What's our next poetry contest?

[poetinahat]

So, I've been frequenting this used bookstore lately, enriching my library with other folks' cast-off gems. And I've been thinking that we haven't had a poetry contest in a long while.

I'm looking for ideas for the next one. Anything come to mind? I'm keen to give away a few books.

ETA: Past contests have included:
- Valentine's Day
- Mother's Day
- Christmas
- Anti-Christmas
- Odes to Poets

We haven't imposed form requirements up to now. I've wondered whether people would go for, say, a sonnet contest. Anyway, have at it!

[P.H.Delarran]

What a coincidence. I was just today thinking that it was time for another contest. (And that I could maybe finally enter one ;) )
I also think maybe the entrants should contribute something towards the prize... would a small entrance fee be a do-able thing? Seems like a burden to expect the host/moderator to always bear the cost of the prizes.
As for a theme, I'm thinking lately alot about the unrest in the world. Wars and economic instability and natural disasters and distrust of politicians and weirdos claiming to be both Christ and anti-christ and teen angst and all that stuff that makes me wish I was nine where chaos didn't exsist and I was secure in my world again.
I don't know how to sum all that up into a simple theme, but surely it would be a doozie of a contest.
An anti-chaos theme?

[poetprncess]

Hmmmm, how about a dualing views - Some members at my home site write poems that emphasize a contrasting or opposite point of view. It's too late for me to get permission right now to post an example, but here is a link ... Like this one - Mrs Hobbit (http://forums.mosaicmusings.net/index.php?s=&showtopic=10998&view=findpost&p=100837)or Lover's Meet Again (http://forums.mosaicmusings.net/index.php?s=&showtopic=10983&view=findpost&p=100743)



It could be 2 stanzas,
the first presenting 1 point of view, the 2nd the other-
although any form, including free verse would be used,
each stanza should probably mirror the other, and be a contrast of the other ...
a quick example

Dog:

You're always sleeping in my spot
as lazy as can be,
I cannot fathom such a lot
still you own the family....


Cat:
I can't believe you took my spot
this isn't how it should be
you jump and play, you drool a lot-
you stole away my family.


Or Free verse ...

Grandpa:
I use to walk ten miles
up hill, when I was young
and didn't own a pair of shoes
without any holes...

Grandson ...

I can't believe you made me walk two miles,
how cruel, don't you realize I am too young
and I was wearing my new shoes ...
ah, all your stories have holes...



Ok it's a poor examples...

Anyway ... it's an idea!

Best Regards, Liz

[Paint]

Halloween?

[davids]

Gay rights in Texas

[talkwrite]

Gay rights in Texas
Puhleeze....oh crusty one.
I like the contrasting viewpoints idea.
To add to the pot, if I may, this may be a silly suggestion but I have been creating personalized rhyming telephone answering machine messages for myself and friends. They have to be short, reflect the place or persons you are calling and mine always make a comment about solicitors. A radio station and a newlywed couple have asked for their own. Maybe we could find a company or business that would be the judge and the recipient and they could pay prize money ?
Just a thought.

[poetprncess]

Puhleeze....oh crusty one.
I like the contrasting viewpoints idea.
To add to the pot, if I may, this may be a silly suggestion but I have been creating personalized rhyming telephone answering machine messages for myself and friends. They have to be short, reflect the place or persons you are calling and mine always make a comment about solicitors. A radio station and a newlywed couple have asked for their own. Maybe we could find a company or business that would be the judge and the recipient and they could pay prize money ?
Just a thought.


This is quite creative! ;)

[kdnxdr]

How about some instructional poetry that covers the basics? That might not be exciting to the more mature and established poets here in AW but I think a project like that would be very helpful to myself and others.

In the book, Three Genres:Writing of Poetry, Fiction and Drama, author/teacher Stephen Minot progressively lays out the devices used in poetry.

An example for a contest:

Write four stanzas using alliteration, assonance,consonance and onomatopoeia applied in each successive stanza; one device per stanza.

