The 2026 Haiku and Tanka Contest Announced
Skipping Stones Magazine and the 2026 Asian Celebration
Invite your Best Nature Haiku and/or Tanka poems by Tuesday, 5 May 2026
Some exemplary Haiku poems (by Mira Yang, age 9, New York) to get you started:
1. Bright and secretive,
The moon is like a black cat
Playing in the night
2. A golden sunbeam
Smiling on the forest trees
Sweet like warm honey
3. Winter goes, spring comes
A brave and daring flower
Breaking through the ice
These three Haiku were submitted in 2024 (along with a number of other wonderful haiku poems) by Mira’s writing instructor Ms. Samantha Schnell at the Writopia Lab, New York. Also see our Autumn 2025 issue for recently selected haiku/tanka poems.
Your Haiku (and/or Tanka) entries should be ready for display. Use 8.5 x 11 paper and feel free to include your original nature art to illustrate your Haiku and/or Tanka. Up to 5 (FIVE) haiku or tanka entries can be sent by each student. Only K-12 students (ages up to 18) are eligible to enter the Contest.
Selected entries will be displayed at the 2026 Asian Celebration in Eugene. All entries will also be considered for publication in the Autumn 2025 on Skipping Stones Magazine’s website. Download the 2026 Haiku/Tanka Contest flyer here.
Haiku and Tanka (short song, in Japanese) are both traditional poetry forms that come from Japan.
* Haiku consists of three lines. The first line and third line both have five syllables and the middle line has seven (But we will not be very strict).
* Haiku appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) and it touches the heart.
* Tanka is a 31-syllable poem and has 5 lines with 5/7/5/7/7 syllable count, respectively.
* A maximum of 5 haiku or tanka entries are allowed from one student. If you are entering a poem that consists of a number of haiku or tankas, the poem length should not exceed 30 lines. Do not send your entries for consideration to other publishers simultaneously. Please wait until a decision is reached by us.
* Nature art can accompany your Haiku or Tanka, and it is encouraged!
With your electronic entries provide the information below (preferably, on the backside, if sending a paper entry):
* Your full name and age or grade level
* Your teacher and school’s name, as well as your or your teacher’s e-mail
* When you enter the contest, it’s implied that it is YOUR original haiku or tanka, and that we can display it at the exhibit, and publish it on our website, if chosen for publication. Please include a statement by one of your parents or teachers giving us the permission to publish.
Haiku entries must be received by 5 PM (PST) on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 (by 5 PM on 5/5/26). If you are sending by mail, please mail by Tuesday, the 5th of May.
Teachers in Eugene-Springfield area can drop off the class haiku at our office. Skipping Stones Magazine office located at 166 W. 12th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon 97401 USA. We’re in the Odd Fellows Building on the corner of W. 12th Ave & Charnelton Street in Eugene.
You can also choose to send your Haiku or Tanka entries electronically if you wish. In that case, send HiRez .pdf, .jpeg or .tiff files of your artwork along with Haiku/Tanka. Haiku and Tanka without art can be sent as a part of your email text or as a .pdf file or Word (.doc or .docx) file.
To send entries by e-mail, use our email id: editor(AT)skippingstones(DOT)org
We will announce the winners by early August on our website.
We look forward to seeing your Haiku and/or Tanka (with or without nature art) by 5 pm on 5 May 2026.
(PS: May is celebrated as the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Also, did you know that Cinco de Mayo is celebrated by Mexicans and Mexican Americans to commemorate Mexico’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, Mexico on May 5, 1862)?
We are pleased to Announce our 2025 Haiku and Tanka Exhibit! The bulk of this year’s selection of Tanka and Haiku are on pages 8 thru 13 of the Awards Issue; with a few more Haiku and Tanka sprinkled on a few other pages. We had a Haiku/Tanka display at the Asian Celebration in July, and we also displayed a large selection of them at the Obon and Taiko Festival on Saturday, the 23rd of August, 2025 at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Oregon. If you are one of the students who sent in your entries, please see all the published Haiku and Tanka by clicking on the 2025 Awards issue. You will notice that we had an amazing response from so many of you. Obviously, we were not able to publish all entries!
