Hipster Haiku

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Gotham has teamed with Broadway Books for a truly original writing competition - The Hipster Haiku Contest.

Write a haiku about hipsters or something related to them for a chance to have your 17 syllables immortalized in the pages of Hipster Haiku when it is published by Broadway Books in October. The winner will also receive a free 10-week Gotham writing workshop. There is no entry free and no purchase is necessary. You can even enter online.

Here are some examples from Hipster Haiku to help in getting your creative juices flowing.

I should have kept it
Big bronze lone-star belt buckle
Dad got on golf trip

Found a great new bar
With cheap classic arcade games!
I forgot to drink.

My new apartment
Is furnished with "found artwork"
Like this traffic light

You Will Submit

Submitting is easy. Here's how to do it:

Write a poem about hipsters or something related to them. Here is the form that your poem must take in order to be eligible. This form, you will not be at all surprised to hear, is called a haiku:

one line of five syllables
a second line of seven syllables
a third line of five syllables

Want extra haiku credit? Observe these guidelines for classical haiku:

A real, classical haiku refers, through symbol or figurative language, to the season it describes—and it always describes a season, or at the very least, something about the natural world. (A hipster haiku, on the other hand, is more likely to refer to the season in which Dr. Scholl's exercise sandals enjoyed a brief but celebrated revival in Manhattan's East Village.)
A classical haiku creates a moment of "transition" or "cutting," which allows the poem to shift gears, or which in some way expands the poem's scope. (A hipster haiku often attempts this through a colon, dash, or some other form of punctuation that implies a pause, a break, or a shift in tone.)
In a classical haiku, each line usually contains one self-sufficient phrase or unit of meaning that doesn't carry over onto the next line. (Hipster haiku, while aspiring to the formal elegance of three self-sufficient lines, fails as often as it succeeds at such formidable concision.)

Use the convenient online entry form below to submit your Hipster Haiku (or two, or three).

Hipster Haiku Entry Form

First Name:		Last Name:
Address Line 1:		Address Line 2:
City:		State:
Postal Code:
Country:
Phone:		Email:
How you heard about this contest:
Your Haiku(s) (limit of 3. All haikus must be entered at once in this box. You will not be able to submit again.):
	Click here to join the Broadway Books mailing list.

By submitting this entry you signify:

That you are the author of the haiku
That you are 18 years or older on the date of entry
That the work(s) is/are original and unpublished
That you agree to the rules of the competition.

All entries must be received by June 8, 2006, the contest deadline.

PRIZES:
One happy-go-lucky winner will be published in a special section of the book Hipster Haiku (on sale October 2006) and will win a free 10-week writing class from Gotham Writers’ Workshop redeemable within one year (a tremendously useful resource for any writer—and you can take your class online or in person, just as you please). The nine runners-up will also have their haikus published in a special section of the book Hipster Haiku, and each of the top ten winners will also receive a free copy of Hipster Haiku. Finally, the names of the first 200 runners-up will also be published in an acknowledgements section of the book. All contest winners will be notified by late June.

For more specific contest details and the official rules, visit Hipster Haiku Contest Official Rules

Visit www.hipsterhaiku.com for more details and information about writing hipster haiku and the book to come.