The Haiku Challenge is back!

After a multi-year hiatus, the Vassar College Libraries invite you to participate in our annual Haiku Challenge! Between now and Monday, May 1, share your haiku creations on the white board in the Main Library lobby. We've assembled some inspirational materials, including a collection of haiku written by a Vassar professor and her thesis advisees in the early days of the pandemic, and a book display with collections and considerations of haiku. Paper and pens (along with some tips for turning your haiku into a zine) are also available.

To share your haiku, just tape it to the white board. If you would like to be considered for a prize, submit your entries by Monday, May 1st and include your name and email address. The judges are Professor Lydia Murdoch and alum Hanna Stasiuk (VC '20).

Not familiar with the haiku form? In brief, a traditional haiku:

• has three lines
• has five syllables in the first and third lines
• has seven syllables in the second line
• doesn't rhyme
• includes a kireji, or cutting word
• includes a kigo, a seasonal reference

For our purposes, the lines (3) and syllables (5/7/5) are required; everything else is up to you! 

This news post should end / In magnificent haiku / May 1st is too soon