Freshkills Park

Freshkills Park Celebrates National Poetry Month With Fifth Annual Haiku Contest

Wednesday, April 3, 2013
No. 18
http://www.nyc.gov/parks

Join Freshkills Park in celebrating National Poetry Month this April with our fifth annual Haiku Contest. Parks wants to hear impressions, experiences, thoughts and ideas of what Freshkills Park is and will be — in haiku form. Last year, three park poets were awarded prizes for their submissions and had their three-lined poems featured on the Freshkills Park Blog and across the web.

The 2,200-acre site has begun the transition from closed landfill to world-class park. Each area within Freshkills Park will have a distinct character. The plan seeks to ensure that Freshkills Park will support richly diverse habitats for wildlife, birds and plant communities, as well as provide extraordinary natural settings for recreation, sports and programs, including horseback riding, nature trails and large-scale public art and cultural programming.

A haiku is a type of poem written in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables for a total of 17 syllables. For example, here's one of our winners from previous years:

Haiku entries, including name and age, can be emailed to freshkillspark@parks.nyc.gov by 5 p.m. on Monday, April 29th. Prizes will be awarded to the top youth winner as well as the top three adult winners. Submissions by poets under 18 should indicate submission as a youth entrant. Entrants will get a chance to receive exclusive Freshkills Park merchandise. To learn more about Freshkills Park and to stay up-to-date on the latest news, visit the Freshkills Park Blog at www.freshkillspark.wordpress.com and ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Freshkills Park celebrated a milestone in the development of the park last year by opening Schmul Park. This year Parks will open up another section when the Owl Hollow Fields are completed. While the park continues to be developed, there are opportunities throughout the year to get a first look at the transformation during our summer programs, nature walks, birding tours and our annual ‘Sneak Peak’ festival.