Hi grassy, Sally, Sue, Helen, (& all who're reading this thread)
I've read the posts with interest and wanted to chip in earlier - but hadn't 
the time or quiet opportunity to do so.
So, some brief splutters of thought...
1. In The UK, the Bridport, along with the National, the Peterloo and the 
Cardiff have always been seen as the top Competitions to win. They're the 
ones the been-there-a-long-time established publishers notice. It's one that 
opens doors (not just at the bank!). At one time, along with many other 
poets who wanted to shout out they were wriiting, we would check the dates 
and send the best "competition poems" we had to each of these Competitions 
in turn. Given a few bottles of wine or beer some of the winners would talk 
of how they planned it - there was a poetry calender. Buy me a drink or 
three and I'll tell you my tales as well!
2. I never got anywhere with any of the above Competitions tho. But I felt I 
could sense what was "a Competition Poem" and what wasn't.
3. But I always used to believe (and still do!) that if a Judge was worthy 
of judging Competitions at this level they ought to be able to read and 
savour poems of all genres/types/forms. (If you want to study the Judge's 
like and dislikes it's often better to see/read what anthologies they've 
compilled, what magazines they've had a hand in, not just what style they 
are currently publishing with). Ha!, I remember chatting to Selima Hill 
sometime after she'd judged the Bridport and she said she was fed up with 
poems that were trying to imitate her style: "I was looking for poems, not 
pastiches, parodies!" she said.
4. I've won a fair few competitions in my time (I'm not bragging here, just 
introducing what I want to say next) and it seems fair to say that the 
bestest, fairest, competition is the one you win (and almost everyone else 
who seriously thought they stood a chance of winning probably entertains the 
thought that they could have won if the winner hadn't entered!).
5. And, finally, back to the Bridport Competition, which over the years has 
been an entry-form and stamped-addressed-envelope competition, it might be 
that they're still sorting out how to change to a world where many poets use 
the Web more than the postal service. (Their anthology does seem rather 
expensive...)
Bob


>From: Sally Evans <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Pennine Poetry Works <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: OT - Poetry competitions-THE JUDGE (for Sue)
>Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 00:12:02 +0000
>
>Interesting site. Grassy. I thought the judges' reports showed what I have
>heard elsewhere: poets scheming to win such competitions should take into
>account the poetics of the particular judges.
>
>bw
>SallyE
>
>on 15/12/03 11:10 pm, grasshopper at [log in to unmask]
>wrote:
>
> > Dear Sue,
> > You asked about the judge of this contest -follow this link for the 
>judge's
> > report:
> > http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/poetryreport.htm
> >
> > Kind regards,
> > grasshopper
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Sue Scalf" <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 9:27 PM
> > Subject: Re: [THE-WORKS] OT - Poetry competitions-THE WINNING POEM
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 12/14/2003 5:15:41 PM Central Standard Time,
> > [log in to unmask] writes:
> >
> > << Well,
> >
> > with a little research, I've found the poem that won the £3,000 first 
>prize
> > in the Bridport comp. Here's a link:
> >
> > http://www.geocities.com/sheenaghpugh/poems.html
> > -scroll down to :Chocolate from the Famine Museum
> >
> > Mmmm, proves to me yet again just how subjective judging poetry is....
> > Kind regards,
> > grasshopper >> I read the poem.  It would be interesting to know who the
> > judge was.  Sue

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