The Wisconsin Sijo (WiSiJo) Poetry Contest Opens for its Fifth Year!
MADISON–Wisconsinites of all ages will have the opportunity to learn a new poetry form and possibly win a prize! For its fifth iteration, the UW-Madison Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) will sponsor the Wisconsin Sijo (WiSiJo, 위시조) competition again in collaboration with the Sejong Cultural Society of Chicago.
Sijo is a traditional Korean three-line poetic form consisting of a theme (1st line), elaboration (2nd line), and a counter-theme and conclusion (3rd line). Sijo traditionally explores cosmological, metaphysical, or pastoral themes and consists of 14-16 syllables per line:
So they say there was a gale and frosty snow fell last night?
And the spreading pines were all broken and overthrown?
In that case how about the flowers, what chance have they to bloom?
–Yu Eung-bu (d. 1456)
In the above poem, the first two lines are dominated by heavy, dark, cold imagery—“gale”, “frosty”, “night”, “broken.” The counter-theme in the first half of the third line introduces flowers—light and delicate—into the poem. The two discordant images are then resolved or connected in the conclusion which focuses on the fate of the flowers in such an environment.
Learn more about the history of the competition and last year’s winning entry here.
The fifth Annual Wisconsin Sijo (WiSiJo 위시조) Competition is now open and will be accepting applications through January 20, 2025. The competition is open to Wisconsinites of all ages, offers monetary prizes of up to $400 to winning entries, and includes inducements for schools and libraries to promote participation. For details on how to enter as well as on how to write sijo, please visit the Wisconsin Sijo Competition page.
“Writing a sijo is challenging, but very gratifying,” said Fields, who writes Wisconsin-themed (often Packer-themed) sijo on CEAS Facebook page to promote the competition.