Through a project like this, we would create a great resource for aspiring poets.

kid

[TurkeyLurkey]

Or we could do a poem that reads like a personal ad.

Single white male,
Loves long, solitary walks,
Enjoys cuddling,
And seafood.
No dogs please.
-Mr. Furball

(ok, not the best example, but you get my drift.)

[poetinahat]

Keep them coming -- I'm enjoying this!

Halloween?

Yeah, Paint... maybe two contests -- one for All Saints, and one for All Souls?

[ddgryphon]

Keep them coming -- I'm enjoying this!



Yeah, Paint... maybe two contests -- one for All Saints, and one for All Souls?


YES!

[talkwrite]

How about some instructional poetry that covers the basics? That might not be exciting to the more mature and established poets here in AW but I think a project like that would be very helpful to myself and others.



I would enjoy regular exercises like this. I don't mean to give our kindly moderator extra work.
The online dating community would probably love our help. That would mean more advertisers for Mac and AW and then maybe the different sites could offer a prize.
I think advertising is enhanced with poetry or prose.

[Stew21]

all saints and all souls.
I like the large lattitude there.

I think that sounds like a good one!

[dobiwon]

How about
"Time or Lack Thereof"
"Wasted Youth"
"Through the Eyes of History"

[davids]

Debuque or bust-or how I found faith in Lincoln Nebraska-written in tri-spondent Chevrolets

[P.H.Delarran]

I'm liking the All Saints and All Souls idea.
And I second the suggestion to have a longer submission time. Three weeks or more works for me.

[tinasamuels]

So, I've been frequenting this used bookstore lately, enriching my library with other folks' cast-off gems. And I've been thinking that we haven't had a poetry contest in a long while.

I'm looking for ideas for the next one. Anything come to mind? I'm keen to give away a few books.

ETA: Past contests have included:
- Valentine's Day
- Mother's Day
- Christmas
- Anti-Christmas
- Odes to Poets

We haven't imposed form requirements up to now. I've wondered whether people would go for, say, a sonnet contest. Anyway, have at it!


Ode to Fruit

What's That Smell?

Ode to Tina in Honour of Said Lovely's Birthday (You'll have until 9-29 for THOSE entries;) )

[rubarbb]

Requirements...free form, anything goes, give us all a chance.

Subject...skylines

[davids]

Requirements...free form, anything goes, give us all a chance.

Subject...skylines

Prose-etry anyone? Yes I am being silly it is the first marginally serious answer I could come up with-Cheese wiseackers!

I forgot my topic would be tits and bums!

[Little Red Barn]

Requirements...free form, anything goes, give us all a chance.

Subject...skylines
:raise hand: I'd like to come too-but I don't understand your rules... can we do free verse, I have a poem waiting for that?...locked in critter room :D

[ddgryphon]

How about Synchronicity? You know the one by the Police where two unrelated events build a fearful symmetry and some resonance between them. Something like that would be most challenging.

[talkwrite]

:raise hand: I'd like to come too-but I don't understand your rules... can we do free verse, I have a poem waiting for that?...locked in critter room :D

No one told me the rules....

[CurtisPutnam]

How about a Double POV piece where we each get to write on a topic from perspective of a Woman and a Man? Should be a real challenge for us guys who are supposed to be mind-readers.

[mkcbunny]

I like the double-perspective idea, whether it's woman-man, cat-dog, saints-souls [Damn, all my ideas have been used up!]. Fall has various options, generally dour and solemn. I prefer theme-based ideas vs. format-based contests, because I think that opens the field to more participants.

[P.H.Delarran]

I like the double-perspective idea, whether it's woman-man, cat-dog, saints-souls [Damn, all my ideas have been used up!]. Fall has various options, generally dour and solemn. I prefer theme-based ideas vs. format-based contests, because I think that opens the field to more participants.
oooh yes, theme: VS
or, Ying Yang
or, Opposites Excite (attract-etc...)


