Haiku Contest 2024

Celebrate with the Haiku Contest winners on the Haiku Hike: Sunday, May 5, 12:30 to 2 PM
See the Hillside Festival page for more details!

Winning entries 2024

CHILDREN

FIRST PLACE
Violet Z. (age 9)
Open space, nature
sitting in the warmth then
ladybugs flutter

SECOND PLACE
Zora W. (age 11)
Fog covers the hills
Water drips off of the leaves
The sun peeks through clouds

THIRD PLACE
Clara L. (3rd grade)
Flowers dot the ground
Beside them are tall, strong trees
They sway in the breeze

HONORABLE MENTION
Leila M. (age 9)
The leaf is beautiful green
The leaf grows beautifully through the year
I grow with the leaf

YOUTH

FIRST PLACE
Yannick C. (age 13)
hawks soaring high above
tree’s leaves blowing with the breeze
memories hurt and sting

SECOND PLACE
Zoe M. (age 15)
Hundred shades of green
Birds are singing around us
Now I feel at peace

THIRD PLACE
Ida W. (age 13)
Everyday it rains,
White petals pirouetting through the air,
Onto my plaited hair.

HONORABLE MENTION
Toshi C. (age 14)
wind blows in my face
it gets darker I quicken my pace
me and my brother race

ADULT

FIRST PLACE
Rinda Wardle
Every day we hike
Muscle heart and mind up hills
Breathing in the view

SECOND PLACE
Sydny Fujita
yellow eyes open
on the brief green slope of spring
old oaks watch and sigh

THIRD PLACE
Marina Sergeyeva
Busy ants, carrying
Water back home, walk around
Sweet, deadly berries

HONORABLE MENTION
Kristel Rietesel-Low
Buckeye butterfly
Suddenly lupine blooming,
You are eye to eye

Trail Trekkers gives a big thanks to the judges of the 2023 contest, who included:

• Jenny Hammer. Local writer, taught English at City College of San Francisco for thirty years.
• Melissa Hobbs. Local writer.
• Eevelyn Mitchell. Former Poet Laureate of El Cerrito.

Haiku Contest and Hike Return!

Haiku Contest: Our annual haiku contest is a popular feature every year.

• Submit your poem by the entry deadline, April 10, 2024.
• The Haiku Contest culminates in a hike during the Hillside Festival, May 4-5, 2024 .

Haiku Hike: Sunday, May 5, 12:30 to 2 PM

• Meet at Regency Court entrance (was King Court)
• Contest winners will read their haiku at various points in the hike.
• Options for additional 1 mile round trip walk or 2 1/2 mile round trip walk.

Let your poems be inspired by your experiences in the Hillside Natural Area, to celebrate the annual El Cerrito Trail Trekkers Hillside Festival.

Classical Japanese Haiku includes: the season; the place; the transitory nature of life; suffering; the surprise moment.

17 syllables in 5-7-5 format is not strictly required. See the examples in the feature box.

You do not need to be an El Cerrito resident to enter.

An ancient pool
A frog jumps in
The sound of water.
--Matsuo Basho.

The neighing horses
are causing echoing neighs
in neighboring barns.
--Richard Wright

More details on the Haiku Contest

Age categories: 1) 18 and over; 2) 13-17; 3) 12 and under.

A panel of three local poets will select winners. Winners will be awarded gift certificates to El Cerrito Natural Grocery and/or Jenny K Gifts. First prize in each age category: $50 gift certificate. Second and third prize in each age category: $20 gift certificate. Fourth place in each category will earn honorable mention.

Submit up to three poems by email, to ECTTHaiku@gmail.com, between February 15, 2024 and April 10, 2024 (deadline has been extended to this date). Include your name, email, phone number, and age if 12 or under, or 13- 17. Children 12 and under, please ask your parent or guardian about entering the contest beforehand.

All haiku entries will be celebrated on the Trail Trekkers web site (children will be listed only by first name & first initial of last name). New submissions are posted every few days.

Winners will be announced April 17th, 2024, and recognized on the website and in the Trekker Newsletter. Awards will be given out and poets will read their haiku on the haiku hike through the Hillside Area on May 5.