Free writing competition for US-based writers to submit original haiku on the theme 'Microseasons', part of the annual Atlanta Haiku Festival.
Atlanta Botanical Garden is opening submissions for its annual haiku contest from February 1 to 28, 2027. It's the first part of the Atlanta Haiku Festival, which the Garden runs every February and March to connect art and nature through the form. The contest kicks things off, and the festival continues through March with haiku learning opportunities, all leading up to a festival day in the Garden on April 17, when the winning haiku are displayed in Storza Woods and read aloud. The backdrop for it all is the Garden's Japanese Garden, with its traditional plantings, architecture, and stone lanterns brought over from Japan.
This year's theme is Microseasons—kō in Japanese. It's based on the 72 subtle natural rhythms that happen within the four seasons, like swallows return or irises bloom. The idea is to get you to notice the tiny seasons tucked inside winter, spring, summer, and fall, rather than just the big ones. If you've ever noticed the exact moment the air shifts or a specific flower finally opens, that's what this is about.
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Submissions are open to anyone in the United States. You can enter up to two original, unpublished haiku, and they're judged by haiku authors and experts. Three winners are named in each category, and there's a People's Choice Grand Prize on top of that. The Garden is at 1345 Piedmont Ave NE, and submissions are free.
