The Haiku Slam

The Set-up:

The Haiku slam should be set up on a sumo wrestling mat. Each poet will be given either a (red) or (green) headband/bandana which correlate to the colors of the two sticks placed in front of each of the judges. There should also be some sort of board (either dry erase or chalk) to keep track of the tournament procession. It would be nice to have a Gong (Tam) to culminate each tournament.

Procession of the Haiku Sumo Slam (approximate):

the MC talks about the significance of haikus:

The haiku is a Japanese art form and is probably the most widely abused form of poetry. In ancient Japan, poets would get into little groups reciting their haikus, each poet trying to outdo the last. By true technicality, a haiku talks about nature, whereas a humorous poem written in the haiku format is called a senryu.

then the MC talks about haiku in other languages:

The 5-7-5 syllable format of haiku spread to other places, including this very arena. Haiku is not necessarily a poem written in the 5-7-5 format. Poets like Jack Kerouac wrote haikus (in English) which broke this format. He realized that he did not speak Japanese, but he understood the art form itself and knew how to break the rules.

Then the MC talks about the rules to the slam:

For this event, we’re going to force the 5-7-5 rule. Here’s how it will work: two poets will each have 20 seconds to read, recite, or make up his or her poem. After the face-off, the winner will be decided by the three judges. After the last poet reads, the judges, to decide a winner, will hold up one of the two sticks in front of them each of which correlate to the poet’s headband. It will run as a single elimination tournament with three rounds.

And then the MC begins with a topical haiku, such as:

Haiku is easy
all you do is stop at the
seventeenth syllab-

The Rules:

• Each poet has 20 seconds to read, recite, or make up his or her poem
• Each poet must observe the 5-7-5 syllable format
• Winners are chosen by the majority vote of the three judges
• Judges will judge based on performance and poetic merit
• A winner will be decided through a single-elimination tournament