That's right. Write a winning political haiku and receive a $75 Visa card or a number of other prizes (books, t-shirts, etc). I'm assembling an all-star judging panel as we speak.
How this all came about...
A couple of weeks ago on my new series, Question of the Day, reader Henrietta wrote two Haiku as comments for Free-Form Friday.
Well, needless to say, it was inspiring. I thought: August can be a slow month for politics and it's hot as hell on the east coast...why not have a political haiku contest?
TOPICS
You might not take up Sarah Palin's concern of infanticide, but maybe it's Iraq, or remembrance of the Bush administration, or gratitude to the birthers, or relief over the end of the recession (then why am I giving a Visa debit card away again???).
Anyway, It's all wide open. Just don't make it hyper-local so the panel has no idea what you're writing about.
RULES
For those of you who don't remember the rules of haiku, here you go:
- 3-short lines
- (17 syllables, 5-7-5)
- no rhyme or metaphor
- 1-season word (as in one of the four....or maybe a political season)
- 1-cutting word (I'll defer to Wikipedia for an explanation here)
I know there are mixed views on this, but the most important rules to follow are the first three. Those who follow all the rules will gain degree of difficulty points with the judges.
Each day, I'll post some of the best or most interesting or something.
At the end of the two weeks, the panel will award a $75 debit card and other prizes.
email your submissions to me: allen [at] governmentalityblog [dot] com
Last day to submit haiku is Sunday, August 30, 2009
UPDATE: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2009
DEADLINE HAS PASSED, THANKS EVERYBODY FOR THE GREAT ENTRIES!
FOR THE NEWEST, CHECK HERE.
OK...HERE ARE THE RESULTS.
Allen McDuffee is a political reporter, investigative journalist and blogger. From 2011 to 2013 he covered policy, politics, ideas and think tanks for The Washington Post and has also written for The Nation, The American Prospect, Huffington Post and New York Observer, among others.
