Creative Writing Students Again Enter National Sijo Writing Competition

Students enrolled in Arrowhead Union High School’s Creative Writing classes entered the Sejong Cultural Society’s annual sijo competition this week. Elizabeth Jorgensen teaches Creative Writing classes at Arrowhead and says, “I’m always looking for authentic audiences for student work. I love that the Sejong Cultural Society offers this competition. It allows students to learn about and try a Korean form of poetry called sijo.”

According to PoetryFoundation.org  “Sijo is a Korean traditional poetic form that emerged in the Goryeo period, flourished during the Joseon Dynasty, and is still written today. Bucolic, metaphysical and cosmological themes are often explored.”

Jorgensen says a sijo poem is three lines and uses syllables as structure. She says each poem needs 44 to 46 syllables and a twist. “Sijo poems are so beautiful because they are meant to be songs,” Jorgensen says.

The deadline to submit to the competition is March 31, 2019 (11:59pm CDT).

The Sejong Cultural website states, “The goals of the Sejong Writing Competition are to discover children and young adults talented in writing and to encourage them to learn and write about Korean and its culture. Through this writing competition we hope to increase the awareness and understanding of Korea’s cultural heritage amongst the younger generations growing up in the United States.”

Jorgensen says, “Last year, five Arrowhead students were recognized as honorable mentions in this competition. This year, 235 of my students submitted poems. I hope to have some students again recognized as winners this year.”

The five Arrowhead students selected in 2018 as honorable mentions include Mari Caldero, Claire Lawrence, Cole Siepmann, Toni Smith and Bryce Toussaint. Arrowhead students recognized in 2017 included Arrowhead students Emma Senkbeil and Maddie Shipshock, who tied for third place, and Decker Riggan, who received an honorable mention.

Jorgensen says, “In 2016, I was so thrilled to have the first place winner come from Arrowhead. Austin Snell wrote an emotional and personal poem that was so deserving of the recognition. That same year, Abagael Weber was also recognized with an honorable mention. I really loved the poetic nature and the beat and pattern of Abagael’s poem.”

Here is Snell’s winning sijo poem, titled “Emma”:

My new dog, little Emma, a gift to us from the heavens.

My aunt passed, stupid cancer, my mom distraught. Everyone muted.

I could look into Emma’s eyes, she’s still here, on four paws.

Snell is quoted on the Sejong Cultural’s webpage as saying, “I would love to thank my Aunt Eli who passed away after battling cancer. She was the inspiration for my sijo. She was the kindest and most honest person I will ever know. We knew my aunt’s cancer had come back the same year we got our new dog. My mother was in complete despair. We needed something that would help us feel better. To honor my aunt, we wanted to name our dog something close to Eli. We were going to go with Emily but then finally settled on Emma. My aunt saw our new dog on video chats and she said she was the cutest thing she had seen. When my aunt passed away, we decided to give our dog her middle name (Eli) to honor her. She will always be missed. I learned about this competition from my Creative Writing teacher Ms. Jorgensen. I never heard of this form of poetry and now it’s one of my favorites. I didn’t do this poem to win the competition; instead, I did the poem to express myself through writing.”

This year, senior Adam Esslinger wrote a sijo in his creative writing class. He titled his poem “Chaos”:

Frantically adding support, I watch the building approach collapse.          
Destruction echos, my final feeling of hope disappearing.          
The wave slides onto shore, washing our sand castle away.              

Arrowhead senior, Dillon Dale, also wrote a sijo poem in his Creative Writing class. He title his poem “Game Night”:

Tonight, a seventh-month-spun-out season stops.
One team will go home distraught—one, with a cup almost three feet tall.
“Honey, hurry up! The Stanley Cup Finals are starting!” Mom says.

Dale says, “I found the syllable count difficult to do and actually thinking of words for the poem. The syllable count limited what you could do and thinking of words to actually write a story about was difficult,”

In addition to submitting sijo poems to the national sijo writing competition through The Sejong Cultural Society, Jorgensen’s students also sent their poems to Teen Ink, a national teen publication, as well as the Arrowhead High School Literary Magazine.

“I hope the work students do in Creative Writing encourages them to find a passion for writing. I hope it also propels them to be lifelong writers, seeking out opportunities to have their voices and stories, published and heard,” Jorgensen says.

“I’m eager to read this year’s winning poems,” Jorgensen said. “I am excited to share the national winners with my second semester classes and appreciate the art created and recognized by high school students from across the country.”

Jorgensen also says this is the first year The Sejong Cultural Society is offering an adult division. She says she plans to enter her own original sijo poem to the competition.