this is pretty much an open contest, with guidelines for encouraging creativity and quality, rather than proscribing a specific area to write about. to that end, not least because this is my first contest, i'm going to keep an eye on things and if you need advice about what to write, clarification about the rules, or have some suggestions for improvement, do let me know! (for example, if you have a particularly good prewritten work that you believe deserves to be entered, tell me!)
so - what are the rules / guidelines?
i don't mind how long or how short your poem is (at least half of my poems are only four lines!)
i want to see poems that hint at many things, rather than spell them out (the old english teacher's saying "show don't tell"). i love deliberate ambiguity such that there can be many meanings, even in a few lines.
i'd like to see free verse or varied rhyming schemes,
or rhyming schemes that change the tempo, and so convey much more than by sticking to one rhythm. (often, the conclusion of a poem can be made to stand out by making the last two to four lines a completely separate style: Star Dawn Rising and The Quick and The Track are just two of many).
simple two-line rhyming AA BB is ok as long as there is
something else worthwhile, or it's a specific poetic device or the poem is just... so absolutely stunning that it works and the paired-rhyming fits it (i've seen beautiful simple works like this).
i'd like to see poems where the words, when spoken (but their meaning ignored), also convey emotion purely by their meter: harsh consonants mixed across words that trip the tongue or softer words that roll together smoothly (The Hall lines 16-19 is one example)
alternatively - entirely ignore all of the above, and write something so short, simple and so beautiful that it just blows everything away (e.g. The Wings on a Song)
here's some hints at the kind of content: pick something from these categories - more than one would be great!
1) epic
2) spiritual
3) nature
4) darkness encountered - and a way out hinted at by the poem
5) poignant
6) inspiration or encouragement (e.g. Quit while you still can, slave or After the Storm)
7) life lessons: harsh, hard, funny, ironic, sarcastic (e.g. Reasons to learn Self-control on Life's Journey)
8) achieving against the odds; never giving up
9) just... wow! indescribable beauty or complete knock-out (but remember especially the "show don't tell" rule!)
regarding 4: i do _not_ want to see poems that go into great detail and bemoan absolutely everything into despair and despondency and utter pointlessness. (no soap opera plots in other words) but: butbutbut - a combination of 4 and 7 - dark life lessons - where it's abundantly obvious that the path followed is a warning to others, and should be avoided - would be great! (e.g. Dreaming of my Demise)
if you would like to enter erotic or adult poetry, please do follow the rule "show don't tell" closely: see Desire for Hope as an example.
there's no length limit; 3 stunning line haiku will go down just as well as 60 line 3-5 words-per-line rap-music lyrics.
apart from that - and the obvious (@ n0 tym shud u uZ nOnE of --++this++-- lYK) an as wel plese lurn too spel plese - the subject matter is entirely your own!
i will however keep an eye on things, see how they go; for example, if you're thinking "i can't possibly enter this contest, i haven't a clue what to write about!" then do contact me: i will give some hints, advice, suggestions etc.
enjoy!
p.s. of course you can break the rule about spelling - but it had better be for a reaally good reason (see ian bank's sci-fi book "feersum enjin" for a good reason)
so - what are the rules / guidelines?
i don't mind how long or how short your poem is (at least half of my poems are only four lines!)
i want to see poems that hint at many things, rather than spell them out (the old english teacher's saying "show don't tell"). i love deliberate ambiguity such that there can be many meanings, even in a few lines.
i'd like to see free verse or varied rhyming schemes,
or rhyming schemes that change the tempo, and so convey much more than by sticking to one rhythm. (often, the conclusion of a poem can be made to stand out by making the last two to four lines a completely separate style: Star Dawn Rising and The Quick and The Track are just two of many).
simple two-line rhyming AA BB is ok as long as there is
something else worthwhile, or it's a specific poetic device or the poem is just... so absolutely stunning that it works and the paired-rhyming fits it (i've seen beautiful simple works like this).
i'd like to see poems where the words, when spoken (but their meaning ignored), also convey emotion purely by their meter: harsh consonants mixed across words that trip the tongue or softer words that roll together smoothly (The Hall lines 16-19 is one example)
alternatively - entirely ignore all of the above, and write something so short, simple and so beautiful that it just blows everything away (e.g. The Wings on a Song)
here's some hints at the kind of content: pick something from these categories - more than one would be great!
