categories are open to residents of Mendocino, Humboldt, Lake, and Sonoma Counties in northern California. Submissions to regional categories are free of charge. Winners in the regional categories receive a certificate, publication in a booklet of winning haiku, and a copy of the booklet.

**The Benj Thomas Prize honors the memory of Benj Thomas, former Ukiah City Mayor, who brought poetry, including haiku, to so many young people.

***The Dori Anderson Prize honors the memory of Dori Anderson, former head librarian of the Ukiah Branch Library, who originally suggested the idea of the ukiaHaiku festival. Dori served, with wit and wisdom, on the Poet Laureate Committee for many years.

****The Jane Reichhold International Prize honors the memory of internationally renowned haiku poet and Mendocino County resident Jane Reichhold, author of Writing & Enjoying Haiku and other books. Jane was a ukiaHaiku judge since the early years of the festival and made a tremendous contribution to the festival in an advisory capacity. The Jane Reichhold International Prize Category is open to submissions from the entire planet. Winners in the Jane Reichhold International Prize Category receive monetary awards: $100 first place, $50 second place, $25 third place, plus a certificate, publication in a booklet of winning haiku, and a copy of the booklet.

For a definition of haiku and examples on which judging criteria are based, please see our Resources page.

ukiahaiku Submission Guidelines

Please read these guidelines carefully. Submissions that do not follow these guidelines will be disqualified. Please note that we have a regional focus for all categories except one, the Jane Reichhold International Prize, which is open to adults planet-wide. All other categories are open to residents of Mendocino, Humboldt, Lake, and Sonoma counties in northern California.

• Haiku submitted are to be previously unpublished original work by the author submitting.
• Entrants may submit up to three haiku per category. Each entrant, however, may win only one award per category.
• Submit each haiku using either a printed form or the online submission form. Printed haiku forms are available as PDFs, or are available at the Ukiah Branch Library (105 North Main Street, Ukiah) and at the Grace Hudson Museum (431 South Main Street, Ukiah). You may also submit online using the web form.
• If submitting on paper, send one form for each separate haiku.
• If submitting on paper, haiku must fit inside the box on the Haiku Submission Form.
• Submissions to all categories are free of charge.
• Haiku are judged anonymously.
• Please do not include a title.
• Haiku entered in Spanish language categories cannot be translations of haiku entered in English language categories.
• Please read the definitions of haiku in Resources for other judging criteria.
• Winners in each category will be published in a booklet.
• The Poet Laureate Committee of Ukiah reserves the right to publish, either online or in print, any poems submitted to the festival for the purpose of promoting and supporting the Poet Laureate Committee of Ukiah or the ukiaHaiku festival. Authors retain copyright to their work.
• The ukiaHaiku festival is a juried event. Judges are poets local to Mendocino County.
  
• Winners only will be notified of their placement. Entries will not be returned.
• Current members of the Poet Laureate Committee of Ukiah and ukiaHaiku judges are not eligible to submit haiku to the competition. Upon leaving their position, former committee members and judges must wait out one year's festival before becoming eligible to submit.

For more information about how to write a haiku and what our judges are looking for in a haiku, please see our resources link below.

Read winning haiku of past festivals
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018

News: We are thankful to Michael Dylan Welch, passionate haiku advocate and author, for judging the Jane Reichhold International category since Reichhold's death in 2016.

Home | Festival Information | Submission Guidelines | Contact & Credits | Resources
Contenidos del Sitio en Español | Submit your Haiku