(ok folks..if you haven't noticed, i'll agree with anything)

[poetinahat]

I think there are two contests coming up now:

1) Opposites -- presenting two different approaches to the same topic. All Saints/All Souls, Male/Female, etc. Possible approaches:
- point/counterpoint, like Cat Stevens' "Father and Son"
- same situation, different points of view, like William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury
- Parallel poems, akin to William Blake's concepts of Innocence and Experience

I'm inclined to think there are umpteen ways that you could approach such an assignment.

2) The Poets' Graveyard: Epigrams for Epitaphs -- this idea came to me from Norman D Gutter's recent poem, Oxymoron No. 1 (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75607).

Another example is on the gravestone (http://ajnordley.com/England/Winchester/Thetcher.jpg) of English soldier Thomas Thetcher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Thetcher):

Here sleeps in peace a Hampshire Grenadier
Who caught his death by drinking cold small Beer.
Soldiers be wise from his untimely fall,
And when ye're hot drink strong or none at all.

[eta: Alternate ending: An Honest Soldier never is forgot/Whether he die by Musket or by Pot.]

I think we've got a couple of good ones.

[talkwrite]

Reading this message
line by line
Brought a tingle of excitement
up my spine.

[P.H.Delarran]

I think there are two contests coming up now:

1) Opposites -- ...

2) The Poets' Graveyard: Epigrams for Epitaphs -- ...
I think we've got a couple of good ones.

Both should be very interesting.
What kind of schedule?
Maybe mid-October could be the overlap of the two?

[rhymegirl]

How about funny poems? Witty poems?

I'm rather fond of limericks.

[KTC]

I hate funny.

[KTC]

1) Opposites 2) The Poets' Graveyard: Epigrams for Epitaphs

I like.

[rhymegirl]

My poem is gonna be about KTC. hee hee hee

[KTC]

nasty girl.

[Stew21]

I like.


me too!

[Magdalen]

I do not contest your suggestion of a contest. I'm not opposed to opposites and I'd love to write my own epitaph, or die trying. Let's get it on, baby!!!

[mkcbunny]

fantastic.

[rhymegirl]

Let's have a contest. I'll take any kind of contest. I LOVE contests.

Please, Rob, Mr. Poetinahat? We've been good. Well, sort of...

[rhymegirl]

nasty girl.

I am not nasty.
Why you made me a foot rubber, I'll never know.

[talkwrite]

I think Poetinahat is poettakinganap. Can we gently, softy, sweetly wake him up? Or maybe the opposite?

[KTC]

A lot of work actually goes into these contests. I'm sure Rob is waiting for a time where it would be more conducive to his schedule.

[rhymegirl]

A lot of work actually goes into these contests. I'm sure Rob is waiting for a time where it would be more conducive to his schedule.

Oh yeah? What did ya get for your birthday?

[ddgryphon]

Talk like a pirate poetry!

[mkcbunny]

There was an old pirate from Yaaaaargh
Bedded wenches in ports wide and far
When asked by his mum
To give up his rum
Said, "I'd rather be dead in a bar."

Come on, say it with me now, "Yaaaaargh!"
Now, didn't that feel good to let it all out?

[P.H.Delarran]

Yaaaaargh!

[poetinahat]

Talk like a pirate poetry!

Arrrrrr! That be a bloody good idee, Jim lad! Bein' as Talk Like A Pirate Day is this week, ye might be right!

There was an old pirate from Yaaaaargh
Bedded wenches in ports wide and far
When asked by his mum
To give up his rum
Said, "I'd rather be dead in a bar."

Come on, say it with me now, "Yaaaaargh!"
Now, didn't that feel good to let it all out?
:Hail:

[Little Red Barn]

Ok, I'll watch and learn--maybe next year :D

[rhymegirl]

contest contest contest contest contest contest contest contest contest

contest contest contest contest contet contest contest contest contest


Do you think that's enough of a hint?

[poetinahat]

Heh... did you say something, Kathy?

