Skip to Main Content

 View All News


Haiku Hike Now On Display in Downtown Tucson

© JJ SNYDER PHOTOGRAPHY for Downtown Tucson Partnership.

DOWNTOWN TUCSON, AZ, March 23, 2022 – The Haiku Hike literary competition and self-guided
urban poetry hike has become one of Tucson’s signature spring events, signaling new beginnings and transformations. This year’s theme is Metamorphosis and relates to how our lives, our culture and our economy have transformed over the last two years.

Presented by The Downtown Tucson Partnership (DTP) and the University of Arizona Poetry Center,
the 3rd annual Haiku Hike literary competition showcases twenty winning haiku poems printed on
acrylic signage in planters located on Congress Street and Stone Avenue. Tucson's poet Laureate, TC
Tolbert, selected this year's winning haiku. These signs will provide visual and cultural interest during
the spring season, through June 1.

“The Haiku Hike is approximately 1,000 steps and provides a perfect opportunity for the public to get
reacquainted with all that Downtown Tucson has to offer,” states Kathleen Eriksen, President & CEO of
the DTP. “We’re pleased to present the Haiku Hike in time for National Poetry Month, in the month of
April.”

The annual competition continues to grow each year. This year, a record number of haiku were
submitted from all over the world.

“The response to the Haiku Hike, literary competition is astounding with 1,056 total entries; 635 came
from Tucson and the remaining hail from 29 different states and 28 countries! On behalf of the University of Arizona Poetry Center and the College of Humanities, we’re excited to continue to support this event as a Tucson tradition,” said Tyler Meier, Executive Director with the Poetry Center.

More information about this event including the winning haiku, sign locations and a printable map can be found at downtowntucson.org/haikuhike.

Download a PDF of the Press Release

Haiku Hike website