In the thick of the 2020 Covid shutdown, a Camden writers’ group needed to figure out a way to survive the pandemic when it hit upon an idea that struck a poetic nerve. They launched a free weekly publishing contest on Instagram. At a time when people were told to stay apart, “Haiku in Action” was a stab at connecting people through the power of mindfulness and the written word. It was sponsored by the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association (NVHA), named after a groundbreaking Camden poet credited with helping to popularize the Japanese style of poetry in the United States. To enter, all anyone had to do was compose a poem loosely following the rules of haiku. The first week’s writing prompt was: “How has the lockdown changed your summer?” & boy did it snowball from there. Check out the rest of the story in our Link in Bio! 📷 @dmhphotographer #haiku #camden #southjersey #poetry #poetrycontent