As reliable as the seasons, the return of spring to downtown Washington, D.C., again brings with it the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District’s (BID’s) annual Golden Haiku poetry competition. Emerging from 200 planter boxes throughout the central business district alongside the tulips and daffodils, Golden Haiku offers a glimpse into a return to normalcy for those who work, live, and visit the neighborhood.
The Golden Triangle BID announced the winners of its eighth annual Golden Haiku poetry contest today with a record-breaking number of entries from 60 countries, 49 states, and the District of Columbia. Over 2,800 haiku were received, including 200 submissions from talented poets under the age of 18, as part of this year’s new Youth category. Winning poems can be seen on colorful signs throughout the Golden Triangle starting this week through April.
“Golden Haiku has been putting smiles on the faces of passers-by for close to a decade. This is perhaps more important now than ever,” said Leona Agouridis, Executive Director of the Golden Triangle BID. “In a time when the world has been brought together in unprecedented ways, it is an opportunity to connect globally by celebrating hope through words.”
Golden Haiku follows the Haiku Society of America’s guidelines for modern haiku, which does not require the traditional 5-7-5 structure. Removing the strict structural requirements for syllables frees the author to use evocative language to capture a moment or expression of beauty in a short, descriptive verse.
All entries were reviewed and judged by a distinguished panel of published haiku experts including Abigail Friedman, Kit Pancoast Nagamura, and John Stevenson.
See the list of 2021 Golden Haiku winners here.
About the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District:
Formed in 1998, the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID) enhances Washington, D.C.’s central business district, the 44-square-block neighborhood stretching from The White House to Dupont Circle. Home to roughly 6,000 businesses, the BID provides a clean, safe, and vibrant environment for hundreds of thousands of workers, residents, and visitors, and encourages economic development through capital projects, public art, sustainability, and events. The Golden Triangle has been awarded LEED Platinum, the highest level of LEED certification, by the U.S. Green Building Council. It is the first BID in the world to be certified through the LEED for Communities program. For more information, visit: goldentriangledc.com and connect on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
