The following interviews were conducted by Michael Dylan Welch in the fall of 2017 with the winners in each of the six categories in VCBF’s 2017 Haiku Invitational contest presented by Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, United States, International, and Youth. We invite you to get to know each winner a little better through his or her responses, and to learn their influences and recommendations regarding haiku poetry.

Vancouver
Ann Harreby
Coquitlam, British Columbia

 the names
of children being called home
cherry blossoms
                    
 

British Columbia
Beth Skala
Nanaimo, British Columbia

 cherry blossoms
a winter jacket
hangs from a branch


Canada
Debbie Strange
Winnipeg, Manitoba

 transience . . .
petal by petal
we let go
 

United States
Terri L. French
Huntsville, Alabama

 the gasp
before the sigh . . .
cherry blossoms

International
Sanjuktaa Asopa
Belgaum, India

 Falling cherry petals
how gently the world lets go
of light
 

Youth
Amy Wells, age 16
Christchurch, New Zealand

 blossoms float down
graduation hats fly up
a new beginning