The Wisconsin Sijo (WiSiJo) Poetry Contest Opens for its Sixth Year!
MADISON–Wisconsinites of all ages will have the opportunity to learn a new poetry form and possibly win a prize! With the generous support of the Sejong Cultural Society of Chicago, the UW–Madison Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) will once again hold the Wisconsin Sijo (WiSiJo, 위시조) competition.
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 approximately 44–46 syllables in total:
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 Sixth Annual Wisconsin Sijo (WiSiJo 위시조) Competition is now open and will be accepting submissions through April 30, 2026. The competition is open to Wisconsinites of all ages, offers monetary prizes of up to $300 to winning entries across multiple age divisions, and includes free books for a limited number of adult participants. For details on how to enter as well as on how to write sijo, please visit the Wisconsin Sijo Competition page.