Contest Closed for Judging:
Open only to those people with a valid change or entry code. If you do not have a code, or do not list it in your author's notes, your entry will be removed.
Welcome to the first annual Raven Contest.
Commenced in January of 2007, the Raven seeks to uncover genius in the written word by actively pursuing and endorsing the creation of notable works through a paradigm of recognition.
General Contest Outline
The qualifying round for the Raven Contest will begin on June 1st, 2007 and last until July 1st, 2007. Site assigned contest end dates will be extended to meet that time-frame. Entries into the qualifying round will be accepted between those dates only.
From July 1st, 2007 until August 1st, 2007 the qualifying round will be judged by the current Raven Judge pool. A listing of current Raven Judges can be found here.
On August 1st, 2007 the final round of the contest will begin. Entrants into the final round will be comprised of all trophy winners from the qualifying round (including honorable mentions).
Judging of the final round will take place during the month of September, 2007. The judge's final decisions will be issued no later that October 1st, 2007.
Prize Pool
Over the course of the contest 30,000 points will be awarded to participants. Additionally, $200 has been contributed to the contest and set aside as prize money to be divided between the winners of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the final round. The collection of prize money carries conditions which are outlined in the Raven Contest Regulations (RCR).
In the final round of the contest part of the 30,000 point prize pool will be awarded as grant funds to be used by winners to execute contests of their own. For questions about grant winnings please consult the RCR, the FAQs, or the official Raven prize structure page.
Depending on participation and eligibility, the 2007 Raven Contest will award, at most, one hundred and fifty-three trophies for excellence in the written word.
The Judges
To insure fairness and assuage poetic ethnocentrism an international judge pool consisting of ten members has been assembled. Over the past two months the judges have worked together to create a contest that embraces diversity in culture and writing styles.
Raven Contest judges are individuals who are secure and competent both in particular forms and writing styles as well as in general contemporary poetic creation. Each has several years of writing behind him or her and many have a multitude of contest experience here on Allpoetry. Every judge has pledged to dedicate their time and energy to establishing, continuing and adjudicating the 2007 Raven Contest in an unbiased and responsible fashion.
Questions about contest rules or procedures should be addressed to the Judge in Charge of the qualifier you are interested in entering. A listing of all JICs can be found here.
The Rules
A complete listing of the rules can be found by consulting the RCR by clicking here, and some general questions are answered in the FAQs. To get started, however, it is important that entrants read and understand the following:
1 ) There is no prohibition against formatting, including sticky caps, background or colors, or off-mainstream character use. Some judges may dislike them, however, and so you use them at your own risk.
2) Most entries are allowed, however specific qualifiers should be entered if the work you wish considered falls within their parameters. Works not falling into one of the specific qualifier categories may be entered into the general qualifier. If your work is removed because it doesn't fit the qualifier entered, you may re-enter the correct qualifier.
3) Entrants are allowed one entry per qualifier, which means you may enter a maximum of five times (this is per person, not per screen name).
4) Works entered must be of your own creation. Plagiarism, even with the author's permission, is strictly forbidden.
5) Works espousing, promoting, or otherwise praising hatred or intolerance are generally prohibited from receiving prizes or standings. For this reason, entry of these works is discouraged.
6) Entries must be in a poetic format. Short stories are prohibited.
7) The Raven Contest seeks to uncover genius in the written word. Given that, you should enter your best writing, and hold nothing back.
8) A minimum of three people per qualifier will move on to the final round. In addition, judges may assign up to twenty-three honorable mention placings (also per qualifier), winners of which will also be invited to move on to the final round.
9) The Raven Contest offers advertising consideration to those who wish to sponsor the contest. Information on sponsorship can be obtained here. Contest sponsors are prohibited from entering.
10) Questions regarding any aspect of the Raven Contest may be directed to any JIC or RavenContest@comcast.net. Issues regarding dispute resolution should be directed to that address.
11) You are not required to read all or any of the rules listed in the RCR. However, the rules pertain to judges and entrants alike, regardless of familiarity.
About this Qualifier
Entries into this qualifier should be either;
1) A work unsuitable for entry into any other Raven qualifier or;
2) A work the author would prefer to enter into this general qualifier rather than any other Raven qualifier.
Works entered into the general qualifier will not be moved to any other qualifier.
