I Won a Haiku Competition. Yes, That's What I Said.

I can remember winning two things in my life. First, the junior crossword in the Sunday Post when I was a child, for which I think the prize was a ten-shilling postal order. Second, the World Fantasy Award for Thraxas. 

Adding to this list, I'm now winner of Pankhearst Haiku Noir competition. Well, one of their five winners.

Pankhearst recently published Cars and Girls, four femnoir stories. Observant readers may remember that I mentioned this book enthusiastically only a few weeks ago. Remembering this, they may wonder, is there some literary corruption here? Have they just given him a prize because he reviewed their book, and will now probably mention it again?

Well, I wouldn't have minded that, because any scam is worthwhile to get your book some publicity. However, the judging was both blind and fair, as described by the judge herself, Kate Garrett, in her post about the competition, where you can read all five winning haikus.

So there you have it. Millar, casually turning his hand to another art form, walks away with a prize. It's another fine effort.

Haikus seem to fit well with noir. Though not to Japanese poetry purists, I expect. Here is my Haiku Noir -

Cold Japanese Beer
drips over her stilettos.
She's quick to reload.

Which I still like, although, as with everything I've ever written, disappointment and loathing will no doubt set in soon enough.

I appreciated the postal order from the Sunday Post as a child, although the Sunday Post, despite being something of a Scottish institution, was then, as I assume it is now, a dreadful newspaper.