2025 British Haiku Society Tanka Awards

Tanka seem to work best when they express the poet’s heart, saying something distinctive and engaging that only the poet could truly say, meaning that the poem does not superficially repeat what others have already said. Poets are more likely to do this by trusting their hearts, by accepting themselves in what they say. Indeed, in the first imperial waka anthology of 905, the Kokinshū, Ki no Tsurayuki’s preface asserts that “Japanese poetry takes as its seed the human heart,” and wholehearted expression is what I look for most when reading, enjoying, and assessing tanka. I also look for sure-footedness, a feeling that the poem couldn’t be written any other way. Clarity and immediacy matter, even while challenge and mystery offer additional options.

This year’s British Haiku Society’s tanka contest received 236 tanka that I have been grateful to enjoy. I scored each poem and gave one poem 5 points (out of 5), and it became the first-place selection, even after multiple readings of all poems. I gave 32 poems 4 points (13.6% of the total), and 157 poems 3 points (66.5%). I would consider nearly all poems scoring 3 or more points to be possibly publishable, so this is a high percentage compared with many contests I’ve judged. Choosing the following selections came down to questions of freshness, honesty, vulnerability, beauty, implication, efficiency, and matters of craft—and my own subjective reactions. Here’s my first-place selection:

Winner

the universe

leaves me

a love poem

frosty stars

on my windshield

—Susan Burch (USA)

This poem finds delight in the weather’s effect on a car’s windshield, a metaphorical feeling of warmth despite the cold. The poem may really be about loneliness, however, as if these frosty “stars” are a private message, a consolation against loneliness—or an expression of longing for love even if the poet is not lonely. It is quite a claim to say that this message has come from the entire universe, yet this is the expansiveness we can feel when something beautiful lands in our lap.

Runner-Up

beads of dew

in the warm sun . . .

a surgeon

gently explains

her journey forward

—Marilyn Humbert (Australia)

This is a poem of compassion, one that earns its selection as runner-up. We are not told the diagnosis, or what the patient’s challenges might be. Instead, we are shown that there is a journey forward, told in the context of noticing beads of dew that we know will soon evaporate in the sun. Will the person’s life also evaporate?

Honourable Mentions

The following are three honourable mentions, in no particular order, which I hope you will enjoy as much as I do. My congratulations to each poet for these selections, and to many other poets who participated.

in sleep

my hand falls

to your side

even after knowing

you are not there

—Nitu Yumnam (United Arab Emirates)

sky teeming

with scintillating stars

once in a while

it would be nice

to be loved

—Pamela A. Babusci (USA)

if only

i were a cloud

when it’s too much

to handle

i rain

—Nitu Yumnam (United Arab Emirates)