Enter the Kids Count for Earthday Haiku Contest!

What does Earth Day mean to you? Can you write a poem about it? If so, you could win a prize and your writing might be published in Sketchbook, a Journal for Eastern and Western Short Forms.

The international Kids Count for Earthday Haiku Contest 2010 is looking for haiku poetry (17 syllables or less) written by children and young adults ages 7 - 20 years. Poems must be written by individuals; each person can only enter once. There is no fee to enter. The theme of this year's contest is "What Earth Day means to you".

According to the Kids Count for Earthday website,

"The contest is designed to combine the love of earth with the sheer simple fun of writing Japanese haiku in English!"

The deadline for this haiku contest is May 23rd (postmark of May 22nd). For more details about where to send your entry and what information to include, please visit Kids Count for Earthday 5-7-5 Haiku Contest 2010.

Good luck!

[Update 10/9/10: Read the winning entries here!]

The Tangled Bank: Love, Wonder, & Evolution

I received a happy email today from Chris Lynch, the editor at Tangled Bank Press, which largely said this:

The Tangled Bank: Love, Wonder, & Evolution has launched!

The anthology, which marks the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, features over 100,000 words of speculative fiction, poetry, artwork, and essays about evolution. An international line-up of nearly 50 contributors includes Sean Williams, Brian Stableford, Patricia Russo, and Carlos Hernandez. (And me!)

The Tangled Bank is now available for download as a PDF (cost is US$4.99). Check out "Darwin's Daughter" by Christopher Green, a free short story from the anthology.

For more information, please visit the Tangled Bank Press, drop by Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Happy Darwin Day, everyone!

Win a copy of 2010 Writer's Market! (Cross-Post)

NOTE: This message is cross-posted from my other blog, Stars in my Sugar Bowl. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS THERE. Thank you!




To celebrate the launch of my new poetry blog, Stars in my Sugar Bowl, I am giving away an unused paperback copy of the 2010 Writer's Market published by Writer's Digest Books. This tome is a great addition to any writer's toolkit, containing listings for 3,500 places to publish your work. I already own a copy and received this extra one at Christmas -- a perfect opportunity for a giveaway!

To be eligible for the drawing, please leave me comment about science, poetry, or both, on that post only. Any comments left on the Mama Joules blog are NOT eligible.

• Tell me about your favorite scientific subject, describe a fun science activity, tell me what you like about Mama Joules, provide a link to a family-friendly science website, or tell me anything else about science.
  

• If science isn't your thing, talk to me about haiku, tanka, haiga, alliteration, Robert Frost, Gwendolyn Brooks, or anything else relating to poetry.

• And if, like me, you enjoy both science and poetry, share your thoughts on Scifaiku, Fibonacci sequence poetry, or some other topic similar to both.

You must include something about science, poetry, or both, in your comment to be eligible for this drawing. Again, please leave your comments there. I reserve the right to delete any comments that contain spam, sexually explicit references, swearing, or other overtly troll-like content. Please make sure to include enough contact information that I can E-mail you back if you win!

I'll be accepting comments there for roughly two weeks (until 8 pm EST January 20th) and then I'll have my husband, Itinerant Cryptographer, help me pick a winner at random (since he does that sort of thing for a living). At that time, I will announce the winner there, by updating that post on Stars in my Sugar Bowl, and I will request that you contact me by E-mail to claim your prize.

If you are chosen as the winner and haven't contacted me by 8 pm EST January 24th, you will forfeit the prize and I will draw another name from the list.

I look forward to reading your comments on my other blog. Good luck!


Photo credit: Francis via flickr // CC BY 2.0

OT: Finished Poetry Challenge!

I'm happy to announce that I have finally finished the Poem-A-Day poetry challenge over at Poetic Asides -- 30 poems in 30 days, to honor National Poetry Month. Working on the challenge has encouraged me to try new things. You never know how trying something new might inspire you, or even inspire others.

Photo credit: Erik Harmon, BurningWell.org

Keep a science journal

Last night, my 7-year-old son came to me and began to describe his idea for a new robot.

"It would pick up toys and put them away," he told me, and he proceeded to describe the mechanics of robot in great detail. (Let me tell you, I *want* one of these robots!)

