Hi Sarah,

I thik critiquing  comp entries for an optional extra fee is a very good
idea, partly because most "services"  offering crits are much more expensive
than £1.50. They are usually £25, which is probably just as much a rip off
aas some competitions are supposed by many people to be.

Dividing the comp into sections is interesting too, but there are pitfalls.
A poem under ten lines is not going to win a big competition on the basis
that thirty near perfect lines will get higher points than ten near perfect
lines. Really good comic poems, though I don't think they are easier to
write - they are certainly not easier to >produce< - don't seem able to be
treated on a par with good serious poems because they seem to come from
somewhere else in our emotional make-up. (Does anyone know a good comic poem
that doesnt rhyme?)

I think the main risk you run is that competitions are not the be all and
end all of poetry. Jackpots are hard on the runners up, but with more and
more smaller and smaller prizes you quickly reach a point where the poet
would get more satisfaction from a paid (bought) poem published in a
conventional way. It would belittle poetry if poets depended too much on
winning prizes. Competitions are an acceptable part of peotry to me simply
because they are an extra part. Taken too far they become a device for guest
editing - and the changing of judges does acknowledge the fact that
different good editor/writers have different preferences for poems.
Objective excellence is very slow to show itself art.

Competitions are a good way of fund raising and I think the sane thing is to
realise that is what they are and there is no such thing as a perfect
competition and you are not going to create one by proliferating categories
as if poetry was a sort of Crufts.

best wishes
SallyE

(Helena Nelson introduced me to email lists when I first started using
email. I began by plaguing her with really dip questions such as 'when and
how do you stop an email conversation?'
I still don't know the answer to thet one!)



on 17/12/03 12:20 am, Sarah Willans at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Gosh, thanks Matt. I have to announce myself as that creative writing tutor,
> and a lurker on, and occasional poster to, this forum.
> 
> Providing critiques was a useful and fascinating exercise for my group, and
> one we enjoyed very much (except in the last couple of weeks, when forty-odd
> entries requiring critiques all arrived at the same time!). The money raised
> by the competition will, as you hoped, be used to finance poetry events at
> the Plough Arts Centre (Torrington). We have recently started holding
> monthly open mike nights, will soon be producing a magazine and have several
> other poetry workshops and performances planned. We plan to make the poetry
> competition an annual event and, as a result of our experience this year,
> will be splitting entries into at least three categories in future -
> probably adding short (maybe under 10 lines?) and light/humorous verse to
> the existing open category. With sponsorship, we plan to run a free-to-enter
> competition for local schools.
> 
> The aim of the competition (as well as raising funds for poetry events at
> the Plough) is to provide encouragement and an outlet for as many poets as
> possible, and providing critiques is an important part of our strategy. We
> believe it's probably best to offer more prizes of lower value, rather than
> one big prize, to the same end. I don't want to take up too much space on
> what is primarily a forum for airing work in progress, but I would be very
> pleased to hear the views of forum members on any of the above points
> (backlist if necessary). Any advice offered will be gratefully accepted.
>