2022 Wisconsin Sijo Competition
Winners | Judges | Winners' Sijo
Winners
| Adult Division | Senior Division | Junior Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prize | Jenna K Rindo Pickett, WI sijo |
Abby Walter West Bend, WI (Paul Walter) sijo |
Celia Rademan Pittsville, WI (Kate Van Haren) Pittsville Elementary School sijo |
| Runners-up |
Paul Walter West Bend, WI sijo |
Ella Forsterling Hartland, WI (Elizabeth Jorgensen) Arrowhead Union High School sijo |
Gavin Hughes Pittsville, WI (Kate Van Haren) Pittsville Elementary School sijo |
| Carly Hytinen Delafield, WI (Elizabeth Jorgensen) Arrowhead Union High School sijo |
( ) Teacher's name
Adult division
I’m grateful to the Sejong Cultural Society for both holding the Sijo competition and providing so many resources to writers unfamiliar with this form. I struggled with the limitations and challenges involved in writing Sijo and had to step away from many drafts for a couple months. Later, I was willing to cut both words and phrases. I am new to the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets which is how I found out about the Sijo contest.
I worked for years as a pediatric RN at hospitals in Virginia, Florida and Wisconsin. I write to better understand and appreciate the complications of the human body, mind and spirit. I am a runner and train for races from the 5K to the full marathon. I often arrange words and make revisions in my head as I run and bike. I now teach Swahili, Hmong, Spanish, Urdu and Kurdish students at Oshkosh elementary schools. My husband Ron and I raised our blended family of five children on a five acre parcel of land in rural Pickett. We tend orchards, gardens, hens and Shetland sheep.
I believe that all forms of art involve finding the balance between what to include and what to leave out. John Ruskin said it much more eloquently: “Nothing is ever seen perfectly, but only by fragments and under various conditions of obscurity.”
I found out about sijo from Linda Sue Park's Tap Dancing on the Roof. Her poem "Summer Storm," with it's surprise 3rd line, made me fall in love with the form. I soon shared Park's book with the awesome middle and high school members of Slinger Authors' Club, which I facilitate, and we've been writing sijos ever since.
I discovered your Wisconsin Sijo Competition through the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, an amazing organization that has provided me with a poetry publication outlet through their Poets' Calendar and Sheltering with Poems publication.
I was especially honored and excited to be recognized this year because my daughter (and Authors' Club member), Abby, also won the Senior Division. Sharing the excitement with Abby has been one of the coolest experiences of my writing life! I'd also like to give a shout out to the rest of my supportive family and my friends from the Fox Valley Writing Project who have helped me continue to grow as a writer and teacher of writing.
Senior division
While I’ve always loved to read and write, poetry was the first form of writing that truly caught my interest. I became aware of both the sijo form and the Wisconsin Sijo Contest through my school’s monthly Authors’ Club, and I immediately knew that this form would become special to me.
It is concise enough that I must focus my ideas, yet the syllable count is generous enough for my sijos to convey emotion. I drew inspiration for my submission from my relationship with my grandfather, who, despite his fading memory, cherishes life and laughter more than anyone I know. This sijo focuses on the childhood memories he holds on to, even as the recent details blurr.
As a junior in high school who is currently making plans for the future, I find it especially important to uphold his level of optimism. After graduating from Slinger High School next year, I plan to pursue a career in nutrition so that I can share my passions for healthy cooking and living with those who need it. No matter what my future path looks like, I have no doubt that I will continue to write and enjoy poetry and the creative and personal outlets it provides
I'm Ella Forsterling and I'm a junior at Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wisconsin.
I learned about this competition from my Creative Writing teacher, Elizabeth Jorgensen. This was the assignment I found most interesting.
I enjoy writing short poetry pieces and found this to be a power writing tool.
My name is Carly Hytinen and I am a student at Arrowhead High School. I enjoy performing on stage as well as reading, writing, listening to music, hanging out with friends and playing with my dog, Jack!
I will be attending University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the fall and I will be pursuing my love of writing by majoring in communications. I hope one day to be a journalist.
I was introduced to sijo through my creative writing teacher Ms. Jorgensen. I have never written sijo before but I completely fell in love with this format. I loved being able to be creative with a new form of writing and I can’t wait to keep learning!
Junior division
My name is Celia Rademan. My teacher, Ms. Van Haren, told my about the Sijo competition.
I love to write and draw, so I was very excited to learn to write poems in this poetic style. In my free time, I like to be outside where I can hike, hunt, and fish. I also enjoy playing basketball, listening to music, and reading.
As I get older, I want to learn more about science. It is my favorite subject, and I love doing experiments.
Ms. Van Haren told us about Sijo poetry in class.
I wrote it because I live on a farm and I know the experience of getting kicked by a cow.
My future goals are to try to get first place in the competition next year.
I learned that a sijo poem has to have 16 sllybles and 3 lines. It's fun to have lots of freedom to write, but have some rules.