Hawkeye Haiku Contest

Ready, Set, Write!

The Hawkeye Haiku contest is officially underway! You have until Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at 4 p.m. CST, to compose and submit your haiku.

Prompt

Write a haiku that explores the theme of “family” using a traditional 5-7-5 syllable pattern.

Contest Guidelines:

Haiku has evolved throughout time, but we’re asking you to follow the traditional 5-7-5 syllable pattern for your entry. The structure of your haiku should adhere to the following:

• It should be only three lines, totaling 17 syllables: 
  • The first line should be five syllables.
  • The second line should be seven syllables.
  • The third line should be five syllables.
• Punctuation and capitalization are up to you and don’t need to follow the rigid rules used in structuring sentences. 
• It does not have to rhyme; in fact, a haiku usually does not rhyme. 
• It can include repeated words or sounds.

Each contestant may submit only one haiku entry for this contest.

Haiku Examples:

An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
—Matsuo Basho 

The season gives way.
Winter lays down her mantle,
As spring bursts to life
—Kelly Roper 

Winners’ Prizes

Winners in each of the four grade-school categories will receive an Iowa scribe pack and $25 Bookshop.org gift card.  

Winners in the each of the two adult categories will receive a $50 Bookshop.org gift card and a book—A Little Book on Form: An Exploration into the Formal Imagination of Poetry—by former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass, who taught in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and received its 2018 Truman Capote Award.

Deadline and Submission Format

• Deadline: You must submit your completed haiku by Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at 4 p.m. CST. All entries not received by the University of Iowa Center for Advancement by that time will be ineligible.
• File format: You must upload your haiku at foriowa.org/write-now as a Word document (.doc), text file (.txt), or rich text format document (.rtf). Haiku submitted in Apple’s Pages format will not be accepted. The name of the file must be the first word of your haiku. For example, if the first word of your haiku is “candy,” then the name of your file must be “candy.doc,” “candy.txt,” or “candy.rtf.” Contestants will also have the option of submitting their haiku via email to [email protected].
• Font: Submissions must be typed in 12-point font.
• Anonymity: Your name must not appear anywhere in the haiku document; you will only submit your name on the web entry form. 
• Length: The maximum length for each haiku is three lines. Entries with more than three lines will be disqualified.

Grades 3–12: Submit your Haiku

Adult: Submit your Haiku

Learn More

• Contest rules
• Questions?

Enjoy some of these amazing writing samples from your fellow Hawkeyes. Check out entries from past winners and explore the University of Iowa's writing resources to inspire your own creativity.