Haiku Society of America Award Winners

The following poems were all selected as winners in the Haiku Society of America’s Henderson and Brady contests for haiku and senryu. I wish I could have entered more often, but was not able to do so while serving as an HSA officer. I have also won several Merit Book Awards (now called the Kanterman Awards) and a Museum of Haiku Literature Award from the Haiku Society of America. In the following list, I’ll add judges’ names and comments as I track them down in old issues of Frogpond. My thanks to each of the judges for selecting my poems.


Henderson Awards for Haiku


2000 — First Place

Judges: Cyril Childs and Jerry Kilbride +


meteor shower . . .

a gentle wave

wets our sandals



1995 — Second Place

Judges: ???


toll booth lit for Christmas—

from my hand to hers

warm change



1991 — Second Place

Judges: ???


an old woolen sweater

taken yarn by yarn

from the snowbank


Brady Awards for Senryu


2008 — Second Place

Judges: Alexis Rotella and Scott Mason


busy Italian restaurant—

happy birthday

sung to the wrong table


“Here, by contrast [to the first place winner], is a moment of pure hilarity. Waiters and waitresses hastily converge to belt out that old standby; and just as quickly they disperse, leaving utter bewilderment in their wake. In this parody of “personal” service, they might just as well have sung to . . . the table!”



2000 — Honourable Mentions

Judges: Tom Lynch and Paul O. Williams


Valentine’s Day—

she reminds me

to fasten my seatbelt +


before the guests arrive

I straighten

the straight cushions


a lull in her hands—

the hairstylist asks

how I part my hair


See commentary.



1995 — First Place

Judges: Tom Clausen and Ebba Story


clicking off the late movie . . .

the couch cushion

reinflates



1993 — Honourable Mention

Judges: ???


a pause in the lecture

all at once three students

cross their legs