As
a memorial to Editor Bob Spiess, who died on March 13, 2002,
Modern Haiku sponsors The Robert Spiess Memorial Award Haiku
Competition.
Modern
Haiku is pleased to announce The Robert Spiess Memorial
Award Haiku Competition for 2004. The 2003 competition brought
entries from 193 poets in 23 countries.
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):
True
haiku poets do not write to demonstrate how different their
haiku are from those of other haiku poets. Goethe wrote, "I
have reaped the harvest that others have sown. My work is
that of a collective being and it bears Goethe’s name."
Deadline:
In hand no later than March 13, 2004,
the second anniversary of Bob Spiess’s death.
Regulations:
The competition is open to everyone but the staff of Modern
Haiku, the competition coordinator, and the judges. Each
entry must be the original, unpublished work of the author,
and should not be under consideration in a contest or for publication
elsewhere. Appearance on an Internet Web site is considered
publication, but a haiku that has been previously shared on
an e-mail haiku list is not considered to be "published"
for purposes of this competition—but note—the judges
will be instructed to disregard any entries that they have seen
before. Of course, entries should not be shared on such a list
during the term of the competition. Entries must be in English.
Entry
fee: One dollar per haiku in US currency or US dollar check
made out to "Modern Haiku."
Submission
guidelines: Poets may submit a maximum of two haiku written
in the spirit of the above Speculation. Submit the entry fee
plus three copies of each haiku on 3" x 5" (75 mm
x 125 mm) index cards or similarly-sized 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.
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.
Awards:
First Prize: $100 plus a signed and previously-loved copy of
Bob’s The Turtle’s Ears (1971, out of print,
very slight damage); Second Prize: $50 plus a copy of Bob’s
The Shape of Water (1982); Third Prize: $25 plus a copy
of Bob’s Some Sticks and Pebbles (2001). 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
2004 issue of Modern Haiku and will be posted on the Modern
Haiku Web site (https://www.modernhaiku.org/)
on July 1, 2004. 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 as soon as the summer
issue of Modern Haiku is released.
