Poet Profile

Peggy Heinrich

Peggy Heinrich began exploring haiku thirty-five years ago. Her haiku have appeared in almost every haiku journal in the United States and in Japan, from the early days of Dragonfly to the latest web journals and in many anthologies. She has also published many longer poems, some of which appear in her book, A Minefield of Etceteras. She is currently working on a collection of her tanka with photographer John Bolivar.

Awards and Other Honors: Third Place, Harold G. Henderson Memorial Award [James Hackett, judge] (1994); Honorable Mention, Harold G. Henderson Memorial Award (2000); Honorable Mention, Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award (2006); First Prize, Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest (2009 and 2010); Runner-up, Japan Air Lines contest (1988); Award, Ashiya International Haiku Festival [award of a watch, journal, and diploma-like document] (1998); Third Prize, 12th International Kusamakura Haiku Competition. Some of her work has been selected to appear in the following publications: How to Haiku by Bruce Ross (Tuttle, Boston, 2002); a glimpse of red: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2001 (Red Moon Press); the loose thread: The Red Moon Anthology of English-language Haiku 2001 (Red Moon Press); tug of the current: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2004 (Red Moon Press); The Acorn Book of Contemporary Haiku (2009); gatherings: an anthology of amusement parks, carnivals, country fairs and more (bottle rockets press, 2008); Dreams Wander On: A Collection of Contemporary Death Awareness Poem Anthology [edited by Robert Epstein]; The Temple Bell Stops: A Collection of Contemporary Poems of Grief and Loss [edited by Robert Epstein].  Her haiku have also received awards in the following: Gustave Keyser Award; International Kusamakura Haiku Competition; Ashiya International Haiku Festa; 6th Annual Suruga Baika Literary Festival; Kaji Aso Studio, International Haiku Contest Dasoku; 8th annual Mainichi Haiku Contest; World Haiku Club Competition; R.H.Blyth Award; and World Haiku Review, Shintai & Vanuard Haiku.

Books Published: Peeling an Orange (MET Press, 2009); A Minefield of Etceteras (iUniverse, Inc., Lincoln, NE, 2006); A Patch of Grass (High/Coo Press, Battle Ground, IN, 1984); Haiga-Haiku [8 etchings by Barbara Gray, 8 haiku by Peggy Heinrich] (produced by Barbara Gray, 1982); iUniverse, Inc., Lincoln, NE, 2006); Sharing the Woods (Old Sandal Press, Westport, CT, 1992); Forty-Four Freckles [(a children's book in rhyme] (Longmeadow Press, Stamford, CT, 1995); The Soul of Fire: How Charcoal Changed the World [nonfiction, with John Uhlmann] (University Books, Pompano Beach, FL, 1987; republished in soft cover by American Fireworks News)

holding my breath
until the cormorant
resurfaces

snowy day
connecting houses
the mailman’s footprints

behind me
in the wet sand
my vanishing footprints

evening news
the soothing weight 
of the quilt

after many months
spreading his ashes . . . 
the lilacs he planted

half-empty bed
I try to recall
his faults

Credits: "holding my breath" - The Aurorean (June 2003); Peeling an Orange [with photographs by John Bolivar] (Modern English Tanka Press, 2009); Santa Cruz Weekly, 7/7/10; "behind me" - Top Prize, Second Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest (2010); Peeling an Orange [with photographs by John Bolivar] (Modern English Tanka Press, 2009); "after many months" - Top Prize, First Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest (2009); Peeling an Orange [with photographs by John Bolivar] (Modern English Tanka Press, 2009); "snowy day" – Third Prize, 12th International Kusamakura Haiku Competition; Peeling an Orange [with photographs by John Bolivar] (Modern English Tanka Press, 2009); "evening news" – Honorable Mention, Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award Competition (2006); Peeling an Orange [with photographs by John Bolivar] (Modern English Tanka Press, 2009); "half-empty bed" - The Heron’s Nest VI:8 (2004); tug of the current: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2004 (Red Moon Press); Peeling an Orange [with photographs by John Bolivar] (Modern English Tanka Press, 2009).