National Haiku Poetry Day
The history about Haikus
Today, April 17th is the day the whole world honors haiku. This Day encourages all to express their creativity in their words. A haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that is non-rhyming and normally consist of three lines with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5. These poems are inspired usually by an element of nature, a season, a moment of beauty or beauty of an individual or event. Haiku poetry uses sensory language to express a way for a writer to help reader connect with a image or feeling they are writing about.
An English haiku does not always follow the strict syllables that is used in a Japanese haiku. The typical length of an English language haiku is 10-14 syllables. Typically, in these haikus, the second line is usually the longest line in the poem.
National Haiku Poetry Day was registered by Sari Grandstaff. Founded in 2007 and first celebrate on December 21 as Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry about the seasons. Supported by the Haiku Foundation,it has always been celebrated on the 17th of April each year since 2012. The reasons that it is celebrated on the 17th is that the 17th represents the total number of syllables in a haiku.
Participation of public and school libraries, groups and universities, this day is a social event. It is usually spent writing, sharing and reading aloud each individual haikus. Contests are held with categories: traditional, contemporary and innovative. Yet at times, haiku competitions sometimes involve artwork exhibition to go along with the meaning of their poem.
Let’s take this day and write down some thoughts that are inspired by nature.
