The Hexapod Haiku Challenge

Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica)

North Carolina State University is hosting the Hexapod Haiku Challenge. They also "definitely accept minor departures from traditional haiku "rules" (i.e., the 5-7-5 onji composition). We'd also love to see more haiga (a haiku that is accompanied by an image) and senryu (short poem about human and/or, in this case, insect foibles) though they will be judged as haiku equivalents."

What's a hexapod?

The word Hexapoda refers to all insects and their six-legged arthropod relatives (springtails, diplurans, and proturans). We're calling this contest the Hexapod Haiku Challenge only for alliterative purposes. We would love to have haiku that feature any familiar arthropod associated with the field of entomology, including those arthropods without six legs (e.g., spiders, millipedes, centipedes, and scorpions).

NCSU judges accept entries submitted by the US Mail, e-mail and Twitter.

The deadline? Your haiku should be submitted by 11:59pm, March 20th (first day of spring!)

Go to the NCSU Insect Museum Annual Hexapod Haiku Challenge page now for all of the rules and discussion. I hope one of our OSI friends wins!