1) epic
2) spiritual
3) nature
4) darkness encountered - and a way out hinted at by the poem
5) poignant
6) inspiration or encouragement (e.g. Quit while you still can, slave or After the Storm)
7) life lessons: harsh, hard, funny, ironic, sarcastic (e.g. Reasons to learn Self-control on Life's Journey)
8) achieving against the odds; never giving up
9) just... wow! indescribable beauty or complete knock-out (but remember especially the "show don't tell" rule!)
regarding 4: i do _not_ want to see poems that go into great detail and bemoan absolutely everything into despair and despondency and utter pointlessness. (no soap opera plots in other words) but: butbutbut - a combination of 4 and 7 - dark life lessons - where it's abundantly obvious that the path followed is a warning to others, and should be avoided - would be great! (e.g. Dreaming of my Demise)
if you would like to enter erotic or adult poetry, please do follow the rule "show don't tell" closely: see Desire for Hope as an example.
there's no length limit; 3 stunning line haiku will go down just as well as 60 line 3-5 words-per-line rap-music lyrics.
apart from that - and the obvious (@ n0 tym shud u uZ nOnE of --++this++-- lYK) an as wel plese lurn too spel plese - the subject matter is entirely your own!
i will however keep an eye on things, see how they go; for example, if you're thinking "i can't possibly enter this contest, i haven't a clue what to write about!" then do contact me: i will give some hints, advice, suggestions etc.
enjoy!
p.s. of course you can break the rule about spelling - but it had better be for a reaally good reason (see ian bank's sci-fi book "feersum enjin" for a good reason)
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on August 18, 2007
- Rewards: Gold: 600, Silver: 250, Bronze: 150, Honorable mention: 8 people
- Final notes: thank you to everyone who entered in my first contest: twenty six (!) entries most of which were in the first 48 hours. all but three i think have been entirely new works, and every person (bar one) who entered a prewrite also wrote a new poem for the contest.
therefore - inasmuch as this site is about encouraging poetry and creativity, the contest itself can be said to have 26 winners.
i created this contest because i didn't understand why some pieces - most notably mine - were winning when others weren't. as a gold member, i'm allowed to create non-anonymous contests and so i decided that i would take into account where people are coming from as well as the piece that they've written.
in that respect, the two youngest contestants absolutely had to be in the top three - not because they are the youngest but because of where they are writing from, and for their courage and simple and stark honesty.
so - thank you cesca and jilly: your expression, insightfulness and inner strength will see you through.
as for the gold entry: i cannot say that i understand why i chose this one, above all others - certainly not in a few words. i think it's because of the purity of the five haiku set, and the simplicity of the subject matter.
all the other poems, in comparison, i found disturbing, so-to-speak. i don't mean that in a detrimental way: i mean that they pulled my heart, or my emotions; they took me to places that i would otherwise never have visited, in my thoughts, and for that i am delighted and grateful.
so... i think i can explain why i picked shenton's piece like this: whilst i was delighted with the other pieces for where they took me, "A Cold Morning in Western Australia" was the only one where i would like to actually stay with the thoughts that it inspired.
in other words, it brought me peace and happiness.
almost-lastly: for the remaining 8 finalists, i increased the number of "honourable mentions" to cover you all.
lastly: if i mess this contest up after pressing the button, please forgive me and i will see if there's a way to get it fixed, by appealing to kevin's good nature!
