Oregon's Poet Laureate to judge local Food & Farm Haiku contest

What's small, mysterious, and bursting with flavor? A truffle, perhaps. A perfectly ripe raspberry. Or a tiny poem about delicious local foods. The State of Oregon's official Poet Laureate, Kim Stafford, has signed on as the judge for the Food & Farm Haiku contest. It’s part of the special Tea & Poetry event on September 22 at Sisters Farmers Market, co-presented by New Oregon Arts & Letters.

"Small, dusky, and mysterious, a haiku passes before you like a bat, sweeping away the mosquitos of annoyance, and startling you awake to the magic of the moment," said Stafford. A poet, educator, and delightful storyteller, Stafford has roots in the Sisters area. When he was young, his family—including his father, poet William Stafford—built their own cabin near town.

You don't have to be a poet to dream up a short poem and enter the contest. All ages are welcome to jump on in and try. Prizes include gift certificates to Metolius Tea, Jackson's Corner restaurant, Mahonia Gardens farm, Paulina Springs Books, Suttle Tea teahouse, Seed to Table education farm, and Bedouin clothing store and cafe.

Winning haiku will also be published in The Nugget Newspaper, media sponsor of Sisters Farmers Market.

"We invite you to celebrate the seasons and really sink into your senses," said Tea & Poetry organizer T. Lee Brown. "Write about food, farms, or tea. Think about how foods smell, look, and taste, what they feel like rolling around in your mouth, what memories they invoke."

Entrants may use the popular American style of writing haiku: a three-line poem featuring a 5-7-5 syllable structure. Alternately, they may choose to write in the Japanese tradition, focusing on how their words and imagery evoke the seasons rather than counting syllables.

With help from Aude Girin, Seed to Table's education coordinator, Brown led the audience at a recent Sisters Farmers Market talent show in a group tasting and writing exercise. An example:

Crisp green cucumber

Rests beside a bursting peach—

Harvest time is near.

Food & Farm Haiku contest entries may be dropped off at Paulina Springs Books or Sisters Farmers Market. Locals can also email their haiku. Non-locals can submit electronically via Submittable.com for a small fee. Details can be found online at http://tinyurl.com/foodhaiku.

Sisters Farmers Market is open through the end of September, on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. At Fir Street Park, one block north of Cascade Ave/Hwy 20. Co-presented by New Oregon Arts & Letters, Tea & Poetry is funded in part by grants from the Roundhouse Foundation and the City of Sisters.