2021 Wisconsin Sijo Competition
Winners | Judges | Winners' Sijo
Winners
| Adult Division | Senior Division | Junior Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prize | Thom Singleton Appleton, WI sijo |
Melanie Meyer Hartland, WI (Elizabeth Jorgensen) Arrowhead Union High School sijo |
Harper Abel Pittsville, WI (Kate Van Haren) Pittsville Elementary School sijo |
| Runners-up |
Winnie Chan Madison, WI sijo |
Sarah Bierman Susses, WI (Elizabeth Jorgensen) Arrowhead Union High School sijo |
Isabella Peterson Burlington, WI (Emily Laidley) sijo |
| Laura Grossenbacher Verona, WI sijo |
Sidney Heberlein Hartland, WI (Elizabeth Jorgensen) Arrowhead Union High School sijo |
Julia Zimdars Oconomowoc, WI (Beth Wartzenluft) Stone Bank School sijo |
|
| Elizabeth Jorgensen Waukesha, WI sijo |
Gianna Konen Hartland, WI (Elizabeth Jorgensen) Arrowhead Union High School sijo |
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Jordan Korpela |
( ) Teacher's name
Adult division
I became aware of the sijo competition from the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets of which I am a member. I have written poetry for years, and have self-published five chapbooks of poetry. Because of experience with the economy of language that poetry often requires, I took readily to writing sijo, as well as the Japanese haiku. I found the information that your website offers in the writing of sijo to be very helpful, especially regarding the importance of the surprising twist often contained in the last line. I derive much satisfaction from writing, and lately I've started-up a blog of over 250 of my poems and essays, free to the public. The blog address is: shroudedshore.blogspot.com. I gain inspiration for my writing mostly from nature - hiking and canoeing in the wilderness.
Susanna Song "Interview with Sijo Competition Winners" - Thom Singleton
I learned about this competition through UW-Madison's Center for East Asian Studies newsletter! At the time, I was reading Mark Forsyth's book on rhetoric, The Elements of Eloquence, and thought it would be fun to try out some of the techniques he described in a sijo. I'm glad I know another East Asian verse form besides good old haiku now!
Additional comments by Winnie Chan
A decade ago, through the Sejong Cultural Society, I discovered sijo’s possibilities for emotional expression, lyricism and musicality. I have been writing and teaching the form since. For this competition, I wrote many sijo and couldn’t decide which one to submit; so, I shared my sijo with friends and family. Although they didn’t agree, I enjoyed talking about my work and encouraged others to also write and submit. In addition to sijo, I write nonfiction. My memoir, co-written with Nancy Jorgensen, Go, Gwen, Go: A Family’s Journey to Olympic Gold, is available from Meyer & Meyer Sport. When not writing, I’m most likely cuddling with my dogs, watching Bravo, reading celebrity memoirs or working out with my trainer, Ryan Bloor at Right Body Fitness. Learn more on my website: lizjorgensen.weebly.com
Senior division
My name is Melanie Meyer and I am a student at Arrowhead Union High School. I learned about sijo from my creative writing teacher, Ms. Jorgensen. I loved writing sijo poems and I couldn't have gotten very far without the help and advice from her. I love painting and one day, I hope to be a CPS worker.
My name is Sarah Bierman and I am a senior at Arrowhead High school. I enjoy performing in the musicals put on by my school and reading non fiction books. I am hoping to attend a UW school in the upcoming year and have a major in business management. I decided to write about my experience with a loss we had in the family when I was little. This day has stuck with me for a very long time and I wanted to incorporate the small details I remembered into my poem.
My name is Sidney Heberlein and I am a junior at Arrowhead High School in Hartland, WI. In my free time, I enjoy playing Volleyball and spending time with my friends. I hope to pursue a career in the Sciences after attending college. Writing has never been one of my strong suits; however, this year I have started to become more and more interested in it. I learned about sijo and about this competition through my creative writing class. I am grateful that my teacher, Ms. Jorgensen, introduced me to this incredible poetry form!
My name is Gianna Konen and I am currently a senior at Arrowhead High School. I participate in cross country and track and have played basketball most of my life. I love spending time with friends and family especially in the outdoors. I intend to major in nursing at Marquette University in the fall. I was introduced to this competition by my creative writing teacher Ms. Jorgensen. This writing form was completely new to me and it brought me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to display my creativity. Throughout this competition, I was able to learn how to portray a story in only a few lines while still including emotions and conflict.
I thought that this type of poetry was really interesting because it's so different from all the other types. It was hard to step outside the box and come up with a good poem that would fit all the standards for a sijo poem but, it was really fun to be a different kind of creative. I do like writing poems and just writing in general, it's a really good way to express myself and I'm definitely not going to stop writing.
Junior division
My name is Abby Groth, and I am a senior at Arrowhead High School in Hartland, WI. In my free time I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I also love to spend time outside going on hikes, going to the lake, or watching sunsets. In the fall I will be attending Nova Southeastern University to pursue a degree in marine biology.
I entered this competition through my advanced composition class. I am thankful for my teacher, Mrs. Carnell, for showing me this competition and teaching me about the craft of writing sijos.
Hi my name is Isabella. I love to write so when my mom showed me the Sijo competition on the Burlington Public Library Facebook page, I jumped at the chance. I didn't know what Sijo poems were so I did a little research. When I was writing my poem I thought of how majestic a bird was. When I am not writing I like to play with my pets and play sports like basketball. I hope future students aren't afraid to put themselves out there and try their best.
I learned about this competition from my wonderful teacher, Beth Wartzenluft, a Teaching and Learning Coordinator and also my Honors English teacher at Stone Bank School. I entered this competition not thinking about winning, but wanting experience. I learned that writing Sijo is a process that is easier if you have details on what you are writing about. Some of my hobbies are softball, writing, music, and art. In the future, I look forward to summer and softball games, as well as spending time with friends and family. I really don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but I do know that I enjoy writing.