Haiku about Archival History

Feeling philosophical, or just plain silly? How about putting your thoughts into a haiku? Apply your poetic talents to a haiku about SAA’s 75th anniversary or the history of SAA or the archival profession in general.

Here are some haiku hints:

  • Haiku consists of a 17-syllable verse form with three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.
  • The cutting divides the Haiku into two parts, with a certain imaginative distance between the two sections, but the two sections should remain, to a degree, independent of each other.  Both sections should enrich the understanding of the other. 

                 Japanese Haiku example:                                           Or there’s more goofy ones like:

                  In these dark waters,                                                My life is Jello,
                  Drawn up from my frozen well                                   Sitting and waiting in the bowl
                  Glittering spring…                                                    Patiently to gel

First, second, and third place winners will be decided by a distinguished panel of judges, and the winning entries posted at the 2011 SAA meeting in Chicago.

Send your haiku to Leslie Waggener, a member of SAA’s 75th Anniversary Task Force, at lwaggen2@uwyo.edu. Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. EST Monday, August 8, 2011.