Yoko Ono to judge Twitter's inaugural haiku contest

by Ben Bold, Brand Republic 18-May-09, 11:35

LONDON - Twitter is to host the world's first interactive haiku poetry competition, with judges Yoko Ono and poet Jackie Kay deciding which three-line verses get to appear at London's King's Cross on the station's biggest digital billboard.

Twitter members who wish to enter the competition must use their mobile phones to enter and send a 17-syllable poem to Twitter, using the prefix @kingsplace.

The initiative, which was the brainchild of Deliberate PR, has been launched on behalf KingsPlace.co.uk -- a cultural and conference development, where the winning poems will also be posted.

Kay said: "I liked the idea of doing something that combined an old form with a very new form.

"People could do a haiku on the way to work and it's a good way to exercise the brain."

Kay's fellow judge Ono is an avid Tweeter.

Comments

Alan Summers - 18/05/2009

Good luck everyone! A simple overview of modern haiku is at: http://www.withwords.org.uk/what.html Examples from the 1st With Words Online International Haiku Competition: http://www.withwords.org.uk/results.html all my best, Alan

Anatoly Kudryavitsky - 07/07/2009

Indeed, good luck to the future participants! Haiku Guidelines are available here: http://irishhaiku.webs.com/haikuguidelines.htm The Irish Haiku Society has just announced this year's International Haiku Competition \(the deadline is 31st October 2009). Details here: http://irishhaiku.webs.com/haikucompetition.htm Last year we had an English winner, John Barlow. Haiku on! Anatoly Kudryavitsky editor, Shamrock Haiku Journal http://shamrockhaiku.webs.com