A recommended approach to the judging of creative writing

This article offers an insight into ways the reader can appreciate haiku poetry. Contest judging techniques are revealed and specific judging criteria arc proposed. Trying to judge short poems by applying a set of objective standards from the outset of a contest might be putting the cart before the horse. Provided that the judges of a haiku competition are experienced readers who can articulate what it is they like or dislike about a poem, and provided that there is a panel of judges and not just one person, this article proposes that there is no reason why readers shouldn\u27t let themselves be guided first and foremost by their subjective experience of a poem