Youth & young adults worldwide
Official submissions, judging, and awards are open to youth and young adults from Korea and abroad.
OFFICIAL GUIDELINES
Korea Haiku
World Youth Festival 2026
Application Guidelines
Official submissions, judging, and awards are for youth and young adults worldwide. General adults may take part through the Festival Lounge and open international exchange programs.
Key Information
Key Information
Before applying, please review eligibility for official judging, the Lounge participation available to general visitors, submission format, privacy, and copyright use.
Up to three poems
Each work must be the participant’s own original creation, and each participant may submit up to three poems.
Korean · English · Japanese
Choose Korean, English, or Japanese as the original submission language. A translation in at least one of the other two languages must also be submitted.
Festival Lounge participation
Participants aged 31 or older are not eligible for official judging or awards, but may freely join the Festival Lounge and open exchange programs.
Purpose of the Festival
Korea Haiku World Youth Festival 2026 is an international literary exchange event where youth and young adults from around the world share nature, seasons, life, peace, and everyday moments through short poetic forms. Official submissions, judging, and awards are for youth and young adults. General adults may participate through Guest Haiku, messages of support, invited-poet works, and international exchange programs in the Festival Lounge. The festival respects haiku tradition while sharing the possibilities of Korea Haiku grounded in Korean language and sensibility.
Eligibility
Eligibility
Youth participants in Korea
Participants residing in Korea who are under 18 apply through a group in principle and require consent from a guardian or supervising teacher.
Young adults in Korea and overseas
Participants aged 18 to 30 may enter the official competition individually or through a group, regardless of country of residence.
Minor participants overseas
To protect personal information and clearly confirm guardian consent, overseas minors must apply through a school, literary or cultural organization, youth group, supervising teacher, or equivalent representative.
Division
Categories
Youth Division
Participants under 18 · eligible for official judging and awards
Young Adult Division
Participants aged 18 to 30 · eligible for official judging and awards
Group Entry
A submission method in which a school, literary or cultural group, youth organization, overseas Korean school, or international exchange institution submits works collectively for youth and young adults
The Youth and Young Adult Divisions are the official judging and award categories. Group Entry is a submission method, not a separate age category.
General adult participation: Participants aged 31 or older are not included in official judging or awards, but may freely join Guest Haiku, messages of support, invited-poet appreciation, and international literary exchange programs in the Festival Lounge.
Themes
Participants may freely choose a theme within the following range.
- Nature and seasons
- Life and peace
- My everyday life
- Family and friends
- Hometown and city
- Memory and longing
- Korea Haiku in the world
- A short poem from the heart
Submitted works must not promote hatred or discrimination based on ideology, religion, race, gender, nationality, disability, region, or any other grounds.
Format and Languages
- A three-line form is recommended in principle.
- Drawing on the aesthetic orientation of Korea Haiku, works are encouraged to use short poetic expression that brings alive seasonal feeling, concrete objects or scenes, moments of discovery, and a sense of openness and resonance.
- A strict syllabic form is not required, but entries should pursue a short, condensed poetic form.
- Submitted works must be the participant’s own original creations.
- Works that have already been published or awarded in other contests are not eligible.
- Plagiarism, ghostwriting, unauthorized translation, or adaptation of another person’s work may result in disqualification, and awards may be revoked even after announcement.
Submission Languages
- The official submission languages are Korean, English, and Japanese.
- Participants must choose one of these three languages as the original language of the work.
- A translation in at least one of the other two languages must also be submitted.
- The organizer may arrange translation or review when necessary for judging, publicity, archive publication, or festival materials.
Each participant may submit up to three poems. For group entries, the same limit of up to three poems per participant applies in principle.
Application
How to Apply
Individual Application
Individual applicants must complete and submit the official application form.
- Name or pen name
- Country and region of residence
- Participation category
- Contact email
- Title and text of each work
- Brief self-introduction
- Consent to collection and use of personal information
- Consent to publication and use of submitted works
Group Entry
For group entries, a representative submits the participant list and works collectively.
- Accuracy of participant information
- Guardian consent for minor participants
- Consent to collection and use of personal information
- Consent to publication and use of submitted works
- Confirmation that submitted works are original creations by the participants
If requested by the organizer, the group representative must submit guardian consent confirmation or related supporting materials.
