Sijo as a Portal to Sculpture
Announcing a Sijo competition in conjunction with a sculpture show that features contemporary interpretations of Suseok (수석), also called viewing stones or scholar's stones. All entries are encouraged. This is an opportunity to study and experiment in the living tradition of the uniquely Korean poetry style Sijo. The best poems will earn a signed print and be shown with the artist’s works, both in the art gallery and an on-line catalog.
Boston artist Andy Moerlein presents wood stone poem, a show focused on the tradition of bringing stones into the garden and home as a portal to nature. He has selected a series of his contemporary sculptures for this focused response by poetry enthusiasts. This competition is created with sponsorship from the Korean Cultural Society of Boston. David McCann, Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Literature, Emeritus, Harvard University will read all entries and select the winning poems.
See: https://sijocontest.blogspot.com/ to see the sculptures and contest information. Submissions due March 31st.
Sijo is, at heart, a song. It is for the Koreans what the ballad is for Western Europeans. Sijo is traditionally composed in three lines of 14-16 syllables each, between 44-46 total. A pause breaks each line approximately in the middle. The sijo may tell a story (as the ballad does), examine an idea (as the sonnet does), or express an emotion (as the lyric does). Whatever the purpose may be, the structure is the same: line 1 of the 3-line pattern introduces a situation or problem; line 2 develops or "turns" the idea in a different direction; and line 3 provides climax and closure. Think of the traditional 3-part structure of a narrative (conflict, complication, climax). See: sejongculturalsociety.org
For this competition, each Sijo will respond to a piece of sculpture. The poems will serve as an invitation to visitors to the gallery to enter the work from a poet’s point of view. Visit https://sijocontest.blogspot.com/ to see Moerlein’s Suseok inspired art. Please send submissions to: sijosubmissions@gmail.com
wood stone poem will be at Boston Sculptors Gallery 486 Harrison Ave Boston MA USA May 5 - June 6, 2021
As examples, here are three selections from Someone Is Sitting a book of Sijo Poems about Viewing Stones by Min-jeong Kim a South Korean Sijo master poet.
Min-jeong Kim– Is a South Korean Sijo master poet. She received her PhD in Korean Literature from SunKyunKwan University. Presently she is the president of the Sijo Division of the Korean Writers association, a member of the Language Preservation Committee of the Korean PEN, a Director of the Korean Association of Sijo Poets, the Vice President of the of Kangdong Writers Association, an advisor of the Korean Female Writers Society and the Marae Sijo Poets Association, and she is member of the Wansoek Viewing Stone Society and the Soekgiwon Viewing Stone Society. She has published over ten books of Sijo Poems and a series of essays on the topic of Korean poetry. Her writings have won international acclaim and received numerous awards such as the Kim Gi-rim Literary Award, the Sijosihak Award, the Writer Award of the Korean Writers Association, etc.
This Sijo Poetry Challenge is sponsored by the Korean Cultural Society of Boston.