A Confluence of Mythology, Haiku Canada Members' Anthology 2025

scrub jay

nothing left of the blue

in dad's jeans

2nd Place, 2024 Betty Drevniok Award

Haiku Canada, The Betty Drevniok Award, 2024

Thrilled to receive 2nd Place in this contest. My thanks to the judge, Jennifer Hambrick!

scrub jay

nothing left of the blue

in dad's jeans

2nd Place

Betty Drevniok Award, 2024

Judge's commentary:

The Florida scrub jay is listed as a threatened species; reportedly fewer than 10,000 remain. The poem's first two lines warn that the jay's brilliant blue could vanish forever. Line 2 joins the non-human realm with the human, as in Line 3 the jay's blue becomes the blue worked, worn, and washed out from "dad's" jeans. This poem makes us ask ourselves: Should life be about exploitation or care? About consuming or sustaining?

 

No Two Alike: Haiku Canada Members' Anthology 2024

drifting sands

sometimes the poem

writes itself

Winning Haiku

2023 Drifting Sands Wearable Art and Haiku Contest 

Connected to Peace: Haiku Canada Members' Anthology 2023

herring shoals

the ocean turns itself

inside out

2nd Place

World Haiku Review, Winter 2021-2022

Haiku Canada: Marianne Bluger Awards, 2022

Honoured to receive the 2022 Marianne Bluger Chapbook Award for The Language of Loss: Haiku & Tanka Conversations! My thanks to the judges.

Judging Commentary:

"...and The Language of Loss by Debbie Strange leave one with a feeling of a complete artistic statement authentic to human experience and emotion. Both book and chapbook demonstrate a technical facility that projects the illusion of effortless composition from page to page."

—Lynn Jambor and Roland Packer

Stratified Layers: Haiku Canada Members' Anthology 2022

outdoor wedding

an unexpected flurry

of cabbage whites

Haiku Laureate Award

Hexapod Haiku Contest, 2021

 

Random Sampling, Haiku Canada Members' Anthology 2021

forgotten grave

only the small bones

of leaves remain

Commended Haiku

2020 Polish International Haiku Competition

 

Smoke From My Candle, Haiku Canada Members' Anthology 2020

snowmelt
the wild crocuses
you loved


2nd Place
1st Morioka International Haiku Contest, 2019

Le Prix Jocelyne-Villeneuve, Haiku Canada 2019

Honoured to have the following watercolour featured on Le Prix Jocelyne-Villeneuve Haiku Canada trifold announcing the winners of the contest!

At the Water's Edge, Haiku Canada Members' Anthology 2019

circles of lichen
I thought we would have
more time


3rd Place
Kaji Aso Studio, 30th Annual Haiku Contest, 2018

A Far Galaxy, Haiku Canada Members' Anthology 2018

atlas moth
the places we thought
we'd go

Honourable Mention
2017 Jane Reichhold International Prize

Wordless: Haiku Canada - 40 Years of Haiku, 2017

gone too soon
sakura blossoms
my old friends


Sakura Award, Canada
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
Haiku Invitational, 2015

This haiku was written in memory of two old friends who passed away within a couple of months of each other.


rocky ledge
a wolf with the moon
in its mouth


3rd Prize, Irish Haiku Society
7th International Haiku Competition, 2015

This haiku was inspired by a camping trip in Manitoba. We were on a moonlit quest to photograph northern lights, when we were alerted to the presence of a wolf in the rocky area nearby.

It was especially sweet to share news of this honour with our relatives in Ireland, and to be "the first ever Canadian prize-winner in our competition", according to the organizers.

Black Moss Press - Erotic Haiku: Of Skin On Skin, 2017

icicle
the melted taste
of you

The Bamboo Hut Press, 2014


button moon
we undress each other
in the dark

World Haiku Review, 2016


puzzle pieces
missing the way
we fit together

Prune Juice, 2015


sparks fly
under the trestle
graffiti hearts

Failed Haiku, 2016


crescent moon
a scar on the curve
of your belly

World Haiku Review, 2016

Sailing Into The Moon, Haiku Canada Members' Anthology, 2016

merlot moon
fires burn somewhere
close tonight


Asahi Haikuist Network, November 2015

Haiku Canada, The Betty Drevniok Award, 2015

the whistle
of a wood duck . . .
her last breath


Honourable Mention
Betty Drevniok Award, 2015

Comparing Tattoos, Haiku Canada Members' Anthology, 2015

chickadee
the sound of your name
on my tongue


Frameless Sky, Issue 1, December 2014