Except for the international entrants (who will be emailed a digital copy of the issue due to the high international postage costs), everyone whose entry is published will receive a printed copy of the issue by early September.
Below are just two Haiku/Tanka pages from the issue for your viewing.
The 2025 Haiku and Tanka Contest
Skipping Stones Magazine and the 2025 Asian Celebration
Invite your Best Nature Haiku and/or Tankas by Monday, 5 May 2025 (The contest is now closed; please wait for 2026 contest announcement.)
Some exemplary Haiku poems (by Mira Yang, age 9, New York) to get you started:
1. Bright and secretive,
The moon is like a black cat
Playing in the night
2. A golden sunbeam
Smiling on the forest trees
Sweet like warm honey
3. Winter goes, spring comes
A brave and daring flower
Breaking through the ice
These three Haiku poem were submitted last year (along with a number of other wonderful haiku poems) by Mira’s writing instructor Ms. Samantha Schnell at the Writopia Lab, New York. Also see our Autumn 2024 issue for last year’s published poems.
Your Haiku (and/or Tanka) entries should be ready for display. Use 8.5 x 11 paper and feel free to include your original nature art to illustrate your Haiku and/or Tanka. Up to 5 (FIVE) haiku or tanka entries can be sent by each student. Only K-12 students (ages up to 18) are eligible to enter the Contest.
Selected entries will be displayed at the 2025 Asian Celebration in Eugene. All entries will also be considered for publication in the Autumn 2025 issue of Skipping Stones Magazine as well as our website. Download the 2025 Haiku/Tanka Contest flyer here.
Haiku and Tanka (short song, in Japanese) are both traditional poetry forms that come from Japan.
* Haiku consists of three lines. The first line and third line both have five syllables and the middle line has seven (But we will not be very strict).
* Haiku appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) and it touches the heart.
* Tanka is a 31-syllable poem and has 5 lines with 5/7/5/7/7 syllable count, respectively.
* A maximum of 5 haiku or tanka entries are allowed from one student. If you are entering a poem that consists of a number of haiku or tankas, the poem length should not exceed 30 lines. Do not send your entries for consideration to other publishers simultaneously. Please wait until a decision is reached by us.
* Nature art can accompany your Haiku or Tanka, and it is encouraged!
With your entries (preferably, on the backside, if sending a paper entry) provide this information:
* Your full name and age or grade level
* Your teacher and school’s name, as well as your or your teacher’s e-mail
* Your mailing address
* When you enter the contest, it’s implied that it is YOUR original haiku or tanka, and that we can display it at the exhibit, and publish it in the magazine and our website, if chosen for publication. Please include a statement by one of your parents or teachers giving us the permission.
Haiku entries must be received by 5 PM (PST) on Monday, May 5, 2025 (by 5 PM on 5/5/25). If you are sending by mail, please send by Monday, the 5th of May.
Skipping Stones Magazine office located at 166 W. 12th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon 97401 USA. We’re in the Odd Fellows Building on the corner of W. 12th Ave & Charnelton Street in Eugene.
You can also choose to send your Haiku or Tanka entries electronically if you wish. In that case, send HiRez .pdf, .jpeg or .tiff files of your artwork along with Haiku/Tanka. Haiku and Tanka without art can be sent as a part of your email text or as a pdf file or Word .doc or .docx file.
To send entries by e-mail, use our email id: editor(AT)skippingstones(DOT)org
If your Haiku or Tanka or nature art is published, you’ll receive a complimentary copy of the Autumn issue.
We look forward to seeing your Haiku and/or Tanka (with or without nature art) by 5 pm on 5 May 2025.
(PS: May is celebrated as the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Also, did you know that Cinco de Mayo is celebrated by Mexicans and Mexican Americans to commemorate Mexico’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, Mexico on May 5, 1862.)
Here are a few Haiku and Tanka art entries from our previous year’s contest. These haiku and tanka entries appeared in our 2022 Awards Issue, Vol. 34, no.1.
