Costa Rica Here's a Chance to be a Published Haiku Author in Spanish

Here's a Chance to be a Published Haiku Author in Spanish

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff



Get your paper out
and learn to count up to seven
you could be famous


That's because the Japanese Embassy is sponsoring the first national haiku contest as part of Japanese week that runs until Sept. 20.

Haikus are those practical, mystical (or in the case of the one above) terrible little sayings that total 17 syllables: five on the first line, seven on the second and five on the third.

They are one aspect of Japanese culture that is known around the world. The idea is to put as much detail possible in the smallest number of words, the embassy said.

That is sort of like English metaphysical poems with their metaphors and similes, but in a more constricted way.

The rules are pretty simple. Authors have until 4 p.m. Sept. 18 to deliver the haikus to the Organization International Nueva Acrópolis or by mail to Box 1677-2050 San Pedro by Sept. 11. The organization can be reached at 2225-2110.

There are some other rules: contestants much be Costa Rican or foreign residents who write in Spanish. Each person must submit at least eight and no more than 16 haikus. The haikus must be unpublished.

Contestants must not have been the recipient of a national or international literary award.

Many Japanese haikus are about nature, but the subject matter for the contest is open.

The haikus should be submitted under a pseudonym with the real name in a sealed envelope.

Although famous Japanese poets frequently wrote with ink and brush, the embassy wants 12-point arial on letter-sized paper. Other rules are posted on the Acrópolis Web site.

Winners and some participants will receive certificates, and the works will be published in an anthology, the embassy said. The winners will be listed on the embassy Web site.


The embassy provided some famous haikus in Spanish for study:

Hoy el rocío
borrará la divisa
de mi sombrero
Matsuo Basho

Callan las cuerdas.
La música sabía
lo que yo siento.
Borges

La golondrina
de vuelta a su pasado
no encuentra el nido
Mario Benedetti


For those haiku artists who may be stuck, here is a suggestion:

When haiku's the goal
and words just do not pour out
get Imperial