News Release
Arun N. Toké, Editor, editor@skippingstones.org
Skipping Stones Magazine
Tel. 541-342-4956
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2025 Haiku and Tanka Contest for Students
Skipping Stones Magazine Announces May 5 Deadline for
Best Nature Haiku and Tanka Poetry
Eugene, OR — Skipping Stones Magazine and the 2025 Oregon Asian Celebration invite students in Lane County grades K through 12 (ages up to 18) to create and submit their best nature haiku and tanka poetry by May 5, 2025. There is no entry fee for the haiku contest.
Haiku and tanka (short song, in Japanese) are both traditional poetry forms that come from Japan, says Arun Toké of Skipping Stones Magazine. “The haiku and tanka poetry contest is a wonderful way for youth to express their feelings of nature, and share it with others.”
Selected entries will be exhibited at the Oregon Asian Celebration on July 19 at Alton Baker Park. All entries will be considered for publication in the Autumn 2025 issue of Skipping Stones Magazine and website.
Student entries should be submitted on 8.5” x 11” paper and original nature art to illustrate the haiku or tanka is highly encouraged.
According to Toké, guidelines for writing haiku and tanka poetry are:
- Haiku poems consist of three lines. The first line and third line both have five syllables and the middle line has seven (But we will not be very strict).
- Haiku appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) and it touches the heart.
- Tanka is a 31-syllable poem and has 5 lines with 5/7/5/7/7 syllable count, respectively.
- A maximum of 5 haiku or tanka entries are allowed from one student. If you are entering a poem that consists of a number of haiku or tankas, the poem length should not exceed 30 lines. Do not send your entries for consideration to other publishers simultaneously. Please wait until a decision is reached by Skipping Stones magazine.
- Nature art can accompany your haiku or tanka, and it is encouraged!
Each entry that is mailed to Skipping Stones magazine is required to provide the following information on the backside. (See below for electronic submissions):
* Your full name and age or grade level
* Your teacher and school’s name, as well as your or your teacher’s e-mail
* Your mailing address or email address
* Please include a statement by one of your parents or teachers granting permission to Skipping Stones magazine to publish in print or online, and exhibit your haiku or tanka, if selected. When you enter the contest, it’s implied that the entry is YOUR original haiku or tanka.
Haiku entries must be received by 5:00 p.m. (PST) on Monday, May 5, 2025.
Hand-delivered entries can be dropped of at the Skipping Stones Magazine office (Odd Fellows Building) located at 166 W. 12th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon 97401 USA.
Electronic haiku and tanka entries can be submitted to editor@skippingstones.org by May 5, 2025. Poems with illustrations can be attached in an email to Skipping Stones magazine in the following file formats in high resolution: .pdf, .jpeg, or .tiff files. Haiku and Tanka without art can be sent as a part of your email text or as a pdf, Word .doc or .docx files.
