UG Student Haiku Competition 2024

UG Student Haiku Competition 2024

Feeling creative?  Like poetry?  Have a go at entering our UG Student Haiku Competition (2024) on the theme of the Environment, in celebration of National Poetry Day (3 October).  The format of the haiku originated centuries ago in Japan and traditionally is composed of three lines: five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the third, although contemporary poets don’t necessarily stick to the exact number of syllables, but focus on depicting an image as succinctly as possible.  We shall leave it up to you! Here is a famous example.

A World of Dew  by Kobayashi Issa

A world of dew,

And within every dewdrop

A world of struggle

Although when the above haiku is translated it doesn’t quite meet the 5/7/5 rule.

Judge: we are delighted award winning poet Kim Moore has agreed to be our judge.

Kim’s first collection The Art of Falling (Seren 2015) won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Her second collection All The Men I Never Married (Seren, 2021) won the 2022 Forward Prize for Best Collection.

First prize: £30 book token 

Second prize: £20 book token 

The winner will also be offered a paid opportunity to write an article on the Arts and Culture website reflecting on their creative process. All short-listed haikus will be published on the Arts and Culture and Sustainability websites.

Submission: please email your haikus to sustainability@exeter.ac.uk with Haiku Comp in the subject line or direct message us on Instagram @uoesustainability. Please include your full name, what year you are in and what you are studying. 

We look forward to reading your haikus!