July 27, 2012

I love contests! If someone puts a carrot in front of me, I want to win! I’m just competitive that way. I don’t beat myself if I don’t win, but I see contests as a way of improving myself.

So I have a challenge for you. Here’s a haiku contest for you to join. Any good wordsmith could enter and do admirably.

Here are the rules:
One haiku per half of an 8 1/2 by 11 paper with name, address, phone and email on the back. $3 for one and $10 for four haiku; checks made out to “Cape Cod Branch, NLAPW” and mailed by August 31 to PO Box 936, West Falmouth, MA 02574. Prizes are $25, $15, and $10 with books. For a list of winning haiku, send an SASE.

Here’s what a haiku is:
NO titles, three lines, makes reference or states a season, doesn’t have to be 17 syllables as originally required (3 in the first and third lines and 7 in the middle line) but make it concise. The third line is called the “Ah-ha” where an enlightenment or a twist occurs to make the reader carry the thought into his/her own experience. Cut out extra words like “the, an, and”.

Okay – one more challenge: make it related to children. Here’s one from my book Seasons Rising: A Collection of Haiku.

Bustling market place
in a green cart – beef, beer and milk
flowers and a child.

Or After the thunder
a cloud bridge
curves to the rainbow

or braced against the current
the child casts again
seeking the rainbow

Judging on the contest will be completed by mid-September. Results will be listed on the web site of the Pen Women: www.NLAPW.org. Winners will be notified by mail.

Pick up a challenge and enter a contest. There are lots out there, listed in writers magazines and newspapers. Good luck!

Creatively,
Christina