The 19th Belfast Poetry Festival will debut its first Haiku Death Match on Friday, Oct. 18, from 7 to 9 p.m., in the Hawthorne/Dreamland Theater in the Colonial Theater. Beloved within the slam poetry scene, Haiku Death Match is a fun and thrilling competition that sees poets battle head-to-head until the last haikuster is left standing, according to the Festival, in a news release.

During this free event, poets will use audience prompts to compose poems onsite, and the winner, chosen by audience applause, will receive the coveted title of Belfast Poetry Festival Haiku Death Match Champion.

The Exceptions, featuring Kathryn Robyn, Lisa Leaverton, and Karin Spitfire, creative collaborators for nearly 50 years in poetry, cosmology, performance, and activism, will perform a salty set of fun, jazz-punk improve poetry halfway through the competition, with lots of audience participation. 

“Haiku Death Match is unlike any other poetry reading,” says Mattie John Bamman, in a news release. Bamman is from the Festival Steering Committee, which is hosting the event. “As the name suggests, the format likes to poke fun at poetry conventions, especially at tired imagery, worn out clichés, and archaic terms, to bring something fresh to the stage, usually something thought-provoking and/or hilarious.” 

A short poetic form, haiku originated in Japan in the mid-1600s and was popularized by the poet Matsuo Bashō. Traditional haiku each feature three lines with a total of only 17 syllables.

Bashō and his students introduced competition to the form right away with what they called “the shell game,” during which poets read original haiku head-to-head until a judge selected a winner. The competition was revived by the American slam poetry scene in the 1990s—over 300 years later.

Poets and performers are encouraged to sign up for the event at belfastpoetryfestival.org.

Jamaican poet Geoffrey Philip will share more insights into the history of haiku to kick off the match. Philip will also offer a free workshop, “Two Worlds, One Breath: A Haiku Workshop”, earlier in the day, from 3-5pm at the Belfast Free Library.

See the full schedule for the four-day 19th Annual Belfast Poetry Festival at belfastpoetryfestival.org.