Haiku Hike | Serenity
An Urban Poetry Hike in Downtown Tucson
About
Presented by The Downtown Tucson Partnership and the University of Arizona Poetry Center, the annual Haiku Hike literary competition showcases twenty winning haiku poems printed on acrylic signage in planters located along Congress Street and Stone Avenue. These signs provide visual and cultural interest throughout the season, beginning on the first day of spring and ending June 1. An urban poetry hike through downtown following the haiku trail is the perfect opportunity for the public to get reacquainted with all that Tucson’s urban center has to offer.
20winning haiku poems
displayed throughout the Spring season
selected by poet laureate of Tucson, TC Tolbert
1,000approx. footsteps on the Haiku Hike
The 2024 submission form is now closed.
Judging
Haiku entries are judged by Tucson's poet Laureate, TC Tolbert. Click here to learn more about how to write a haiku. Twenty winning poems are selected from hundreds of haiku submissions. All 20 winners receive public recognition and their work featured on public signage downtown, online and in the media.
Guidelines
A participant may enter the competition once, submitting a maximum of three original haiku. We will only consider haiku that follows the three line, 5-7-5 syllable count format of American haiku. Submissions that don’t follow this format won’t be considered.
A few general rules:
- One entry per person, with a maximum of three haiku allowed.
- Once your haiku are submitted, you aren’t able to edit them. Be sure to review them before you hit submit.
- Poets whose haiku were selected in previous Haiku Hike competitions are not eligible to win in 2024.
- We will only consider haiku that follows the three line, 5-7-5 syllable count format of American haiku. Submissions that don’t follow this format won’t be considered.
Previous Competitions:
5th annual Haiku Hike Stats
Theme: Serenity
2,069haiku were submitted
1,385submissions came from Tucson
29different states represented in the submissions
27different countries represented in the submissions
4th annual Haiku Hike 2023
Theme: Planting Seeds
1,556haiku were submitted
1,114submissions came from Tucson
28different states represented in the submissions
23different countries represented in the submissions
3rd annual Haiku Hike 2022
Theme: Metamorphosis
1,056haiku were submitted
635submissions came from Tucson
29different states represented in the submissions
28different countries represented in the submissions
2nd annual Haiku Hike 2020 (postponed to 2021)
Theme: Living in the Present Moment
712haiku were submitted
572submissions came from Tucson
14different states represented in the submissions
8different countries represented in the submissions
1st annual Haiku Hike 2019
Theme: Life In the City
977haiku were submitted
825submissions came from Tucson
12different states represented in the submissions
5different countries represented in the submissions