2022 HAIKU INVITATIONAL
Meet Our Winners
The following interviews were conducted by Michael Dylan Welch in the fall of 2022 with the winners in each of the six categories in VCBF’s 2022 Haiku Invitational contest presented by Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, United States, International, and Youth. We invite you to get to know each winner a little better through his or her responses and to learn their influences and recommendations regarding haiku poetry.
To read the poet’s interview, click on their name or picture:
Vancouver
P.H. Fischer
Vancouver, British Columbia
P. H. Fischer lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, on unceded traditional Coast Salish lands. His poetry has appeared in distinguished haiku journals including Haiku Canada Review, The Heron’s Nest, Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Presence, First Frost, Whiptail, Kingfisher, and others. He’s a member of Haiku Canada and the Haiku Society of America.
British Columbia
Elehna de Sousa
Salt Spring Island, British Columbia
Elehna de Sousa was born and raised in Hong Kong and now lives on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. She began writing haiku in 1999 and has been published both nationally and internationally. A quiet lifestyle close to nature and the sea offers much inspiration for her creative interests in poetry, mixed-media art, and photography.
CANADA
Sue Colpitts
Peterborough, Ontario
Sue Colpitts started writing haiku after she retired from teaching and had moved to the Buckhorn Lake area, northeast of Toronto, Ontario. Since 2011 she has had a variety of Japanese poetry published in print and online journals and in anthologies. She now lives in a city condo and has learned to enjoy winter again by writing about snow and not having to shovel it.
UNITED STATES
Mary McCormack
Urbana, Illinois
Mary McCormack enjoys writing and teaching writing. She thinks up haiku all the time, and her work has been widely published in journals such as Presence, Mayfly, Frogpond, and Acorn. She lives in Urbana, Illinois and is currently working on a fantasy novel. Read more of her writing or get in touch at www.marymwriter.com.
INTERNATIONAL
Srinivasa Rao Sambangi
Hyderabad, India
Srinivasa Rao Sambangi is a management postgraduate working for a pharma company in Hyderabad, India. He has been writing haiku since 2016 and has been recognised in several international contests. He chooses haiku to spread universal harmony and brotherhood.
YOUTH
Emily Edwards, Age 14
Christchurch, New Zealand
Emily Edwards is a 14-year-old student who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. She loves to be creative in as many ways as possible, but most of all loves to sing and dance. She has been dancing since she was six. She also loves to travel overseas, and her favourite places to visit have been Thailand and Whistler, British Columbia where she will also be visiting in January of 2023.
Haiku Invitational ↗
Return to the main page of the Haiku Invitational.
Meet Our 2022 Winners ↗
Meet our 2022 Haiku Invitational winners.
2022 Commentary ↗
Read the judges’ 2022 commentary for inspiration for your own haiku.
2023 Haiku Exhibition↗
Celebrate winning haiku with commissioned pieces by Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh artists.
More Haiku ↗
View additional categories of 2022 Sakura Awards and Honourable Mentions.
Programs subject to change. All event titles are protected trademarks of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival.