I received this from someone else. I will not vouch for the truth of
anything it says, but given our recent discussion of contests and the
reference to foetry.com I thought you might all be interested in reading
this:
Richard
There have been several responses to my e-mail this morning regarding
>> the latest on the Poetry contest shenanigans and lamenting the demise of
>> the University of Georgia Contemporary Poetry Series.
>>
>> I think it is helpful to remember the series of events related to
>> Georgia. The University of Georgia is a public university funded by the
>> state and tax dollars. The Press has received National Endowment money
>> (taxpayer money) to fund the poetry series. Bin Ramke was Director for
>> 22 years. Suspecting the conflicts that eventually were revealed a
>> request was made to the press for a list of the anonymous judges. The
>> request was denied. An Open Records Act request was made and Georgia was
>> forced to yield the list and correspondence related to judging. Ramke
>> named judges regularly from the Iowa Writers Workshop and in return was
>> published on three different occasions (if not more) by the University
>> of Iowa Press and another University of Iowa imprint, Kuhl House. Ramke
>> regularly appointed as judges (all the judges were secret and thus this
>> was hidden from view) individuals who then selected their friends,
>> former students and lovers as "winners" of the poetry competition. As
>> the same time two things were happening: 1.) writers were sending in
>> money (between $15,000-$25,000 annually) to the Georgia series; 2.) a
>> large truck from a recycling firm would show up at Georgia to recycle
>> the unread manuscripts of the entrants. Ramke notes in one letter
>> released under the Open Records Act that he has only screened half the
>> entries when he reaches out and solicits to be a "winner" of the
>> competition Peter Sacks of Harvard (Jorie Graham's soon to be husband
>> and English Department colleague -remember now that Graham is the judge
>> for that year). To add insult to injury Ramke never asked Sacks to pay
>> the $25 entry fee!!!!!
>>
>> This is one example of many at the Georgia Series. The conservative
>> estimate that we have of the monies taken in at Georgia for the poetry
>> contest over the years is $250,000. We assume most of the manuscripts
>> were discarded unread. There was no need for a judge to read them since
>> their pick was preordained. Jorie Graham read only one manuscript in the
>> year she was the judge: Peter Sacks. The entry fee checks were still
>> removed and deposited by the University of Georgia Press.
>>
>> What this has done is create a false literary history, a series of
>> winners who never actually competed (the game was never played, the
>> troops never got off the ship, etc) because the rest of the entry
>> manuscripts (except for the $25 checks) were discarded. With their fake
>> winning book, newly minted MFA (Iowa, Iowa!!) and a prize winning
>> selection by the celebrity judges the "winner" was granted most favored
>> status in the literary community. If only in most instances the actual
>> poetry of the "winner" lived up to that lofty status. And as scrutiny
>> has fallen on other contests, the same pattern is repeated. What was so
>> interesting about Ramke is that he had a systematic way of empire
>> building - of building up a series of obligations, staking out
>> territory, of expanding his literary reputation at the expense of the
>> unknown writers with their $25 checks.
>>
>> *********************************
>> The University of Georgia Press Contemporary Poetry Series judging
>> conflicts have been documented in numerous stories throughout the United
>> States, United Kingdom, Israel and this morning in Australia at: The
>> Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, The Oregonian, The Portland Tribune, The
>> Detroit News, The Daily Iowan, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The
>> Guardian (UK), In Higher Education.com <http://education.com/> , The Los
Angeles Times,
>> Mobylives.com <http://mobylives.com/> , The Providence Journal, The San
Francisco Chronicle.
>>
>> The fallout has been swift:
>>
>> After twenty-two years as director, Bin Ramke has resigned as director
>> of the University of Georgia Contemporary Poetry Series.
>>
>> Jorie Graham, Boylston Professor Endowed Chair, Harvard University will
>> no longer judge literary contests.
>>
>> The University of Georgia just announced it is discontinuing the
>> Contemporary Poetry Series. There will no longer be a book series or
>> annual competition.
>>
>> http://www.ugapress.uga.edu/info_aup_submitcps.html
>>
>> The Vassar Miller Prize published by the University of North Texas Press
>> charges a $20.00 fee to enter its annual competition. The Press solicits
>> entries on an annual basis. The prize is named for poet Vassar Miller,
>> called by Larry McMurtry "the only writer worth reading in Texas."
>>
>> After documenting the many conflicts in the selections of judges and
>> winners (all of whom have connections to the director or the judges) and
>> the fact that the prize has never had any Texas judges or winners and in
>> fact is not even based in Texas, the director of the series has just
>> now resigned. There will be discussions as to how to continue the
>> contest under a new director.
>>
http://www.spiralbridge.org
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