Louise Hopewell

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AHS John Bird Dreaming award

Thrilled and honoured to win first place in the Australian Haiku Society’s inaugural John Bird Dreaming award. My winning haiku has been rewarded with a magnificent ink drawing by Ron C. Moss.

John Bird Dreaming Award for Haiku — 2021 Results

Vanessa Proctor and Michael Dylan Welch, Judges

The best haiku can set us to dreaming, putting ourselves in the place of the poem, finding what the poet sought, feeling what the poet felt. In honour of John Bird, who promoted this expansive and engaging stance towards haiku, we are pleased to have selected the following poems in the inaugural John Bird Dreaming Award for Haiku. We selected these poems from 890 total submissions, recognising Australian as well as worldwide themes. Our congratulations to the winners and gratitude to everyone who entered.
—Vanessa and Michael

First Place

the blurred outline
of the southern cross
bushfire moon

— Louise Hopewell, Australia

This haiku speaks deeply about the Australian experience. After the devastating bushfires of 2019 and 2020 the memory of destruction and endless weeks of breathing in choking smoke from the fires is fresh in many people’s minds. The iconic emblem of Australian skies, the Southern Cross, ‘Australia’s favourite constellation’, is blurred, and in a similar way, the fires shook us as a nation. The red bushfire moon is an echo of the devastation of the land and implicitly its fauna and flora, property and human life. Concentrating on the skies rather than the land gives us an expansive view of events and implies hope that the view of the Southern Cross will be clear again. Two powerful images leave us with much to contemplate. A deserving winner of the inaugural John Bird Dreaming Award for Haiku. —Vanessa

We begin this new contest with a distinctly Australian poem, quintessential in two ways. One is the timeless reference to the Southern Cross constellation that appears on the Australian flag. The other is the timely reference to the recent bushfires that ravaged Australia. The two images meet in this poem’s now-moment where one blurs the other. Yet still that outline is visible, even if blurred, just as the moon is visible, offering a sense of relief and hope for the time ahead. This is a poem of emergence, a reminder that even unfortunate events still pass. —Michael

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Australian Haiku Society summer haiga kukai

First place in the Australian Haiku Society Summer Seasonal Haiga Kukai:

MOSS-Summer

fiery sunset
a single red blossom
on the blackened branch

Here’s what judge Ron Moss had to say:

There is no doubt that the weather is changing and that there is a climate emergency upon us. In Australia the records keep being broken, records of storms, high temperatures, low rainfall, and continuous drought, all of which have beset our beautiful country. I chose this photograph, which I captured on a recent deployment in Queensland fighting the bushfires with other Tasmanian crews, to use for the seasonal image for the Kukai. The fire was out of control and burning over the surrounding mountains. I was looking for haiku that worked with the power of the image to bring us an emotional connection. Louise has captured very well the danger of the scene, but she has also expressed an overwhelming feeling of hope. Things have their time and place, but there will be rebirth. A lot to pack into a one-breath three line haiku, but I think it has been achieved very well indeed and so I would like to award it a worthy first place.

Highly Commended award in the AHS Summer Non-Seasonal Haiga Kukai:

cow bells
not afraid to show
my true colours

The judge’s comments:

This is another fun haiga that has plenty for us to wonder about and perhaps brings a smile to our faces. Although there is a message for us to think about, showing our true colours or inner self can be a very positive thing that has many rewards. Stripping away that which weighs us down to find our true centre can be very heart of the matter. Louise has explored this in what seems to be a very simple haiku, but much more can be found if we give it the time.

Non Seasonal