Oregon Coast Instant Haiku Slam Classic--April 18

Saturday: April 18, 2009
Nye Beach Writers' Series welcomes back the
Oregon Coast Instant Haiku Slam Classic!





Fourth Annual Oregon Coast Instant Haiku Slam Classic
Attention all brave and exhibitionistic poets!
In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Nye Beach Writers' Series invites performance poets and curious spectators to the Fourth Annual Oregon Coast Instant Haiku Slam Classic. This event, sponsored by Writers On The Edge, takes place Saturday, April 18, 7:00 p.m. at Cafe Mundo. Matt Love, director of Writers On The Edge, will host the event.

Admission is free to all participants and spectators! Many prizes will be awarded!

This Haiku Slam Classic is a four-team poetry competition, scored by the audience in a format similar to a diving event where judges hold up numerical scores. Traditionally, haikus are 17-syllable, three-line poems (5-7-5 syllable structure).

Haiku, a poem
five beats, then seven, then five
ends as it began

After teams are formed, they compete against each other. The host throws out a word or phrase, such as "tsunami," or "bailout," or "mischief," and each member from each team composes a haiku relating to that word or phrase. After the one-minute thinking/writing time is up, the poets recite their haikus and the judges score them on a scale of 1 to 10. The teams continue competing until the team with the highest total wins the final round and thus, poetic glory.

Prizes will be awarded to the first- and second-place teams. Even if a person does not want to participate in the competition, volunteer judges are needed for each round. Judges will be selected from the audience.

Space is limited to 16 poetic participants. First come and first served. Sign-up begins at 6:45 p.m.; there will be no pre-registration. The competition will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m.

Cafe Mundo, a full-service restaurant that serves wine and beer, is located at 209 NW Coast Street in the historic Nye Beach area of Newport. Plan to arrive early for good seats and a scrumptious dinner.





Instant Haiku Slam Classic
The photo on the right shows the 2008 winners: "The Haiku Slugs," featuring (left to right) Sam Canning-Kaplan, Joe Jordan and Laura Eberly


Click here for an account of the 2008 Instant Haiku Slam
by Laura Eberly





Schedule of Events, 2009
All events are held at the Newport Visual Arts Center (777 NW Beach Drive in the Nye Beach area of Newport) unless otherwise noted.

May 16 - 7:00 PM
Poets Claudia Handler & John Witte

June 20 - 7:00 PM
Spike Walker

July 18 - 7:00 PM - Special Event
Singer/songwriter Craig Carothers
Newport Performing Arts Center - 777 West Olive Street.
Advance tickets on sale: 541-265-ARTS, or toll free 888-701-7123 Craig Carothers --->

August 15 - 7:00 PM
David Lee & Dori Appel

September 19 - 7:00 PM
Kaia Sand & Jules Boykoff

October 17 - 7:00 PM
Poets Laurel Blossom and Marianne Klekacz

November 14 - 7:00 PM
Scribble! An interactive literary and dining event at the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club

For schedule details,
visit our "Calendar of Events" web page.





The Nye Beach Writers' Series
The Nye Beach Writers' Series is a monthly program of Writers On The Edge, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the literary arts in Lincoln County and the support of lifelong participation in reading, writing, and literary performance. It has been holding monthly literary events since June 1997 and has featured 320 authors thus far. The Series is pure entertainment and showcases authors of diverse types of writing including fiction, nonfiction, plays, songs, Oregon history, memoir, poetry, essays, and investigative journalism.

Writers On The Edge, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is supported by admission dollars, individual donations, and a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust, investing in Oregon's arts, humanities and heritage, and the Lincoln County Cultural Coalition. Events held at the Newport Visual Arts Center are supported in part by the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts and the City of Newport. LazerQuick of Newport provides ongoing printing support to the organization. All donations to Writers On The Edge are gratefully appreciated and fully tax-deductible.