International Haiku Competition: Budapest 2016

After 2015’s successful event in Stockholm, hosting duties for the International Haiku Competition went to Hungary and April 2016 saw the final event organised by Közgazdasági Politechnikum.

Students and mentors from Slovenia and Sweden joined their counterparts in Budapest for several days of discussion and events designed to celebrate the hard work of the past year and work on building new connections between our schools. The standard of poetry was typically high so every greatly looked forward to the main part of the weekend which was the ceremony at which the prizewinners would be announced.

Our time in Budapest was very well organised with a wonderful mix of activities. After a tour of the school and the chance to speak to some of the teachers and students, here was the opportunity to take part in an English class in which students taught each other things about their own countries, including some of the important words for visitors. We learned a lot about some of the other big projects organised by our host school as well as some of the future events they have planned.

For the event itself, we were joined a poet who has established himself as one of the best known figures in the modern and youth poetry scene in Budapest. He spoke about his work and his studies of Japanese literature which allowed him to develop a sense of the value of haiku. We also were given a short presentation about some of the most important sights to see during our time in the city. Student spoke with enthusiasm about their favourite places to visit and what they recommend to tourists. The final element was the reading of the best pieces of haiku from this year’s competition and the naming of the writers whose pieces were judged to be worthy of a special mention. Gimnazija Vič was thrilled to have three of the five best pieces selected from our school’s selection.

After the event, we had the chance to take part in a cookery demonstration which allowed us to learn more about traditional Hungarian cuisine. Plans were also made over the weekend for a scavenger hunt which would allow the students to see more of Budapest while enjoying time with the new friends from the other schools.

The weekend was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the work of these young writers and to build new networks and friendships between our different schools. We would like to thank Edina Szakács from Közgazdasági Politechnikum for her hard work over the last year in arranging the 2016 event. Also, thanks must go to the host families who looked after the students from Gimnazija Vič in such a friendly and enthusiastic way.

This occasion ended with our plans for the future and we very much look forward to welcoming students and mentors to Ljubljana for the 2017 event.