Modern Haiku is pleased to announce the Robert Spiess Memorial
Award Haiku Competition for 2006.
See the 2006
Award Winners!
Theme: Haiku are to be written in the spirit of the following
“Speculation” (Robert Spiess, A Year’s
Speculations on Haiku, Modern Haiku Press, 1995):
Juxtaposition of entities in haiku cannot be simply the
throwing together of just anything; the poet must have the
intuition that certain things, albeit of “opposite”
characteristics, nonetheless have a resonance with each other
that will evoke a revelation when they are juxtaposed in accordance
with the time-tested canons and aesthetics of haiku.
Deadline: In hand no later than March 13, 2006.
Regulations: The competition is open to everyone but the staff
of Modern Haiku, the competition coordinator, and the
judges. Entries must be in English. Each entry must be the original,
unpublished work of the author, and should not be under consideration
in a contest or for publication elsewhere. For purposes of this
competition, appearance of a haiku in an Internet journal or
on a Web site is considered publication, but sharing of a haiku
on an e-mail haiku list is not. Note, however: the judges will
be instructed to disregard any entries that they have seen before.
Of course, entries should not be shared on Web sites or haiku
lists during the term of the competition.
Submission guidelines: Poets may submit a maximum of five haiku
written in the spirit of the above Speculation. Submit three
copies of each haiku, on 3H´´ x 5H´´cards or slips
of paper. Entries should be typed or printed legibly. The haiku
should appear on the face of each card (one haiku per card).
The poet’s name, mailing address, telephone number, and
e-mail address (if any) should appear on one of the three cards
only, in the upper left-hand corner above the haiku; the other
two copies should contain only the haiku. Please keep a copy
of your submission; entries will not be returned. E-mail submissions
are not allowed. Please follow the instructions carefully: entries
that are incomplete or that do not comply with the instructions
will be discarded.
Entry fee: $1.00 per haiku, cash or check (U.S. funds); make
checks payable to Modern Haiku.
Send submissions to: Billie Wilson, 1170 Fritz Cove Road, Juneau,
AK 99801-8501 USA.
Adjudication: Two judges will be selected by Modern Haiku;
their names will be announced at the time of the awards. Judging
will be double-blind, and the judges will not know the identity
of the entrants. Judges’ decisions are final.
Selection criteria: The judges will look for entries that hew
to Western norms for haiku as published in Modern Haiku
and other leading English-language haiku journals (no rules
as to syllable or line count, etc.) and that best capture the
spirit of the theme Speculation above.
Awards: First Prize: $100.00 plus a signed, like-new copy of
Bob’s first book, The Heron’s Legs (1966,
out of print); Second Prize: $50.00 plus a copy of Bob’s
The Shape of Water (1982); Third Prize: $25.00 plus a
copy of Bob’s Some Sticks and Pebbles (2001). Up
to five poets will be awarded Honorable Mentions and each will
receive a copy of Bob’s A Year’s Speculations
on Haiku (1995).
Notification: Winners will be notified by e-mail or phone before
the general announcement. Winning entries will be published
in the summer 2006 issue of Modern Haiku and will be
posted on the Modern Haiku Web site, <https://www.modernhaiku.org/>,
on July 1, 2006.
If you would like a list of the winners, please enclose a stamped,
addressed business-sized envelope (SASE) with your entries.
Overseas entrants should provide an addressed envelope and one
IRC. These will be mailed when the summer issue of Modern Haiku
is released.