Minor Protection
Protection of Minor Participants
The following principles apply to protect the personal information and rights of minor participants.
Protection of Minor Participants
For operational purposes, this festival regards participants under the age of 18 as minors, considering differences in the age of majority by country. If the laws of the participant’s country or region provide stricter protection, those standards may take precedence.
- Overseas minors are, in principle, allowed to apply only through a group representative.
- The group representative must confirm participation consent from the legal guardian or guardian of each minor participant.
- Personal information of minors is collected only to the minimum extent necessary for festival operation.
- Excessive personal information such as contact details, address, full date of birth, ID card information, or passport number is not collected in principle.
- When award-winning works are published, only necessary information such as name or pen name, country, affiliation or age group, work, and award title is disclosed.
- Use of a minor participant’s information in photos, videos, interviews, online posts, archives, or promotional materials requires confirmation of guardian consent.
Collection and Use of Personal Information
The organizer collects only the minimum personal information necessary for festival operation, application confirmation, judging, announcement of awardees, archive production, exhibition, and publicity. Collected personal information will not be used for purposes other than the festival, and will be safely destroyed after the retention period in accordance with relevant laws and internal standards. For minor participants, the confirmation process involving group representatives and guardian consent will be strengthened.
Copyright and Use of Works
Copyright of submitted works remains, in principle, with the creator. By submitting, however, participants agree that the organizer may use the works within the scope of award announcements, website publication, festival archives, exhibitions, reading events, press releases, promotional materials, and non-commercial educational or international exchange purposes related to Korea Haiku. If the organizer intends to use works in commercial publications or separate paid content, separate consultation will be conducted with the creator or legal guardian.
- Announcement of award-winning works
- Publication on the website
- Inclusion in festival materials or archives
- Use in exhibitions and reading events
- Use in press releases and promotional materials
- Non-commercial use for Korea Haiku international exchange and education
Judging Criteria
Works will be judged mainly according to the following criteria.
- Understanding of haiku form
- Seasonal feeling and concreteness of objects
- Resonance and openness within a short expression
- Creativity and language sensitivity
- Korea Haiku sensibility and global communicability
- Authenticity as youth and young adult literature
The judging process and detailed scores will not be disclosed in principle.
Awards
- Grand Prize
- First Prize
- Excellence Award
- Encouragement Award
- Special Award
- Group Award
Award titles and the number of awardees may be adjusted depending on the number of submissions and judging results. Depending on the judging results, no award-winning work may be selected in certain categories.
Schedule
Submission and Announcement
Submission Period
The official submission period runs from October 1, 2026, 00:00 to October 21, 2026, 23:59 (KST, Korea Standard Time). Participants may edit submitted works during the submission period, but modifications or additional submissions are restricted after the deadline.
Judging Period
From November 1, 2026 to mid-December 2026, the domestic and international professional judging panel will conduct an online blind review.
Result Announcement
Results are scheduled to be announced in early January 2027. Award recipients will be announced through the official Korea Haiku Federation website and individual notifications.
Publication and Official Event
A commemorative publication and official event are scheduled for late February 2027, including the publication of award-winning works.
Notice
Important Notes
- Submitted works must be the participant’s own original creations.
- If plagiarism, ghostwriting, unauthorized translation, or duplicate award status is confirmed, the entry may be disqualified or the award revoked.
- False information in the application may result in cancellation of participation or award status.
- Applications from minors may be restricted if guardian consent confirmation is deemed insufficient.
- Group representatives must fully inform participants and guardians of the guidelines, privacy policy, and the scope of publication and use of works.
- The organizer may revise parts of the guidelines when necessary for festival operation, and changes will be announced on the official website.
Organizer and Host
Organizer: Korea Haiku Federation / Host: Korea Haiku World Youth Festival 2026 Organizing Committee / Supporters: To be announced
Organizer: Korea Haiku Federation / Host: Korea Haiku World Youth Festival 2026 Organizing Committee / Supporters: To be announced
Please review before applying
Official submissions, judging, and awards are for youth and young adults. General adults may freely participate through the Festival Lounge and open exchange programs. Overseas minors are required in principle to apply through a group representative.
