What’s with the haiku?

Thousands enter comp / Seeking haikus for London / Can you do better?:

A new breed of �commuter poet� is capturing the spirit of London in, ideally, just 17 syllables. On buses, Tubes and trains across the city, people are using modern technology to communicate an ancient form of Japanese poetry.

A unique competition to find the best haiku to sum up summer in London has attracted thousands of entrants. The would-be poets send in their entries via online messaging service Twitter.

The haikus have been submitted � or tweeted � to what the organisers are calling the world’s first �interactive mobile social-media poetry competition�. Topics so far range from the Woolwich ferry to crowded trains; from sweltering offices to skimpy bikinis.

The haikus are checked for decency before they are projected on to a giant screen at King’s Cross and St Pancras. The winner will be chosen by Yoko Ono and the poet, playwright and novelist Jackie Kay.

. . .

Simon Brake, 34, a graphic designer whose haiku �Beneath the morning sun/The city is painted gold/People move like bees through honey� is one of the frontrunners for the top prize, said: �It’s the kind of thing Twitter lends itself to.

Because the prize is free entry to a spoken word event in Islington, I suppose entries are limited to those capable of claiming their prize.

Via AnnMarieEldon.

Meanwhile, NPR’s Planet Money has put out a call for recession haiku, which they’ve posted here.

Suddenly the world is full of wannabe haiku poets.

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