Maya, Drexel's undergraduate literary magazine, held a first ever "Haiku-Off" on January 21st, 2009 at 7p.m. at Ross Commons. The audience, more than 30 students and faculty members total, competed to receive the title of "Master Haikuist."

To kick off the event, Maya's Editors Ali Cahill and Jordan Schilling congratulated the winners of Maya's 1st Annual Fall Writing contest, who were in attendance. Each winner was invited to the stage to shake the editors' hands and collect their award and cash prize. The winners will be published in Maya 2009 and considered for publication in Rittenhouse Magazine.

The logistics of the "Haiku Off" went as follows: There were three rounds during which contestants wrote one poem apiece. Each round was themed, which were top secret until the day of the event, and contestants had 10 minutes to scribe their haiku masterpiece. After 10 minutes, the haikus were collected and read aloud by hosts Theodora Marcantonis and Furrah Qureshi. Haikus were identified by number only, thus ensuring that the reading was blind to avoid bias. The judges then picked their favorite haiku for each round and the winners were revealed!

The judges were then introduced, and included Dr. Don Riggs, published poet and professor of English, Dr. Valerie Fox, published poet and professor of English, and Claire Bramble, editor-in-chief of Rittenhouse Magazine. Each judge picked their favorite haiku for each round, totaling nine winners for the entire event.

While haiku contestants wrote their haikus, they enjoyed free food, which was sponsored by Ed's Pizza & Wings.  Members of Maya's editorial staff worked the room and talked with contestants.

The first round's theme was nature, and produced a variety of haikus about autumn leaves, purple petals and green fields. The winners for round one were Bethany Shumaker, Christ Deter, and Furrah Qureshi, whose haikus follow, respectively:

Humble moon beams fall
bouncing off colourless trees
barely reaching eyes.

Dawn strikes the mountain
as the silent hikers trek
on in reverence.

Hail my vagina
it is the source of all things
wet, happy and sure.

The second round's theme was "transportation," which produced equally unique work, including angst about planes, subways and tired shoes. Diane Liu, Ronnie Naples, and Tina Walsh were the winners, whose haikus follow:

We ascend the stairs
like it's Jacob's ladder, but
we are not angels.

Electric blue shorts
who says roller blades aren't cool?
Ladies love the skates.

Japanese schoolgirl
on a train that is my SOUL
I'm the conductor.

The theme of the third round was "food," and included haikus about diets, cookies and alcohol. Philip Tomezsko, Melinda Glass, and Katie Lynch were the last audience members to become haiku champs. Their haikus were:

Clumsy on the stove
I make eggs for the first time
I'm incompetent.

Dreaming of French toast
No, I didn't skip breakfast
I'm just really stoned.

Fruits and veggies rule
Cows and pigs can be our friends
I am just so hip.

After the event, students and faculty members lingered to converse, flip through old issues of Maya and munch on cookies.

Maya would like to give a special thanks to Ed's Buffalo wings and Pizza for sponsoring our event.