PrizePoem.com - Submit your Haiku and win an Amazon Gift Certificate

[zoe_dw]

Each month we select a theme and ask you to write a poem about it. Your poem must be three lines long and preferably in the form of a Haiku. We will post the best poems we receive and at the end of the month we will select a prize winner. The prize is an Amazon Gift Certificate which will be sent to your email address.

This month's theme is love, we'd love to get as many submissions as possible:
http://prizepoem.com

[AlanSummers]

Dear Zoe,

I notice you say haikus [sic] although the competition does say haiku as a plural and not haikus [sic] but also only gives a link just to wikipedia.

Can regular contemporary haiku be submitted (in a love theme), or does it have to be the old fashioned incorrect 5/7/5 syllabic structure even for English-language haiku?

regards,

Alan

Each month we select a theme and ask you to write a poem about it. Your poem must be three lines long and preferably in the form of a Haiku. We will post the best poems we receive and at the end of the month we will select a prize winner. The prize is an Amazon Gift Certificate which will be sent to your email address.

This month's theme is love, we'd love to get as many submissions as possible:
Submit your haikus here: http://prizepoem.com

[zoe_dw]

Dear Alan,

Thank you this feedback, it's very helpful. I'll see if we can update the site to make this clearer.  What we want to do is accept any form really, the only real requirement is that the poem is short and concise (hence the three line limit).

Regards,
Zoe

[John McManus]

So would you accept a one line verse Zoe?

It's not my ku, but as a quick example off the top of my head this is a one line ku by Marlene Mountain which I feel qualifies as a love verse . . .

close to someone in the stars white seeps inwards

warmest,
John

[AlanSummers]

Thanks Zoe,

This abbreviated description of haiku from the HSA is useful:


Definition from The Haiku Society of America:

A haiku is a short poem that uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature or the season intuitively linked to the human condition.

Notes: 

Most haiku in English consist of three unrhymed lines of seventeen or fewer syllables, with the middle line longest, though today's poets use a variety of line lengths and arrangements. In Japanese a typical haiku has seventeen "sounds" (on) arranged five, seven, and five. (Some translators of Japanese poetry have noted that about twelve syllables in English approximates the duration of seventeen Japanese on.)

Traditional Japanese haiku include a "season word" (kigo), a word or phrase that helps identify the season of the experience recorded in the poem, and a "cutting word" (kireji), a sort of spoken punctuation that marks a pause or gives emphasis to one part of the poem.

In English, season words are sometimes omitted, but the original focus on experience captured in clear images continues. The most common technique is juxtaposing two images or ideas (Japanese rensô).

Punctuation, space, a line-break, or a grammatical break may substitute for a cutting word. Most haiku have no titles, and metaphors and similes are commonly avoided.

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kind regards,

Alan

Dear Alan,

Thank you this feedback, it's very helpful. I'll see if we can update the site to make this clearer.  What we want to do is accept any form really, the only real requirement is that the poem is short and concise (hence the three line limit).

Regards,
Zoe

[zoe_dw]

So would you accept a one line verse Zoe?

Hi John, yes we would love to see some one line verses.

This abbreviated description of haiku from the HSA is useful:

That description is much better, I'll use this to update the front page.  Thank you so much for you help with this.

[AlanSummers]

Hi Zoe,

It's terrific you've used the HSA weblink, because it's a great organisation to join and learn more about what haiku can be.

My only suggestion is to use a specific weblink that hones into the description I gave you, otherwise those new to haiku will feel a little lost wading through all the attempts at defining haiku.

Could you consider this weblink instead:
http://www.hsa-haiku.org/archives/HSA_Definitions_2004.html#Haiku

I often recommend my own light overview of haiku before people visit more complex sites:
http://www.withwords.org.uk/what.html

all my best,

Alan

So would you accept a one line verse Zoe?

Hi John, yes we would love to see some one line verses.

This abbreviated description of haiku from the HSA is useful:

That description is much better, I'll use this to update the front page.  Thank you so much for you help with this.

[zoe_dw]

Thanks Alan, I've updated the link to jump straight to #Haiku, I've also added the withwords.org link as well which I like a lot.

[AlanSummers]

Thanks Zoe! ;-)

I feel the competition will attract all sorts of entrants, and the newer ones to haiku have a solid base to progress in their understanding of haiku.

I'm going to work on something myself so I can enter too! :-)

Alan

Thanks Alan, I've updated the link to jump straight to #Haiku, I've also added the withwords.org link as well which I like a lot.