As part of the Garden’s Atlanta Haiku Festival on April 18, writers from around the country are invited to submit up to two original and unpublished haiku to our competition during the month of February. Submission details are below.
Prizes
Three winners will be selected in each category: first, second and third. Each winner and up to three guests will receive complimentary admission to the festival on April 18, including lunch with the competition judges. Winning haiku will be posted in the Garden and on the Garden’s website and social media.
In addition to admission on April 18, winners will receive:
Third place: two additional Garden admission tickets*
Second place: four additional Garden admission tickets
First place: six additional Garden admission tickets
*Garden admission tickets are valid only during regular, daytime hours. Garden special events are not included. Not valid during Garden Lights, Holiday Nights. Travel expenses not included. Non-local winners may be mailed their prize.
People’s Choice Grand Prize: Gift Basket
After winners are announced on April 1, winning haiku (three winners from each category) will be published online for voting by the public. Voting closes at noon on April 17. The People’s Choice Grand Prize winner will be announced during the festival at the Atlanta Botanical Garden on April 18.
Competition Details
Submissions are open Feb. 1 – 28, 2026 and must be submitted using this form. The competition is free and open to anyone in the United States. Submissions by authors under the age of 18 must include parental consent. The competition will be judged by haiku authors and experts.
2026 Theme: Growing Gold
In honor of the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s 50th “golden” anniversary, competitive haiku submissions will be inspired by the theme Growing Gold. The Garden has evolved a lot over the past 50 years. What started in 1976 as a “seed” of a project, with just two trailers surrounded by a few shade gardens, has transformed into a 30-acres urban oasis. Allow the theme to inspire your haiku. What images in nature remind you of growth? What can you hear, taste, touch, see or feel that tells a story of flourishing transformation? Write from real experiences or your imagination.
To be considered for the competition, submitted haiku must be:
1. The author’s own original work
2. Unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere
3. Limited to two original haiku per applicant.
Submissions are open in three divisions:
1. Bonsai: Elementary and Middle School Students
2. Sakura: High School Students
3. Ginkgo: Adults
Standard form for modern English haiku is recommended:
Modern English haiku doesn’t have to follow a 5-7-5 syllable structure. Because English and Japanese have different rhythms when spoken out loud, 5-7-5 sounds natural in Japanese, but it can actually restrict the flow of English haiku. Instead of limiting yourself to exactly 17 syllables, focus on writing haiku that describes a single moment in time, relates to a specific season or pairs two poetic images.
Learn more about English haiku form at The Heron’s Nest and the Haiku Society of America.
School Visit Guide
Using the handout “Find Your Haiku Moment in the Garden,” take time to notice, observe, and connect with natural phenomena in the Garden. Talk with your students about their observations and anything they find surprising, interesting, or beautiful.
Questions about submitting?
Email Heather Chiller, Atlanta Botanical Garden Public Programs Manager.
About the Judges
Tom Painting teaches at the Paideia School in Atlanta, Ga. He has been a member of the haiku community for more than thirty years and is a former associate editor for The Heron’s Nest haiku journal.
Abigail Friedman is a retired American diplomat and national security official and prize-winning poet composing haiku in English, French and Japanese.
Diane Alleva Caceres is a lecturer at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She writes haiku, haibun and tanka. She is cofounder of the Atlanta Haiku Festival.