The contest:
End Your Summer on a Haiku Note!
When I saw this stunning photo on Sharon Rousseau’s Instagram page, I gasped. When I read the haiku that accompanied it, I knew we had to team up for a Woodstock Bookfest contest.
Woodstock Peony ©Sharon Rousseau
Instead of weeding
I held living stems to light–
searching for poems.
–Sharon Rousseau
When The New York Times recently held a haiku contest, no one guessed its editors would receive 2800 poems in ten days. From that outpouring of poetry about NYC, the paper chose its winners, and invited poet Marie Howe to choose her six favorites to publish as Poet’s Picks.
Writer, poet, photographer and friend of Woodstock Bookfest, Sharon Rousseau, was one of the winners of the contest and one of Howe’s Poet’s Picks. Rizzoli Books saw the project after it ran in print and online, and in April 2017, Universe Publishing, a division of Rizzoli, published New York City Haiku, with illustrations by James Gulliver Hancock.
We love haiku because it gets writers writing. And we love any chance for simplicity, because life is so complicated. Clear your mind with haiku.
So we’re having our own haiku contest.
Join us in crafting a haiku
Traditional haiku consists of three lines, the first containing 5 syllables, the second 7 syllables, the third 5 syllables. The poem typically holds some element of nature or season, and the last line often contains a twist or surprise, something unexpected.
Not sure where or how to start? Let Sharon explain.
“As the season changes, I think of renewed routines and the idea of practice, of committing to activities in ways that sustain me, ground me and bring joy. As a writer, photographer and poet, I’m always moving between the three disciplines, finding ways to refresh and continue the process.
A couple of years ago, I was asked to participate in a project with writers composing daily haiku for 365 days. The idea sounded overwhelming, but exciting. So I began. From poems as daily practice to New York Times print and online to a Rizzoli book. I couldn’t have planned it, and it’s thrilling.
Recently I’ve been working on a series of photographs, which seem almost a visual expression of haiku for me.”
Our contest winner will receive a limited edition print of Sharon’s photograph, “Woodstock Peony”, and a signed copy of New York City Haiku.
