Author: Lynette Arden

I would like to congratulate all the winners and thank everyone who participated in the summer solstice kukai. I looked for some interesting and somewhat different images this year, hoping that the responses would also be of a similar nature, and I’m pleased to say the winner’s list reflects just that. The seasonal image was captured looking from the porthole of the Earnslaw, a 1912 Edwardian twin-screw steamer based at Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, New Zealand – a stunning cruise if you ever get the chance to view one of the most beautiful places in the world.

1^st Place

childhood
the things locked
behind time’s door

Gavin Austin 

I really enjoyed such a clear and well-stated emotional poem that resonated with the strong solid image of the door. The poet uses an interesting phrase, time’s door, suggesting that so much is locked away in secret places over the passing of time. Combined with the single word first line, childhood, this is very nicely conceived poem and an interesting connection to the image, creating an effective haiga.

Continue reading “Results of the AHS 2023 Summer Solstice Haiga Kukai: Non-Seasonal”

I would like to congratulate all the winners and thank everyone who participated in the summer solstice kukai. I looked for some interesting and somewhat different images this year, hoping that the responses would also be of a similar nature, and I’m pleased to say the winner’s list reflects just that. The seasonal image was captured looking from the porthole of the Earnslaw, a 1912 Edwardian twin-screw steamer based at Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, New Zealand – a stunning cruise if you ever get the chance to view one of the most beautiful places in the world.

1^st Place

wind-snapped sky—
out by the heads
the seal colony barking

Sandra Simpson

From the very first reading, I was taken by the original opening line, wind-snapped, which is a perfect description of the sharpness and power of a blue sky. The poet places us in a nautical setting with the haiku, artfully creating a subtle double meaning with out by the heads, which is of course a land mass, and perhaps also the seals barking their heads off! Such fun and a worthy winner that works very well with the seed image and, rather than describing the image, gives us a strong shift to another place with beautiful descriptive language.

Continue reading “Results of the AHS 2023 Summer Solstice Haiga Kukai: Seasonal”