Thousands enter comp / Seeking haikus for London / Can you do better?

A unique competition to find the best haiku to sum up summer in London has attracted thousands of entrants. The would-be poets send in their entries via online messaging service Twitter.

The haikus have been submitted — or tweeted — to what the organisers are calling the world's first "interactive mobile social-media poetry competition". Topics so far range from the Woolwich ferry to crowded trains; from sweltering offices to skimpy bikinis.

The haikus are checked for decency before they are projected on to a giant screen at King's Cross and St Pancras. The winner will be chosen by Yoko Ono and the poet, playwright and novelist Jackie Kay. Ms Kay, a professor of creative writing who recently was in the running to be Britain's first female Poet Laureate, said today: "Some of the haikus have been really lovely while it's interesting that so many people have responded.

"This is a whole different way of using communication which is very exciting, combining an old form, the haiku, with the modern form Twitter. Poetry is good for the soul and the great thing about a haiku is it is simple and complex at the same time. Haikus are little parcels of surprise wrapped up in words. Anybody having a go at this will just feel good about themselves."

The competition is being run by Network Rail and Kings Place, an arts venue in Islington that opened in October last year which each Monday hosts a spoken-word event.

The writer of the winning haiku will receive free entry to the event for the rest of the year — although earning the honour of being London's best haiku tweeter may surpass the actual prize.

Peter Millican, director of Kings Place, said: "We have been amazed by the number of entries. We always thought it was a lovely idea but it has really captured the imagination. It's been great for commuters to use their dead time' travelling to do something creative."

Haikus traditionally consist of three lines of alternately five, seven and five syllables — but with arguments raging that the 17-syllable rule need not be adhered to in English haikus, organisers have decided not to disqualify entries that contain more.

Simon Brake, 34, a graphic designer whose haiku "Beneath the morning sun/The city is painted gold/People move like bees through honey" is one of the frontrunners for the top prize, said: "It's the kind of thing Twitter lends itself to. I just thought we had some nice sun this week and my haiku reflects that. The idea people can look up at King's Cross to a screen that has haikus on it rather than miserable information puts a smile on the face."

Send your haikus in and we'll post the best ones here at standard.co.uk/haiku. Send your haikus to news@standard.co.uk or post them in the comments section below

To visit the Kings Place website click here