Portland Japanese Garden

The Portland Japanese Garden is holding a nationwide haiku contest for any and all participants. The contest started as part of the Portland Japanese Garden’s terrace exhibition at the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, DC, where visitors to the exhibition are invited to enter by writing their own haiku and mailing or emailing them to the Garden. The Garden has now extended the contest to its members, visitors, and the general public in order to spark creativity and bring awareness to this 300-hundred-year-old art form.

One of the most popular forms of poetry today, haiku is the essence of simplicity. Written in three lines with a total of 17 syllables or less, a haiku should be brief enough to be read in one breath. Haiku poems are about nature and experiences in our everyday lives. They contain a seasonal word (or phrase), such as “summer breeze” in the following haiku by Margaret Chula.

summer breeze
stones in the dry garden
flow without moving

Anyone wishing to enter the contest is welcome to submit their haiku to the Portland Japanese Garden by completing the online haiku entry form at www.japanesegarden.com/culture/haiku or mailing their haiku to Portland Japanese Garden, PO Box 3847, Portland, Oregon 97208.

The first-prize winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to the online Garden Gift Store and two runners-up winners will receive $50 gift certificates. Samples of haiku and full instructions can be found at www.japanesegarden.com/culture/haiku. The contest runs from July 21 through October 8, 2007.