HaikuFest 2023 Get out your pencil: It’s 5-7-5 time again!

By Gary Meyers HaikeFest Founder & Chief Judge

“When is the HaikuFest?” It’s a question some of our perennial poets and fans have been asking and, we are pleased to now be able to answer.

We decided late last year to delay the HaikuFest a bit to coincide with Longview’s Centennial celebration. Our intention was to include HaikuFest 2023 on the list of special events planned to celebrate this milestone in our city’s history. Coincidently, the Columbia River Reader (CRR) will be celebrating its 20th year anniversary beginning with the April 2023 issue. So the planets are aligned to make 2023 a memorable year both for Longview and CRR!

Here is our plan: As in the past, HaikuFest 2023 organizers will accept five original (never published) haiku entries per entrant in traditional format (three lines of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables). Themes can be nature-based, “pop,” humorous. Other than the precise syllable count, there are no restrictions. Good taste is assumed; final decisions are within the judges’ purview. There are no fees. Once submitted, all haiku become the property of CRR.

Deadline for submission will be 7pm PDT time on April 15. Email submissions are preferred and should be sent to haikucenter@aol.com. Snail mail submissions will also be accepted and can be sent to G. Meyers, 3045 Ala Napuaa Place #1406, Honolulu, HI 96818. Judges’ selections will be announced in the May 15 issue.

But here is the special touch. The CRR staff is publishing a Longview Centennial book and hosting a Book Launch Gala and Variety Show, “From Page to Stage,” at LCC’s Rose Center for the Arts on June 30 to celebrate Longview’s Centennial and to “unnveil” the book.

One segment of the evening’s program will be devoted to presenting Longview Centennial-based haiku selected from the HaikuFest 2023 entries. To accomplish this, we are inviting HaikuFest entrants to include in their submissions Longview Centennialbased haiku. The subjects can be anything related to the centennial, e.g., R.A. Long or the founding fathers and their vision; logging, sawmilling, the city plan, beautiful Lake Sacajawea, or perhaps the enduring edifices of the early years such as the Monticello Hotel, R.A. Long High School, the Library. Ideas are limited only by the imagination.

One hundred years old

Thank you Mr. Long and crew City pops champagne -- Anonymous

Hawaii resident Gary Meyers grew up in Longview, Wash., retired from careers with the U.S. Marines, then Northwest Airlines. He enjoys traveling, especially to Japan; He frequently visits CRR territory.