Contest Winners
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• Commented on by judge. [remove]
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 3287214, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
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Girls today are so much different as in the past. We were are shirts so you can see what some think they have,• Commented on by judge. [remove]
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 3284806, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 3284876, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
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• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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'Tis graduation time, and it is (one prays) the end of writing and of kindred tasks;• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Lost on a long, long road,
Reaching for the stars,by Bailey Girl 38 lines, 2 comments, on Aug 10 3:19 AM 2007. In Thoughts, Life, Personal, Spiritual, Life Decisions
Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
We are clumsy, Stop-motion figures• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Piano keys fall in storms of pallid tile• Commented on by judge. [remove]
Gold trophy winner
Bronze trophy winner
Entries [22]
1 - 22 of 22
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• Commented on by judge.
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small cogs bleeding in a big wheel piston precision marking timeby myriad-dark 24 lines, 2 comments, on Aug 9 5:49 PM 2007. In Spiritual, Fantasy, Personal, Thoughts• Commented on by judge.
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All the authorities wanna take you
All the kids wanna fake you• Commented on by judge. -
Anticipation ticks in counted silence
of unspoken words.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
• Commented on by judge.
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Sometimes I hate you with so much force. I throw things and yell at nothing.by LadyFiend19 3 lines, 3 comments, on Aug 14 11:31 PM 2007. In Hate• Commented on by judge.
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Comments
1 - 27 of 27
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Bookmarked!
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oh - i was just going to write you a message encouraging you to enter
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i have a ? lol
on my poem. -
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sure - go for it - ask away!
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Would i be able to submit the one that u just commented, about girls today vs. the past?
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yes please - i really liked it. i've changed the rules temporarily (let's see what happens when i change it back...)
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okk thanks=]
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cool - that worked. i changed it back to "new only" and your poem's still there. exxxcelllent mwahahahhah
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Wonderful contest my friend, I will see what i can do..I will pass it around to my friends as well..best of luck in the entries..if you need any help let me know
AJ -
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thank you dear jewel! looks like it's gone mad overnight, already. of the pieces that i've reviewed so far, they all have something special about them; a really useful insight into society, or just... beautiful. i should have done a contest a longggg time ago
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so far....
well, i promised myself i'd let people know what's going on. the entries i've read so far have been fantastic: they all have something to say, draw the reader's attention, emotions, are funny, are indictments on society and so on.
three have been absolutely cutting on issues that bug me and it's mainly people's attitude.
jilly's piece is about girls who ask for trouble at school: their attitudes are so poor, and their parents, peers, schooling and themselves... complete lack of values, respect for self and others - i love it.
bad bill's piece highlights the value of taking opportunities to learn when they're provided, and also highlights to society not to force people to do things they don't want to (the vedic way of teaching is to let the student ask questions: that way they will be listening to the answer!).
barry's piece is again about asking for trouble; society being unable to accept and responding with violent murder, yet if the people who asked for trouble (in public) had kept themselves to themselves, one of them would still be alive.
forallofyou's piece is just... absolutely beautiful: i can feel the radiance coming off of it - that incredible encouragement when things are really down.
devotion's piece is a wonderful dedication and an encouragement to keep going, knowing that god is there with love and support.
flight's piece is funny, obtuse, and contains things that i don't understand - which is exactly what i like to see: things that are a challenge to my current knowledge and understanding.
so - so far, that i've seen, there have been wonderfully encouraging pieces and indictments of society - i'm really looking forward to reading the next pieces.
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argh! ok - i've been able to read and comment on all the entries so far. one just in, from star-girl, was particularly good - in that it's a matter-of-fact description of being treated badly, but the thing i really like is star-girl's attitude: keep going, be strong in yourself.
which brings me to four entries, so far, that i really really want to reward, and we've only being going one day!
i still have a couple of friends who are working on pieces. argh, i just landed myself with a difficult situation
so far, the entries have been absolutely worthwhile. only one qualifies as a "tell rather than show" but its simplicity redeems it. another has consistently poor spelling but it merges into and offsets the piece rather than distracts from it - mostly _because_ the misspellings are consistently there, rather than there just being one.
i'm just... really impressed and so glad that i finally chose to do this contest.
