Taken from #the-haiku-club's journal:

via *moyanII

We are superlatively apologetic for the dire lack of activities in #the-haiku-club ever since our dear ~saiun went into hiatus.
He had been so dedicated that the rest of us (the other admins) just sat back and watched. now it is high time we do something in his place.

back to the main topic!
the contest SNAPSHOT will be open from the day this journal goes public till 15:59:59 Friday November 30, 2012 in GMT. so you have more than one month to submit your work.

here are some rules and procedure:

please submit your entries to the folder "contest Nov 2012 - Snapshot". the entries will be automatically approved. all members are warmly invited to take part in this contest.

you can submit more than one entries, but only one entry can win.

you must submit the entries to the contest folder before 30 November, 15:59 GMT. the folder will be close after this time, and no more entries will be accepted.

you must check out the following resources before you enter the contest, especially if you are new to haiku writing:

Haiku Without CountingThe idea that haiku should be written in 17 syllables, arranged in three line pattern of 5-7-5 is perhaps the best known 'rule' governing the writing of haiku. It is also the least understood, and the least important, particularly when composing haiku in English. This rule is at best actually a convention, one that emerged from conditions relative to Japanese culture and language. It is a convention ill-suited to the English language.

Japanese poets count on, a sound represented by one kana; the closest English equivalent to this is a syllable. Thus, the 'syllable' count is a function of the Japanese language, in that Japanese is written in A word about haiku - MS JamesA word about haiku - by Michael James

I believe there are a few basic precepts about haiku that are largely overlooked, or just flat out just not taught in most basic literary (poetic) courses. Everyone seems to know that a haiku is supposed to be written in the structure of 5-7-5 syllables per line respectively, but there is much more going on than just a simple syllable constraint. I shall attempt to give a brief overview of the main points about haiku.

First off, the 5-7-5 syllable structure most often cited as being the sole 'structural rule' of haiku is based on the original Japanese constraint. However, the Japanese language and more

5-7-5 verses are okay but the spirit of minimalism and subjective observations are more important than syllables' count.

the entries must be matching to the theme of the contest.
it must be visual; a clear, succinct description of a certain moment in time.
all entries that are deemed not matching to the theme will be moved to the "is this a haiku?" folder for workshopping.

the panel of judges will cast votes on the entries to determine the winners after the contest close. the decisions of the judges are final.

the panel of judges include



the judges can participate but they cannot win the contest.

depending on the number of entries we will have the first, second and third place and honorable mentions.

prizes are:

first: a free calligraphy commission from *moyanII
a three month premium from ~Iscariot-Priest
journal feature and 50 points from =norui
a random gender-neutral gift object from Hawaii from ~red-dragonfly.
journal feature by #the-haiku-club.
journal feature by `phoenixleo.
journal feature by ~impersonalinfo.

second: a one-month premium from *moyanII
journal feature and 50 points from =norui
journal feature by #the-haiku-club.
journal feature by `phoenixleo.
journal feature by ~impersonalinfo.

third: journal feature and 50 points from =norui
journal feature by #the-haiku-club.
journal feature by `phoenixleo.
journal feature by ~impersonalinfo.

we are waiting for more prizes to be contributed!
please note *moyanII if you wish to throw in a prize.

if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

we are waiting to see your haiku!