At Word Vancouver last weekend, we held the 1st ever Ricepaper Haiku Death Match. It started off with readings by Ricepaper contributors, Elaine Woo and Kim Fu. The readers also did double duty as haiku judges along with Ricepaper Editor, Anna Ling Kaye.
Our Haiku Death Match started with 9 competitors. With each round, the writers had to incorporate one of our Asian themed keywords to write a haiku and the winners would advance to the next round, (oh! we added a twist, they only had 2-minutes to write the haiku!) With the stress of writing speedy haikus, Anna passed around white rabbit candy and various treats to all our participants to get their writing juices flowing. It was a very competitive crowd, as our haiku competitors ranged from youth writers to grad students to literary parents.
Here are selected haikus
Keywords were “tea”, “lychee” and “calligraphy”.
Tea:
My name is Toby
I’m friends with Bremyn Andem
I like to drink tea
– Toby
earl grey tea, hot cup
scald yourself on bergamot
but don’t break the mug
– Andrea
Follow the damp leaves
to the bottom of your cup,future in steeped greens.
– Emily
Hot, cold, spicy sweet
can not get enough of tea
back off get your own
– Sheldon
the first sip of tea
as the phone rings this morning
will be my last one
– Jessica
Lychee:
Lychees are so sweet
They make me tingle with defeat
They are too damn tasty
– Toby
Fruit on your tongue
Satistfied by your lychee
Please man, one more time
– Sheldon
sticky fingers say
you’ve eaten the last lychee
and sweet lips don’t lie
– Jessica
Calligraphy:
Calligraphy by night
A candle keeps me awake
keep the stars alive
– Sheldon
rubber stamps store
a man says I just picked up
the word “love
-Jessica
The winner was Jessica T. with her calligraphy themed haiku.
Try and write a haiku in two minutes or less with these keywords and see how you compare with our competitors.