VANCOUVER CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL HAIKU CONTEST STARTS TODAYLive public outdoor events return for 16th annual festival celebrating city’s 43,000 cherry trees
VANCOUVER, BC (March 2, 2022) – With its pink and teal banners now lining the Burrard Street
Bridge and cherry blossoms slowly beginning to come out across the city, the Vancouver Cherry
Blossom Festival presented by Coromandel Properties is proud to launch its 2022 Haiku
Invitational poetry contest and announce its 2021 winners.
The Haiku Invitational presented by Leith Wheeler invites established and budding poets tosubmit up to two unpublished haiku, which are judged in six categories: Best Vancouver, Best BC,Best Canada, Best United States, Best International and Best Youth haiku, with additional haiku
recognized in the Sakura Award and Honourable Mentions categories. Each year, theinternationally acclaimed contest attracts thousands of entries from 40+ countries around theworld.
The annual celebration of Vancouver’s iconic cherry blossom trees will see the return of its
signature events in 2022, with The Big Picnic taking place at David Lam Park, April 1 st and Sakura
Days returning to VanDusen Botanical Garden, April 9-10. The Big Picnic will serve as the official
kick off for the Festival with a full day of free events, including the Cherry Jam Concert andcultural activities for the whole family to enjoy while picnicking amidst the cherry blossoms.
“We’re delighted to reconnect with Festival fans and welcome back our signature events that doso much to bring our communities and generations together to celebrate the magnificent but
fleeting beauty of our spectacular cherry trees,” said Linda Poole, Founder and Artistic CreativeDirector, VCBF. “In many ways, these past two years have taught all of us to take life one day andone moment at a time, and to appreciate the little things that make life special, like the delicate
and captivating beauty of the cherry blossoms that celebrate the arrival of spring with joyful
bursts of colour along city streets and throughout city parks.
“This year, we’re also delighted to welcome the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh
nations to our team to help us celebrate the blossoms, as well as the winning haiku submitted
last year by cherry blossom lovers the world over.”At the Big Picnic, the six winning poems from the 2021 Haiku Invitational will be displayed in aunique First Nations haiku installation that will connect the poetry to the cherry tree. The 2021
winners will also be recognized at the VSO Tea & Trumpets event at the Orpheum on March 24,
where they will be read by the incomparable Christopher Gaze.
Judging the thousands of haiku received in 2021 were Chuck Brickley, Terri L. French, and Claudia
Radmore. While there were poems about love and poems about loss, the judges noted that thepredominant theme was hope, which they found so refreshing during these times. They werealso heartened to read the poems by children, whose imagery was so unique, with expressions
most profound.

1Anyone looking to learn more about writing haiku is invited to participate in the VCBF’s "Discover
Haiku" online workshop on April 19 at 6pm, which is hosted by Michael Dylan Welch, the founderof National Haiku Writing Month and cofounder of the American Haiku Archives and the Haiku
North America conference. Welch will take participants on a preliminary exploration of haiku
poetry in English and introduce important and commonly found elements to haiku writing with
an emphasis on the seasonal and nature-focused aspects of this poetry.
The Haiku Invitational will run from March 2 to June 1. To submit a haiku, please visit the Festivalhaiku submission page.
About the 2022 Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (April 1 – 23):
Presented by Coromandel Properties, the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is a charitable not‐for‐profit organization with the objective to educate and actively engage diverse communities
through accessible local arts and culture to celebrate the fragile beauty of the cherry blossom.
To sustain and renew Vancouver’s cherry tree heritage. Cherry blossom viewing has become a
joyful Festival springtime tradition in our city now as people marvel as 54 different varieties
blossom across our city. For more information, visit: www.vcbf.ca- 30 Contact:
Michael Dove
Executive Director
VCBF
604-679-1823
michael@vcbf.ca
Website: vcbf.ca
Follow us @ https://www.instagram.com/vancherryblossomfest/
Like us @ www.facebook.com/VancouverCherryBlossomFestival
Tweet us @ http://twitter.com/#!/OfficialVCBF

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BACKGROUND: THE HAIKU INVITATIONAL
inspired by the cherry treeWhat is a haiku?
A haiku is a poem that captures a scene or experience in just a few words, suggesting the depth
and intensity of the moment. Haiku use concrete images to capture this moment of intuition.
Above all, haiku try to imply the emotion of the poet’s experience without stating it.
What are some of the basics of writing haiku?
Haiku are plain-speaking poems where every word counts. Try to avoid using abstract orconceptual words. Use sensory images to convey experience about sights, sounds, smells ortastes.
Does a haiku have to have 17 syllables?
In Japan, the haiku is traditionally written in a single vertical line with sound symbols arranged ina 5-7-5 rhythm, but Japanese words tend to be longer than their English counterparts, so literaltranslations end up as English poems with fewer than 17 syllables. While some haiku poets
writing in English do follow the 5-7-5 pattern with wonderful results, most view the haiku as apoem in three lines of 17 or fewer syllables.
What else should I know about the form of a haiku?
Most haiku contain a kigo, or a word or short phrase that places their poem in a season of theyear. For example, if you use the word “daffodil,” the reader will know you are describing a scene
in spring. The kigo links a haiku to the deeper rhythms of nature. In addition, many haiku have
two parts, separated by a word or punctuation mark to create tension and resolution, or an
unstated relationship between two images.
Submission deadline:
The deadline for haiku submissions is June 1, 2016. For more information on submitting yourhaiku, visit http://www.vcbf.ca.

32021 VANCOUVER CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL
HAIKU INVITATIONAL WINNERS
Presented byJudges: Chuck Brickley, Terri L. French, and Claudia Radmore

Best Vancouver Haiku

Best United States Haiku

for leasereflected in the storefront
cherry blossoms

letting the mask fall
below my nose . . .
cherry blossoms

Ann Harreb
Coquitlam, British Columbia

Chad Lee Robinson
Pierre, South Dakota

Best BC Haiku

Best International Haiku

keeping her secret . . .
a whisper of windamong the blossoms

first blossoms—
the child’s eyes
says it all

Susan Constable
Parksville, British Columbia

Rita Odeh
Haifa, Israel

Best Canada HaikuBest Youth Haiku (Under 18)

the foster child’s
backward glancefalling cherry blossoms

empty playgroundfallen cherry petalson the carousel

Charlotte Hrenchuk
Whitehorse, Yukon

Sebastian Ciobica, age 9
Botosani, Romania

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