Golden Haiku contest will bring poetry to Downtown D.C.’s streets

Once again, the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID) is hosting their annual Golden Haiku contest with this year’s theme being “Spring in the City.” Starting March of this year, colorful signs will decorate the streets of Downtown D.C., each with a haiku submitted from the public.

Each participant may submit a maximum of three haikus with submissions accepted through February 2. A group of “haiku experts” will be the judges, including Abigail Friedman, author of “The Haiku Apprentice,” John Stevenson, managing editor of The Heron’s Nest, and Kit Pancoast Nagamura, columnist for The Japan Times.

A haiku is described as having a three-line, 5-7-5 syllable format. Don’t feel too restricted by this, though. Previous years have shown that the judges can be relaxed about these rules.

If interested in participating in the contest, enter your submission here.

• Golden Haiku 2018 [Golden Triangle BID]

• Spring-centric haikus pop up in D.C.’s Golden Triangle [Curbed DC]