Modern Haiku

06/11/2026

peony buds —
an organist practicing
for the wake

Winifred Morgan
Modern Haiku 53.3 (2022)

A weekly post from our pages.

06/09/2026

NEW FROM MODERN HAIKU PRESS: HAIKU 2026!

The latest annual from editors Scott Metz & Lee Gurga. 100 notable haiku from 2025 selected by the editors of the award-winning Haiku 21.

"Astronauts and poets are pilgrims on paths of exploration. Haiku 2026 is an invitation to journey among some of the most interestingly conceived, deeply informed, and skillfully voiced contemporary haiku published in English in 2025. Poems across a spectrum of styles, themes, and subject matter traverse whole galaxies of mind and heart." — Jennifer Hambrick, from the Afterword

Ordering information available at:

https://modernhaiku.org/mhbooks/Haiku2026.html

06/07/2026

Dear Friends,

The Summer Issue of Modern Haiku is out and in the mail to all subscribers!

The new issue contains an interview with PeiPei Qiu by Robert Epstein on haiku’s relationship with the Dao. In addition, Adam Graham looks at “Haiku’s Internal Dynamics and the Ethics of Reading.” Plus another installment of Jennifer Hambrick’s explorative series, “In Other Worlds.” We also share a Poetry Gallery from Lee Gurga and Gary LeBel.

Copies and/or subscriptions are still available at our website:

https://modernhaiku.org

A pdf version can be purchased online at:

https://fliphtml5.com/bookcase/jorev/

Modern Haiku magazine is a leading English language haiku magazine, publishing haiku, haibun, senryu, essays and book reviews related to contemporary haiku.

06/04/2026

a black widow
tending her egg …
I hesitate

George Dorsty
Modern Haiku 42.1 (2011)

A weekly post from our pages.

06/01/2026

We are pleased to announce the results from the 2026 Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award. Congratulations to the following poets:

First Place:

abandoned rails
goldenrod
passing through

Scott Mason


Second Place:

snowy night
stirring without touching
the teacup’s side

Alan S. Bridges


Third Place:

all that’s left
of the old farmhouse
brushstroke sky

Joshua St. Claire

Honorable Mention Awards (unranked)

soft october rain
some letters missing
from the marquee

Matthew Markworth


rotted rafters
fog curdles around
the owl’s call

Debbie Strange


cloud-scuttle in the children’s pond paper sailboats

Jo Balistreri


late hour
the drummer switches
to the brush

David Grayson


last frost—
the mailbox lid
comes free

Elliot Diamond

Results including the judge’s commentary will appear in the summer issue of Modern Haiku (to be mailed soon) and online at our website shortly.

Thank you to this year’s judge, Brad Bennett, our amazing contest coordinator Billie Wilson, and to everyone who participated!

05/28/2026

opening flower …
so many visitors today
to be fed

Deborah Karl-Brandt
Modern Haiku 54.2 (2023)

A weekly post from our pages.

05/21/2026

North Beach
hanging at Caffe Trieste
beat cops

Nathanael Tico
Modern Haiku 55.3 (2024)

A weekly post from our pages.

05/14/2026

swift kiss
at the bus stop —
day moon

Ludmila Balabanova
Modern Haiku 45.3 (2014)

A weekly post from our pages.

05/07/2026

spring evening —
wind touching her hair
before I do

Brent Olson
Modern Haiku 35.1 (2004)

A weekly post from our pages.

04/30/2026

distant church bells
the muddy knees
of pastured cows

Michele L. Harvey
Modern Haiku 45.1 (2014)

A weekly post from our pages.