Haiku Awards Ceremony
Words fail me when I try to describe how awesome the Haiku Review contest was. Even reading through the entries again just now I found myself laughing put loud, shaking my head in amazement, and looking up cool words like “revenant” (which I, as a SF writer, have absolutely no excuse for not knowing).
I know it sounds trite, but this is a time when I wish everyone could be a winner, and that I had an endless stream of goodies to give out and could send a gift to every contributor. I’m only going to mention a handful of the dozens of poems submitted, but they are all wonderful, each in their own way. I want to thank everyone who took the time to submit. Each one is a joy I’ll cherish forever.
Alas, my little stash of neato Warded Man swag is somewhat limited at the moment, and I want to save some of it for more contests like this one. Even so, I’ve decided to up the # of prize-winners from two to four. Just cuz.
So, without further ado…
Honorable Mentions (no prize):
The sun is falling
The corelings are stirring
The wards are intact
Posted by Karen Mottola
I really like this poem by Karen Mottola. It is stark and beautiful and would have been a serious contender, but alas, line 2 has 6 syllables instead of 7.
Corelings rise at night
Safety lies behind the wards
Freedom lies outside
Posted by Jennifer
In all honesty, this poem is quite possibly my favorite of all. It sums up Arlen’s plight and path beautifully, wasting no words at all. It’s a poem that really shows the power of the Haiku. This was the tweet of its day. All the folks on Twitter are just a bunch of crude amateur Johnny Come Latelys to the art form.
So why didn’t this one get a prize? Well, full disclosure, Jennifer and I have known each other since first grade, and she’s one of my closest friends who’s been listening to me talk about Arlen since before the Towers fell. Like my buddies Matt and Myke, she felt this gave her an unfair advantage, and should disqualify her from winning a prize, so she’s recused herself.
Still, good fucking poem, right?
Fourth Prize (Japanese Painted Man 1st edition book #2, autographed):
A guy fights demons
Using magical tattoos
Hell’s angel, indeed
Peeling arcs of paint
Shifting sand obscures a line
The wards are failing
Corelings take the wall
One-Arm brings granite chaos
The guards fall like rain
Centuries of fear
The tide is turned by a man
Not afraid to fight
Posted by Carrie Harris
Of course, this whole contest is Carrie’s fault. She’s been reviewing books in haiku now for…
Well, I don’t really know how long she’s been doing it, but a while.
Anyway, it was seeing her original review that gave me the idea for this contest, and it seems like even that review was her B game, since she put in some great alternates. I like the second one the best.
Third Prize (UK Painted Man 1st edition paperback, autographed):
Terror walked the night
But I took up its dread spear
Now the dark fears me
Posted by Alex
Really good. Alex wanted to throw an extra comma and an italic into the last line, but I think the words are stronger without. I’m a believer in dropping unnecessary formatting and punctuation in poetry.
Second Prize (The Warded Man 1st Edition hardcover, autographed):
Misty death rising
Demons forming as night falls
Outside warded doors
No willing fighters
Just remains and survivors
Hiding behind wards
Warded walls and doors
Fend off the hordes of demons
Draw well and check twice
Is he a monster?
Has he lost humanity
Battling demons?
I loved Warded Man
The characters made the book
Can’t wait to read more
Posted by Lauren
Pause to appreciate this body of work. Every one a serious contender. In some ways, though, I like the last one the best. If the purpose of a review is to let people know whether or not they should buy a book and why, this does an excellent job of boiling down all the essential elements of a positive review into 17 syllables.
First Prize (Autographed complete set of all three Japanese Painted Man 1st edition volumes):
If anyone deserves to win, it’s Hon with his dueling Yin/Yang poems about the book itself and his experience reading it. In addition to writing stellar haiku, Hon went for all the extra credit points I mentioned on the blog, providing the poem in essentially three languages AND posting the first one as a book review on Amazon.co.uk. That is too cool.
Fair warning to take those extra credit options to heart in future contests!
Winners, please e-mail me at peat@www.petervbrett.com with your full name, address, and anything special you would like me to write in your signed copies.
Oh, and a special stuck-out tongue to Dave-Brendon DeBurgh, who promised to submit a poem he claimed would be LEGENDARY, but turned out to be Legen…
Wait for it…
Wait for it…
Nothing, because he never submitted it!
Look for my upcoming guest post on Dave’s blog, where I will be giving him shit for this, amongst whatever else I decide to write about.
Thanks again to all who joined in. If anyone has a good idea for another contest of this sort, just pop it in the comment section!
Oh, isn’t there some English dialect where corelings would be pronounced in three syllables, cor-eh-lings.
Wow!
I have only just found out about this but thank you so much, Peat for your kind and humbling words.
Admittedly, I wasn’t so sure I’d win it when I posted my first submission after reading so many brilliant entries already, with some luck as well having read Jennifer’s reclused entry.
I know this wasn’t a major or international competition but it’s been special to me. I had no interest in writing whatsoever until a month ago and this is my first ever written piece of Haiku, let alone poetry. I’d like to take my hat off to Peat and everybody who had taken part as it’s people like you that really encourages and contributes to the world of literature.
The books will be treasured and I will certainly re-read the trilogy in its Japanese incarnation.
Now, without transforming into Gwyneth Paltrow. Thank you so much!
Note to all of Pete’s fans:
If any of you *does* have the ability to transform into Gwyneth Paltrow, please contact me immediately.
Congrats to Hon Yip for the well-deserved win! And mucho thanks for the honorable mention.
You could always do the Warded Man humorous limerick contest next…
There once was a Messenger from Miln…
Who found a hole that needed fillin’…
He got out his spade…
…made sure his ward net was laid,
and, when the sun set, went demon killin.
Thank you so much for holding this contest! I’m so honored to get second place. Wheee! Thank you again.
Ah man, words fail me. Suffice it to say that I feel like an absolute idiot! 🙂 In my meager defense, though, I was juggling too much and not focusing enough. I will do my damndest to have a haiku ready for your guest-post, Peat. 🙂 And congrats to the winners! You guys all put me to even more shame! 🙂
haikus are easy
but sometimes they don’t make sense
refrigerator
I saw somebody wearing a t-shirt with this on the #7 train a week or so ago, and have been thinking this is the place to share.