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ok - i was advised by someone i trust greatly to remove people from the finalists list until after the contest - because otherwise it could discourage others from entering.
so, well... that's what i'm doing! dear raja has far more experience than i at contests. -
Can I enter a pre-write for option 5 poignant please
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yes of course - i'll change the contest so you can enter it: message me when it's added so i can change it back.
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added thank you
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i like this contest... a lot of good examples to choose from.. yay!
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yeah, and the entries so far are a really rich and varied set, too. the examples are there to guide people rather than proscribe.
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well! the next set of poems entered seems to be taking things into a new direction, with such richness and fantasy and emotion.
beanbiscuit's piece, the scarecrow, is just epic.
jessicorpse's piece, about cannabis addiction, is making a really good... i dunno - it's hard for me to describe as i lack the words: that's my limitation as the poem itself says so much.
"within the darkness" was a piece that i invited indifference to add, because i loved it so much.
"a thousand years" by trista just lulls you into a sense of security and then knocks you sideways at the end with the depth of time...
the directions people are taking in this contest are just absolutely amazing, and i'm proud of everyone who has entered.
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hmmm... end the contest?
we have 20 entries: i'm considering ending the contest early so that people can move on. it's one of those things of a first contest: i put the length at maximum . tell you what - i'll change the deadline to tomorrow. -
ok - we've just had two more entries in, fortunately one just in from crimsondew whom i was expecting and am glad to see her entry before the modified deadline expires (tomorrow?) and one more entry which was delightful to see. barring last-minute entries, i promise i'll do the thingy. judging. tomorrow. but - you know - already, this is not so much a "contest" as an opportunity for expression, and in that, absolutely everyone wins - the quality of the works in this "contest" are just ... so good.
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oops!
well we've had a few more final entries, and i've had rather a lot of sugar this evening: i've been through the first half, re-reading them, and adding some to the finalists list, but then i realised that there were more that i hadn't even read _at all_ because this contest went _mad_ so i will get to the other poems, tomorrow.
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darlings, bear with me whilst i travel back from edinburgh (at the fringe festival) to remotest south-west scotland! i read one of the four last-minute-entered entries yesterday: am making progress...
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argh!
ok i've read the remaining 4 poems, and i'm delighted that those authors chose to enter their poems, last minute, into this contest.
ann's piece is about love - about being kissed, about feeling .... *sigh* - a symphony of emotions...
ladyfiend's piece is, by complete contrast, about things going badly wrong in people's heads: a self-delusion mixing love and hate.
josh's piece takes that same theme - poor attitude, self disrespect and self abuse - much further down the line, to so far outside of society that there isn't much further that the self pity can go.
... i seem to have lost one of my pieces, i'll refresh the page and see if i can get it back... -
argh again
just struggling with the contest finalists reordering: it's not sticking. i had to bookmark all 11 finalists, remove them all and add them all again - in the required order!
i found the one i was looking for - a tale of lurid terrene, by kerry. this poem transported me away, except for the doves, which just... had me somewhere else - i think in bladerunner, perhaps. it's just me - i know - yet these poems and contests are entirely subjective. dear kerry, i really _was_ hoping your piece would be the best - but for the disbelief over doves, i can't bring myself to do it! -
goood griiiieff ;)
well - as expected, the ordering of finalists went the shape of one or more pears, changed before my eyes after going to great lengths to set it and confirm it, resulting in the wrong people receiving trophies and points
well, i must say: this site seems to know better than i what the winners should be - which might explain some of the perplexing issues with contest winners after all!
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Thanks so much for hosting a wonderful contest. I can see you put a lot of time and energy into this. This kinda slipped from my mind after I entered, so I haven't yet had a chance to read the entries, but will definitely check out the winners.
Congrats to everyone in the top 10 and good luck!
~J.
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