Sorry, I just haven't had as much time to be here recently. I'll have the contest announcements up this week.

For the Epitaphs contest, you'll have about four weeks to write and two weeks to vote, which will bring us to a Halloween announcement.

For the Opposites contest, you'll have longer. I think that one should result in a mid-November announcement.

That leaves us time for the Festive Season contest in November/December.

Back soon!

[rhymegirl]

Heh... did you say something, Kathy?

Sorry, I just haven't had as much time to be here recently. I'll have the contest announcements up this week.

For the Epitaphs contest, you'll have about four weeks to write and two weeks to vote, which will bring us to a Halloween announcement.

For the Opposites contest, you'll have longer. I think that one should result in a mid-November announcement.

That leaves us time for the Festive Season contest in November/December.

Back soon!


Excellent! Thank you, Rob.

[P.H.Delarran]

Sounds like great timing-thanks for all the advanced warning.
(guess there's no excuse this time :tongue )

[poetprncess]

Where are the contests and requirements posted once set in motion? ... :)

thanks - Liz

[poetinahat]

I'll start threads for them here, and I'll post announcements.

Don't worry, Liz; I'll make 'em hard to miss. I can be pretty annoying when I set my mind to it.

[jst5150]

Just spitballin' a bit here, but, Rob, how about an October Contest? It could be themed "The Leaves are Changing" and could feature any of the following elements:

The World Series
Summer's change to Fall (or, in the southern hem, the opposite)
Halloween (of course)
And so on.

I believe I've got a prize or two to offer up as well. Give it an Oct. 15 deadline with winners released Oct. 31. I'd be happy to help administrate it.

jt

[mkcbunny]

I'll start threads for them here, and I'll post announcements.

Don't worry, Liz; I'll make 'em hard to miss. I can be pretty annoying when I set my mind to it.
Please, no multi-hued, waving smileys. LOL.

[Writer???]

Please, no multi-hued, waving smileys. LOL.

Great, now you've gone and give him ideas. :D

[Teena]

I'm still "ignernt" of how things work here...i.e. I'm lost!... and (unlike some men) I'm not afraid to ask for directions. I have a poem ready for the 'opposites' or 'dual perspectives' or whatever it is contest. How, when, where do I post it?

[poetinahat]

Watch this space. Contest announcements will be up in an hour or two.

[Teena]

Very cool - thanks. I'm all a'twitter to make my first submission to y'all (...and a teensy bit nervous.) :snoopy:
Teena
____________________
For the ‘Shining Times’
Fruitful plains and buffalo
Native peoples yearn

[mkcbunny]

Watch this space. Contest announcements will be up in an hour or two.
Oh, OK, be all fancy with your opposite-side-of-the-planet time zone. I'm going to bed; you're getting off work, a day in my future, ready for a poetry-night rumble. Fine, Mr. Fancy-I'm-Awake pants.

[poetinahat]

Just spitballin' a bit here, but, Rob, how about an October Contest? It could be themed "The Leaves are Changing" and could feature any of the following elements:

The World Series
Summer's change to Fall (or, in the southern hem, the opposite)
Halloween (of course)
And so on.

I believe I've got a prize or two to offer up as well. Give it an Oct. 15 deadline with winners released Oct. 31. I'd be happy to help administrate it.

jt
Jason, that's an excellent idea.

We'd kind of decided on these other two ideas already, but how about organising this one to culminate on Thanksgiving?

[jst5150]

I'd love to , Rob. Let's Pm the details. Thanks!

jt

[kdnxdr]

you guys are SO cool!

[Writer???]

"Mr. Fancy-I'm awake-Pants." ROFLOL. I'm still laughing at that. But really, from someone named "mkcbunny bufflehead"???? You must have some BIG hairy bunny balls!

Oh BTW Mr. Fancy-I'm awake-Pants. I am watching that space as you told me to. No one has tried to do anything there yet. It's as clean and tidy as you left it sir.