January 1, 2020 Karen Lewis

2020 Haiku Poetry Contest

What Do You Love About the National Heritage Area?

The Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm (KMTA) National Heritage Area is seeking haikus that express what you love about our National Heritage Area. The KMTA area bridges Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound via mountains, glacial valleys, and plentiful rivers. It includes the communities of Bird, Indian, Girdwood, Whittier, Portage, Hope, Moose Pass, Seward and Cooper Landing. (See KMTA Area Map at the end of the rules.)

We want to hear from you in the form of haiku what makes the National Heritage Area a place you love to live and recreate in…

Eligibility – Open to all U.S. residents who are at least 5 years or older. Employees and Board Members of the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm CCA and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter.

How To Enter – Entries will be accepted through Friday, February 1, 2020. All entries must be a true haiku with 5 syllables on the 1st line, 7 syllables on the 2nd line, and 5 syllables on the 3rd line. Contestants may enter up to three (3) haikus. All haikus must be the sole, original work of the entrant. Please include a title and your KMTA inspiration. Submit your entries at the bottom of the page. 

KMTA will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, misdirected, or illegible entries, entries that exceed the word limit or for failure to receive entries due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind.

Finalists/Winner Selection – The judging panel will judge all eligible entries according to the following criteria: 25% on creativity of the haiku, 25% on content and writing of the haiku and 50% on relevance to the KMTA National Heritage Area. The rating scale for each criteria will range from one (1) to ten (10), with ten (10) being the best score. In the event of a tie, tied entries will be re-judged on the same criteria listed above. There will be one winner selected from the youth category (ages 5-17) and one winner selected from the adult category (18+).

Copyright – By entering the contest, each contestant grants Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area an exclusive, royalty-free and irrevocable right and license to publish, print, edit or otherwise use the contestant’s submitted entry, in whole or in part, for any purpose and in any manner or media (including, without limitation, the Internet) throughout the world in perpetuity, and to license others to do so, all without limitation or further compensation.

Prizes – There will be one winner selected from the youth category (ages 5-17) and one winner selected from the adult category (18+). A $25 Gift Certificate will be awarded to each winner.

Winner Notification – Winners will be notified on February 14, 2020 via email.

Questions – Contact Karen Lewis at karenlewis@kmtacorridor.org

The Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area’s mission is to to recognize, preserve, and interpret the historic, scenic, natural resources, and cultural landscape of the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm historic transportation corridor.

Map of KMTA National Heritage Area

Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area Boundaries