Haiku Slam Classic

If you're in the Northwest and the spring sunshine is making you long for both a trip to the Oregon coast and some poetry, you might be interested in this:

Writers On The Edge, Inc. presents the NYE BEACH WRITERS' SERIES SECOND ANNUAL HAIKU SLAM CLASSIC!

Saturday, April 21, 7:00 p.m.
at Café Mundo, 711 NW 2nd Court in the Nye Beach area of Newport
FREE admission for contestants AND spectators
[No separate open mike this time]

In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Nye Beach Writers Series invites poets and curious spectators to participate in the second annual Oregon Coast Instant Haiku Classic. Admission is free and prizes will be awarded to winning performers.

The Haiku Classic is a four-team poetry competition, scored by the audience in a format similar to a diving event where judges hold up scores. All poets are randomly grouped into teams, which may have three or four members depending on the number of people who sign up. Pacific City author MATT LOVE and Newport's mad poet and raconteur ANDREW RODMAN will co-host the event.

Traditionally, haikus are unrhymed, 17-syllable, three-line poems (5-7-5 structure). The Oregon Coast Instant Haiku Classic format retains this 5-7-5 structure, but competition haikus can rhyme. Poets can also expect to write upon a wide variety of subjects, presented to them on the spot by the hosts.

After teams are formed they compete against each other. The host throws out a word or phrase and each member from each team composes a haiku relating to that word or phrase. After one minute is up, the poets recite their haikus, and the judges score them on a 1 to 10 scale. The teams continue competing until the team with the highest total wins the final round and thus, poetic glory.

Prizes will be awarded to the first- and second-place teams. Even if a person does not want to participate in the competition, three volunteer judges are needed for each round. Judges may be selected from the audience. Space is limited to 16 poetic participants. First come and first served. Sign-up begins at 6:45 p.m.; there will be no pre-registration. The competition will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m.

Rick Bartow, one of Oregon's most cherished artists and sculptors, will be performing original songs and traditional Americana music at Café Mundo immediately after the Haiku Slam.