From mid-April through mid-June this year, we challenged writers to send us their best, original Haibun and Tanka Prose, for consideration for cash prizes and publication. We are pleased to announce three winners, three Honorable Mentions, three Publisher’s Choice awards (the PCA is a previously unannounced category), and ten semi-finalists.

Thank you so much to all the writers who entered the contest! And a world of thanks to poet and editor Matthew Paul for so kindly contributing his time and talent to evaluate entries. We especially appreciate his in-depth and well considered adjudication report and commentaries re the winners and Honorable Mentions. And we would agree with Charles Trumbull, former president of the Haiku Society of America, who has described Paul as “perhaps the most perceptive and hard-hitting reviewer in the business.”

In addition to their publication here in KF-6, the winners and Honorable Mentions, the judge’s report and commentaries, and the PCAs will also appear in a chapbook-size anthology (~60 pages) scheduled for release in December 2016. The book, whose working title is “State of the Art”: Ekphrastic and Hybrid Forms of Poetry, will include visual arts and ekphrastic works as well, selected by KYSO Flash editors. All contributors whose work(s) appear in this full-color, soft-cover collection will receive a complimentary copy.

Winners and Honorable Mentions:

All decisions made by the judge are final. Cash prizes will be awarded in USD by our Publisher as follows:

Adjudication Report and Commentaries by Matthew Paul

Publisher’s Choice Awards:

Semi-Finalists (unranked):

The following selections are listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name. In addition to publication here in KF-6, semi-finalists will also appear in the KYSO Flash Anthology 2016 (soft-cover; black-and-white interior), scheduled for release in January 2017. All contributors whose works are reprinted in our annual anthology will receive a complimentary copy.