Please email RavenContest@comcast.net with any remaining questions regarding the Raven Contest.
The Raven Contest is sponsored in part by Life, DRF LLC and by the current judge pool.
Navigate the Raven! Use the Raven Navigational Portal for access to articles, contests, information and all things Raven.
Thank you for playing a part in this contest through your entry and best of luck to all participants.
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on August 1, 2007
- Rewards: Gold: 300, Silver: 100, Bronze: 50, Honorable mention: 31 people
- Final notes: The contest administration, judges and staff wish to thank all the entrants into the 2007 Raven General Qualifier.
Only the first three entries are in order relating to contest standing. The honorable mentions are in alphabetical order(1).
Those of you who have placed with an honorable mention or higher should visit http://allpoetry.com/poem/show/3256904 for instructions on what comes next.
Those of you who have not placed with an honorable mention or higher have the right to dispute your standing. You may make use of this process by sending an email to ravencontest@comcast.net in which you should declare the nature of your dispute including the reasoning behind why your standing is incorrect. Contest participants who have used the dispute resolution system in the past may still avail themselves of this process now. Please consult RCR rule 9.5 for more information on the dispute resolution process. All disputes must be submitted no later than September 1st, 2007.
On October 1st, 2007 the contest administration will launch a 2007 Raven Feedback contest which you are all invited to join. To receive an official invitation to this feedback contest simply leave your entry posted within this contest, and you will be sent a reminder message when the feedback contest launches. In the event that you desire to remove your entry please send an email to ravencontest@comcast.net requesting an invitation to the feedback contest.
The purpose of the feedback contest is to allow you a chance to let us know how we did this year, and what we can change for 2008.
After the final round of the 2007 contest year is judged the administration will release an unpublished collection of accredited works. You may elect to purchase this volume for the cost of its production, or you may download it for free in Microsoft Word format. For more information please email (you guessed it) ravencontest@comcast.net.
Thank you all for your participation. Without you we would have no quest to undertake, no journey to honor, and no path upon which to tread.
Best Wishes,
~RC Administration, Judges and Staff
1 - In the event that the alphabetical order has any errors in it, you can bet that's going to keep us up nights.
Contest Winners
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Beneath the starlit autumn sky
The wind begins to lull.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] - Error: Unable to find finalist item 2790634, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
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Snow bouncing Northern Lights enfoldby Master Anarchy 10 lines, 14 comments, on Dec 4 6:23 PM 2006. In Nordic Spirit, Wolves, Vampyre, Uberfortitude
Bronze trophy winner
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In times long gone
I sighed content• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
The candle's gonna burn out... Might as well admire it while it's still lit...• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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That oh-so-devilish look in your eye, / sends me, nobody, straight into the sky, / Your laughter, like nothing else, / save maybe angels, /by truelover 46 lines, 10 comments, on Jun 15 4:29 AM 2007. In Love, Life, Personal, Spiritual, Thoughts, Romance, Self, Teenage thinking
Honorable mention
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Observing her / like an astronomer, / distant as she is. / Wondering does she notice me / behind the glass eye. / My world, spinning. / Light headed / but heavy heart. / Held down and dizzy, / illuminat• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Echo not the spirit
Of an endless dying dream• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
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Finished, you sink back gently, / indenting your shape further / into the pillow you complained about, / seeming to drift bit by bit; away.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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O thou proud Nature
by Farshid Rezaee 76 lines, 60 comments, on Nov 27 12:42 AM 2006. In Dedication, On Art and Nature Honorable mention
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As mountain ice melts slowly in the sun
Through worn rock crevices the waters run
Tributaries begin to merge and a river is born• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
by J L Whalen 34 lines, 24 comments, on Jun 6 6:26 AM 2007. In Childrens, Family, Love, Fatherhood, Parenting Honorable mention
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Wind fills my lungs / forcing me to breathe / forcing its way through reluctantly open lips / I fly / because gravity dares not touch me / I scorn this dirt / I fly on machinations / on iron wings and gouts of f• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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Dancing between the ticks / Eluding the chimes / Never seized by the hands / I wink as time flies after me / For it shall not catch me / Ri• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Squares of reality, defined by equality of sides, / Enveloping voluminous Thoughtscape with perfect symmetry. / A bane of Bohemian harmony.by Aodes 34 lines, 47 comments, on Jun 23 12:45 AM 2007. In Thoughts, Lost in thought, Inspirational, Aodes Honorable mention