I suggested that we buy a journal. "Let's get one with WALL-E on the cover," I said. "And then you can write down all of your ideas for new robots. Later on, when you're older and enter a science fair, you can read about your plans and pick one to work on."

A science journal doesn't have to be about robots, though. Pick any topic that you like. Give yourself the freedom to explore your interests.

Do you watch clouds? Write down the shapes that you see, draw them in your journal, and look them up in a cloud identification book later. Would you rather study bugs? Draw the insects in your journal and describe their behavior. Have a great idea for an experiment? Plan it out on paper before you put it into practice.

Remember, this is your journal. You can be as detailed or as simple as you want. Similar to a diary, you don't have to share your ideas about science with everyone. Let yourself dream ... and don't forget to give yourself the permission to dream big.

Massachusetts Science Poetry Contest

I’m happy to follow up on a previous post,Try your hand at science poetry, and report that the Massachusetts Science Poetry Contest is alive and well and celebrating its 20th year! I recently received an E-mail from Ashley Berrios, who is coordinating the contest this year. She told me that the deadline for contest entries is tomorrow! So, for all of you who are competing, good luck with your entries.

If you are unfamiliar with the Massachusetts Science Poetry Contest, here are some facts that I learned from Ms. Berrios:

• Although most entrants are from the state of Massachusetts, this contest is open to all students in grades K-8 - including those in special education classes - but the poems must be written in class. Teachers choose the best poems from their classes and submit them to the contest, with parental permission.

• The purpose of this contest is to integrate writing and art with science. All poems must reflect current scientific knowledge. Students can write about any scientific topic except science fiction.

• Up to grade 5, the entries must be illustrated. For grades 6-8, the author may choose whether or not to illustrate the poem (or, for these grades, they may also choose to include a photograph).

• Poems must compete in one of eight categories, including Most Original Poem, Most Humorous Poem and Most Expressive Poem.

It may be too late to enter this year’s contest, but it’s not too late to start planning for next year! Since the website is not currently up-to-date, to learn more about the contest please contact Ashley Berrios at berriosa [at] bc [dot] edu or write to:

Dr. George Ladd
Professor Emeritus
Science Poetry Contest
Lynch School of Education
Boston College – Campion Hall
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

[Update: 3/9/09 -- The Massachusetts Science Poetry Contest has a new website! The deadline for the 2009 contest is April 3, 2009. Check the website for details!]

Write some science fiction

Recently, I joined a fan-fiction challenge on another forum and had to write up a story based upon another fan's request. Now, I've written some fan-fiction in this sci-fi universe before, but I'll be honest. I've never written any actual *science fiction* there. I tend to write angst-ridden, dramatic pieces. This was a new one for me, but I rose to the challenge. I invented a universe complete with alien beings. And before I knew it, I was searching the Internet to learn about theta waves in the brain, consulting other people about diseases, and researching light waves.

Writing science fiction can expand your view of science in ways you wouldn't expect. If you're not a big science fiction fan, start with a familiar universe that's friendly to fan-fiction and write a small scene. There are a number of forums out there, dedicated to different sci-fi fandoms, where you can post your work. (My piece, Journey to the Theta Region, is posted at Gatchaman Fanfic Archive.)

The best part? When you explore your new world, you just might learn a thing or two about ours.

Try your hand at science poetry

Are you looking for something different to do today? How about writing some science poetry? Here are some poetic forms with examples of science poetry written by children, taken from previous entries to the Massachusetts Science Poetry Contest . (Unfortunately, this contest appears to be closed, but I’m checking into it).

Here’s my childhood contribution to the oft-underappreciated science poem. I was nine years old when I wrote this ditty, which won an honorable mention in a poetry contest. You just never know where science poetry may lead!

Maybe in the Future

Maybe in the future,
We will find
A mysterious planet,
One of a kind.

All around this planet,
There is an eerie gloom.
And when you look up in the sky,
There is only half a moon.

The small eight-inch people,
Smiling as can be,
Have only one red hair, on their heads,
Small as the eye can see.

These are courageous people,
Fighting very hard.
And maybe in the future,
They’ll land in someone’s yard.

[UPDATE: The Massachusetts Science Poetry Contest is alive and well! Check here for more details!]