There seems to be a plethora of poetry competitions around the country, usually with a small fee (£3-5) per poem entered, these being judged by an acknowledged poet or poets or literary personality who are deemed qualified to pronounce on the winner etc.

Should Write Out Loud hold such a competition which would be a departure from the much smaller in-house style competitions that have appeared sporadically in the past.

Comments please,

Oo-err Graham!

I've certainly enjoyed setting and entering the WOL Comps which have occasionally graced these pages. Even the (some might say) notorious POTM (poem of the month for the uninitiated) was great for igniting discussions (should that be brawls)and introducing us to some poets we might never have connected with.

I think maybe competition is, in itself, the wrong title for this type of exercise. I know some of us are intensely competitive - and combative when it comes to it, but aren't we wielders of the mighty pen supposed to be a thoughtful, friendly lot at heart?

Where I do think the on-site competitions have scored over most of the national/international/judged-by-the-great-and -the-good competitions is that of being able to have one's work evaluated by one's "peers." Much rather this eclectic scrutiny than "I'm going to pick the poem that's most like one of mine"; a feature of many exalted competitions with a po-celebrity judge.

Anyhow, thanks for raising the topic. I will watch with interest to see how this thread develops, but my instinct says yes, go for it.

Regards,
A.E.

Oh me too! I've loved all the in house competitions that we've run over the years - they've inspired poetry that never would have been written but for the friendly, supportive community side that can exist within WOL.

In the past such informal comps have been placed in blogs, where it's hard to keep them prominent. A space somewhere on the homepage would be lovely - just to let people know what's going on.

The more official Poem of the Month that used to exist, like Anthony suggests, incited anger as much as discussion. It was chosen by previous winner from profile poems only. I think it was quite open to abuse as I'm sure some poets got friends to sign up, just so they could choose one of their poems. However, it was an onerous task to ask any poet to read through the profile poems of every poet on WOL.... so I can see why some poets might have looked for a short cut to something good that they already valued.

We all know that just because something is voted best, doesn't mean to say that it IS the best. So much depends on the particular background/preferences of the voter/voters. I do think that competitions are a bit of fun though and many people who have taken part in them, really enjoyed reading the different interpretations given to one theme.

There are advantages to in house poetry competitions being run through admin. Not many people want to give out their addresses to other poets that they've never met off an internet forum. If we start giving out book tokens or any form of prizes, it's better that they come from a trusted source.

Those are my thoughts.

One of my thoughts in raising this thread was to try to engage the increasing number of WOL'ers that have registered from overseas who then fall away.
Of course things like PayPal would require setting up.

Similarly ( and this could be another thread in itself) a couple of competitions a year could also reinvigorate the dwindling number of comments that are made on the site blogs.

Finally a WOL Competition would do much to raise the profile of what is already a well respected organisation.

Please keep the opinions and comments coming

I hadn't been thinking of it a a fund raising activity Graham - but now you mention it, it's perhaps something worth trying. The money raised could be used towards prizes and anything left over towards WOL expenses. I think you'd have to have a rule that admin members couldn't win though - although they should still be allowed to contribute to the theme - just for the fun of it :)

Sounds good Graham. Be good to have a section/page for this. Well-publicised, email reminders etc., modest entry fees, (hopefully) fairly uniquely peer-judged, A suitable prize/accolade (does it have to be cash?), longlist/shortlist?, themed?, etc., etc., etc . . .

Just chucking stuff out there . . . A.E.

R.I.P.

For all those who knew and loved it, a memorial service will be held for this thread on Saturday afternoon at the multi-denominational crematorium. There will be a buffet afterwards at the Working Mens. No flowers by request. Donations to WOL (threads that died too young.)

I have mixed feelings about poetry competitions - not least because I
suspect the credentials of
anyone who has the presumption and
chutzpah to occupy the position of
"judge" in such matters.
In another discussion I observed that
"poetry is all things to all people"
and this remains my view. Who knows
what factors, other than the content
and presentation of a poem, come into
play when choosing some entries over
others?
No names...no pack drill. But assorted
instances that divide via age and style
pop up with depressing frequency in a
closeted world of the written word.