HAIKU CONTEST
2018 CONTEST NOW CLOSED – Winners Announced Here
2019 Contest will be announced in the new year…
Deadline: June 24 July 1, 2018
Submit up to 3 haiku for your chance to win! The winner will receive $120 CAD ($100 prize + $20 honorarium), 2 copies of our inaugural print magazine, and 2 special Dreamers keychains on which the winning poem will be printed.
Multiple entries by the same poet are allowed. Please complete the form again for each additional entry.
The winning entry will be published on dreamerswriting.com as well as in our 2018 magazine and on special Dreamers keychains!
We will select up to 6 runners up (at the Editor’s sole discretion) that will be published online and in our 2018 magazine. Each runner-up will be paid our standard $20 CAD honorarium.
What is a Haiku?
A haiku is a very brief Japanese poem of 17 total syllables in three lines. Line one is 5 syllables, line two is 7 syllables, and line three is 5 syllables. This standard structure is not always maintained.
Haiku’s are traditionally nature based and often focus on a seasonal theme. They do not rhyme. Juxtaposition (compare or contrast) is an essential element of this form of poetry, for example, by closely connecting two contrasting images, or by comparing unexpected similarities.
Haiku also employ a cutting word, known as a kireji in Japanese. This is a kind of word that provides a verbal punctuation mark that separates the juxtaposed images. There is no English equivalent to a kireji so English writers will sometimes use a dash or another form of punctuation that causes a break or pause, offering readers a chance to reflect on the connection between the two parts.
The goal of a haiku is to suggest a lot with a little. These are tiny poems with big meanings.
Check out this example written by Dreamers Editor-in-Chief, Kat McNichol:
The flames are gone now.
Soot; a waning harvest moon –
That’s all that remains.
Submit your entry to the Dreamers Haiku Contest.
*This article was published on May 23, 2018.
