You all know how much Sarah Noel and I love a good contest! Recently, after much brainstorming for a new series, I was struck with an idea – why not incorporate the multitude of talented writers that participate in the Musings blog into a piece somehow? Better yet, why not make it a contest (since we love to see people win stuff!)? So here it is — a haiku writing contest!

What, exactly, is haiku? It’s a Japanese form of poetry that has 17 “moras” or syllables. In English, we separate these syllables into three lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables, respectively. They typically contain a seasonal reference as well. Check out the image above, that’s a haiku I wrote about the contest.

What does Japanese poetry have to do with photography, you ask? During one of my favorite photography classes, we were given a haiku and asked to interpret it using our cameras. I loved the assignment and would love to do it again! Sure, I could Google ‘summer haiku’ and come up with hundreds, I’m sure. But that’s no fun and there would be no prizes!

If any of you have experienced the insane winter weather (clear through spring) like we did here in Flagstaff, you can empathize with how ready for summer I am. I’d like to see 70 degree days for a consecutive week. Is that too much to ask? Let’s drown our winter blues with some summery creativity!

The contest:

To help us get into the spirit of summer, I want to see your best summer themed haiku!

To enter, email your haiku to me here at eunice@eunicebrownlee.com by May 10th at midnight, PDT.

I will post all entries here on the blog on May 12th for the readers to vote for their favorite haiku. Voting will be open from May 12th-15th.

The prizes:

Top ten picks - Your haiku will become a photograph! I will take each haiku and attempt to interpret it photographically. I will send you a fine art print of your haiku to enjoy.

Top five picks – The photographs and haiku will be displayed at Il Posto starting June 21st (the first day of summer)! Il Posto is an Italian restaurant in Metro Denver where I currently have my photography on display.  It’s time for a new series to hang and this project will be it! All writing credits will be given to the respective authors.

Top pick – The poem with the most votes will win this fabulous journal starter e-book from Imaginibbles (you know you want it).(image retreived here)

This prize was chosen to help benefit the Dream Big Promise that Imaginibbles is sponsoring. For every item purchased, Imaginibbles is donating one Life Straw® to a third world country in need of clean drinking water. They have several great items designed to unleash your creative power. Please check out the other items they have to offer and shop around, won’t you?