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my spider hands have cut the glass / a score of years and one / exact and smooth and gliding / etching sure and strong / now, the flesh bet• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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i'm scribed in scottish folklore
like finfolk and mermaidsby Floorboards 40 lines, 178 comments, on May 9 12:21 PM 2006. In Fantasy, Weird, Other Honorable mention
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The sequel to "Mechanos Calamitous".by Connor Blackbird 868 lines, 7 comments, on Jun 4 6:56 PM 2007. In Spiritual, Society, Nature Honorable mention
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Scented mornings become a spill of bedlam
While her soul sweeps away stagnant rainbows• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
Power of the wind, bliowing the accompniment to silver flutes that dance like blades. / Dead Death Drums pound, / Like footsteps out of timby SeaWithYourHeart 38 lines, 15 comments, on May 28 4:59 AM 2007. In Society, Pain, Life, Loss, Humanity, War, Message• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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by liltandrhyme 27 lines, 41 comments, on May 8 3:41 PM 2005. In Society• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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I dreamed that I met the Devil
In a dark and crowded bar• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
Hated I am, for giving an opinion,
For answering questions that inspire an angled mind-by lostinawe. 60 lines, 26 comments, on Mar 15 4:26 PM 2005. In Other• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
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The morning sun rose golden and beautiful.
The birds chirped and the soft wind blew.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
I feel his warm, gentle touch around me / His music unfolds the world in front of my eyes / He blows the universe and the stars through his• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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Years ago we were a team,
standing like man and wife• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
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Dusting the clouds with my wingtips, / soaring high into the dazzling light / painting the cirrus with dandelion. / Sheer unbridled freedom / pours out from the fabric of my being- / air currents stream past, / brby Zephyr Aryn 9 lines, 7 comments, on Apr 29 3:49 PM 2007. In Thoughts, Other, Nature, Flying, Birds, My own style, Contest, Freewrite• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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this euphoria, euphoric / in all meaning and retelling, / a story in its own right. / dancing star-petals blown / herethereeverywhere by warmth / and delightful lip-caresses. / it's all a stage and the actors, we:by Crawl 11 lines, 3 comments, on Jun 16 11:35 AM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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Listen to my soul
maybe you can do a better job then I do• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
I was lying in bed one morning, in that place between sleep and awake, when these words started running through my mind
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What is in my beating heart for you, / as I attempt to pen words befitting, / a woman of beauty and talent true, / to whom the words 'The Lby Cerulean Sunrise 26 lines, 26 comments, on May 1 4:42 PM 2007. In Love• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 3009346, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
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What happened to our hero's
the ones to whom we look upby Misty Melody 23 lines, 7 comments, on Jun 13 8:57 AM 2003. In Society• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
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Gold trophy winner
Entries [140]
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I was setting reading, not clearly heeding, the Bible book of Revelation, when I felt this odd sensation,
So I jumped up standing, while the Bible I w• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
The Irish Potato Famine
How to compare• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
My knees start to weaken
At the first sight of your faceby DepressedAngel 24 lines, 11 comments, on Mar 17 12:50 AM 2007. In Love, Personal, My life, Dedication• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
One of my darkest songs about redemption.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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A POEM ABOUT METH
by Poetdontknowit 23 lines, 51 comments, on Aug 26 6:27 PM 2006. In Society• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
and we wonder why we're dying...by WhenWillsCollide 47 lines, 22 comments, on Mar 21 6:13 PM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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As long as I hear your voice, I will wait.
Suicide might be the painless way, but your voice is the sweeter.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
I saw another promise / go down the drain today / another pinky swear / no longer there / I saw another smile / lost in the crowd today / a• Commented on by judge.
