Australian Haiku Society

Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival ‘Spring Flowers’ Contest opens 1st August

In the lead up to the Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival, being held again in late August at Auburn Botanic Gardens, the Australian Haiku Society is running a haiku contest this year with the theme of ‘Spring Flowers’. We will be inviting Australian poets only to submit one haiku on this theme. The submission period will be from 1st August, closing at 5pm AEST on Monday 17th August. Results will be announced at a haiku event during the festival on Monday 24th August commencing at 10am. Prepare your best work and stay tuned for the submission form, which will be available from 1st August.

Haiku Northwest’s 23rd annual Porad Award

Haiku Northwest’s 23rd annual Porad Award opens for haiku submissions on July 14.

The contest is named for Francine Porad, founder of Haiku Northwest, former president of the Haiku Society of America, and editor of Brussels Sprout.

Adjudicating the 2026 award will be Antoinette Cheung, former co-editor of Prune Juice and the journal Confluence. Her work has appeared in journals and anthologies including New Resonance 14 and The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, and in 2023 she was shortlisted for The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Award. She has also received honours including Haiku Canada’s Betty Drevniok Award, the Basho-an Award, and top recognition in the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival haiku competition.

The entry fee is $5 for up to five haiku, and the deadline is August 30th. See the Haiku Northwest 2026 Porad Award site for more details. We look forward to your submissions.

Luke Brannon
2026 Porad Award Coordinator
Haiku Northwest

Manna Magazine launching in December

Didier Lejeune (Gold Coast) is beginning a new literary and art magazine and is currently looking for artists and haiku poets to populate the first issue.

Last year I developed a strong appreciation for Haiku while living in a cottage in the alps, having an entire shelf full of zen poetry and haiku to occupy my time. The artform has come to mean a lot to me, and it is important that I give it ample space in the magazine.
The publication is print-only, black and white, with a focus on beauty—however this concept manifests in the mind of the artist.
I am looking for poets to contribute to this first issue, and all that will follow.

Our website is: manna magazine
Each issue will publish a handful of Haiku from one, or several, artists. Each poet is encouraged to submit 6-15 haiku.

I look forward to hearing from you,
Didier Lejeune

Introducing Haiku Horizons

‘Haiku xpressions’, under the past editorship of Cynthia Rowe and interim editorship of Anne Curran, will become ‘Haiku Horizons’, beginning with the August 2026 edition of FreeXpreSions Magazine.

Report on Gadigal Ginkō, Winter 2026

Five poets met at the State Library of NSW on Saturday morning 20th June, 2026. Zina Ioannou, Margaret Mahony, Nick O’Connor and Leanne Mumford welcomed Lisa Germany to her first Gadigal Ginkō. The weather was cool but sunny – very suitable for wandering outdoors in the nearby Domain parklands and Botanic Gardens. There were also some interesting spaces and exhibitions to explore inside the library itself, with all its history and silence.

Stay Cool’s Griffith exhibition now closing 24th July 2026

A new exhibition in Griffith Regional Theatre’s Artspace explores creativity as it moves between mediums and around the world. Some of you will remember Stay Cool’s series of workshops on haiku in January/February this year, featuring Jason Richardson, Lisa Germany, Marco Sebastiano Alessi, Greg Pritchard and Sherry and Zoe Grant. The Stay Cool project has evolved from writing workshops into contemporary music composition and is illustrated with stellar photography.

Report on the Bindii Meeting Thursday June 25, 2026

Julia Wakefield, Lynette Arden, Subha Goonaratne, Udara Dikkumbura, and Nicholas O’Connor met on Thursday, June 25, at 7pm, using Zoom.

Cloudcatchers 2026 Autumn Ginko No. 81

The Cloudcatchers group held its Autumn ginko (Number 81) on Thursday 30 April 2026. This was a period of excessive and unpredictable rain, so two of our members, Norma and Richard Watts, offered their home in Ballina for the occasion. Yes, it did rain on and off, but we were able to share our previously written ‘autumn haiku’ under cover … (those written prior to this date). This was followed by a stroll in their back yard and then a sharing of first drafts.