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space
wandering pensiveby brightraven 54 lines, 7 comments, on Jan 15 5:54 PM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
Lets keep this / Hush, Hush / Because I am about to tell you / All my thoughts on / “God”, War, and “love” / And heaven forbid / Anyone but me and you know / That god and love / Are in quotation marks• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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I hear a rapping on wood
And a jungle beat dancesby Alexander Hine 126 lines, 5 comments, on May 30 7:23 AM 2005. In Fucking drugs!• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
I know something my sister does not
While she sits there thinking he’s hot• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
by lucy sky-diamond 25 lines, 35 comments, on May 12 6:30 AM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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I found a place where / I am wanted, surrounded / by nature's calmness / with the gentle touch / of the wind. / A little play groundby The Void 0 lines, 8 comments, on May 27 2:43 AM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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thinking of what you've done / and still wondering why / i dont know why i think i want you to die / you tell me not to say things like bab• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Wearing Eyeliner, getting called fag / All black with my problems on my arm / Never coming off, waiting for the toe tag / My families here straight from the farm / Being Bi in a house of hicks / Theres not much• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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by vivela 114 lines, 88 comments, on Feb 11 9:20 AM 2007. In Contemporary• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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As a young man...
Loving women...• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
Sweet, beautiful girl, / Why do you let it consume you? / It feeds off of your soul / Eating it all the way through. / Dear, lonely girl, /by Venusbabi 13 lines, 19 comments, on May 21 7:21 PM 2007. In Eating Disorders• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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by Lady-Pegasus 19 lines, 34 comments, on Mar 20 4:03 PM 2007. In Dedication, Sad, Loss, Child's Passing, Love• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Dancing, heart pounding straight out of my chest / on wings of pure happiness / Soaring, soaring up in a bubble of joy / taking flight / Spiraling, sweeping through vistas of green and grey / blue ocean sp• Commented on by judge.
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by Elrenia 13 lines, 6 comments, on May 9 6:32 AM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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by Porcelain Princess 24 lines, 15 comments, on Apr 21 5:51 PM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Sitting under
trees whispering secrets,• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
I’s writin’ a poem for a child / a child I never did see / a child I been told is beautiful / kind that belongs in a dream / I’s writin’ a poem for a baby / one with raven black eyes / a baby taken when innoc• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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I once was a man, I had a great life, / family, friends, a beautiful wife. / A wonderful job, drove a great car, / all of that ended, one n• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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by giggety 28 lines, 6 comments, on Mar 15 5:51 PM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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I would like to write a poem• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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How do I run from this gun that's been held against my spine? It's out of sight, out of sound, out of mind, cuz I.............am a writer. / Call me fake for your sake, but my only mistake is the fact that I waited so long• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Poem I wrote while doing a little "people watching"• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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The walls are weak enough; / Come crash though like / &nbsby SoldierOfTheCross 38 lines, 3 comments, on Jun 12 11:04 AM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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I'm done with writing about you. / I'm done with believing you. / All you tell me are lies. / The way you can look at me with so much love and devotion one moment, then tear me down with a glance the next. / I'm tired• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Fallen skys / for darker nights / for clouded air / were unprepared. / / Beautiful blood / seeps into ground / while death who's with us / makes not a sound. / / The blissful nigby Fallen Archangel 113 lines, 2 comments, on Apr 24 4:31 PM 2007. In other• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Earth’s surface is broken / By the lilac bush / And it’s beautiful because / It reminds me of you / You were broken / You were ahead of your time / You were stuck in it, too / You were the brightest star in• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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by ImprintedAFTERMATH 8 lines, 6 comments, on Jan 20 1:02 PM 2005. In Other• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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The wind blows through the tress,
the ever fluttering, curling leaves-by find a dream 16 lines, 7 comments, on Aug 4 6:11 PM 2006. In Nature• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
I fight with heart, but without hope.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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These instruments of torture
Keep on influencing lies,• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
You know the theme song from the TV show? Not like this one you don't.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
Add a comment
Comments
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as it tries to fit into my brain.... i have to shurg and call "bookmarked"
thanks for hosting -
If you move on to the next round, will your same piece move on or will you be required/able to write a different one for that round? If it is to be the same piece, is there any time (such as inbetween rounds) which you could edit your poem?
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when will judgeing be ready
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In keeping with the contest structure as outlined above judging will be completed by July 1st, 2007. The final round of the contest will commence on the same date.
Thank you for your participation in contest year 2007.
~RC Admin
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thank you so much for the hm in this section of this inspiring contest ... I feel truly honored to be allowed to take part in this adventure ...
maa -
Thank-you so much for the Honorable Mention
Congrats to all of the finalists... cant wait to venture into the next part. Thanks for a great contests.
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