Constance La France Biography

TO READ CLICK ON THE + BUTTON. I am a writer of poetry I come from a family of storytellers and this has helped me in my poetry. I have been writing since I could pick up a pen. Have written in all forms and won many, many contests with my poetry.  My poetry has been featured in lots of books.  I have created my own forms that are often used by poets worldwide. And I have extensivley studied the poems of old, the writers forms, word use, punctuation, rhyming and layout.  I have taken some Writing Classes and have been told over and over, I am a born poet, something that can never be taught.  Have been part of several poetry clubs locally. I have helped poets to edit their poems and helped them to improve their presentation. My own poems are quite often sad. I write of death and grief. You could say I write "graveyard poetry." And I write about experiences in my life, to complications of the world,  and not afraid to share my soul. But, I can and do write happy if I want to, and I love to write of nature and poems on spiritual introspective themes, sometimes I even write of romance. And people who know me, will verify that I like using quotes in my poetry and I enjoy writing for contest themes on Poetry Soup. I joke that I can make any theme sad. I enjoy sponsoring my own contests on Poetry since 2008 and have sponsored hundreds and hundreds of contests. I left the site for a brief time in 2011, removing all my poetry when my Muse went missing, but, after a near death experience returned later in 2012 and just picked up where I left off. I love art, all classical music, researching all things, nature, gardening, meditation, praying, peace and tranquility.  I collect books of all kinds, dictionaries, poetry books, art, even cookbooks,  I adore vintage jewelry, colored glass, and old dishes.  I adore the creaking, moaning old building where I live with a few mice.

Ten poems that define me as a poet . . . (from thousands)

1. The Dream Lingers https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/the_dream_lingers_408612 This poem was written after a near death experience, it stills haunts me, I could hear my mother calling me.

2. Safe In My Heart Forever https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/safe_in_my_heart_forever_549494 My mother was my anchor, the wings beneath my feet and my best friend, I miss her so very much.

3. Tattered Pages https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/tattered_pages_688344 At the end of the poem, a baby born, died and I was told he was adopted, my parents lied.

4. Dad's Workshop https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/dads_workshop_714811 I wrote this poem in 1997 but only posted it when I was posting on poetrysoup- it is about Dad.

5. Beautiful Scars https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/beautiful_scars_735565 This poem gives you just a small glimpse of the pain and grief I carry with me every single day.

6. And That Comes From Within https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/and_that_comes_from_within_1127173 My health is not that good, never has been and never will be, and no money will change my outcome.

7. in my green dream https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/in_my_green_dream_762889 I love this poem, dreamy and spiritual, I am all about nature in this one, come on a green journey.

8. A Lost Feather https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/a_lost_feather_783977 This poem is very meaningful to me, it speaks of my Ojibwe roots and of my ancestors in the sky.

9. "Kindness is the Key" https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/kindness_is_the_key_848785 When awful things happen to us in life it is easy to become mean and resentful but kind is better.

10. I Write Fragments https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/i_write_fragments_1243058 This poem sums up my journey in writing, fragments, snippets that drip, drip from my pen and mostly at night.

Constance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

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2026-05-21 Ponder Contest Info

Blog Posted by Constance La France: 5/31/2026 12:24:00 PM

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Cunningham Avatar
June 1, 2026 at 9:50 PM
People who use AI are like athletes using drugs to boost their performance , they have no shame. Tom
Lane Avatar
June 2, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Sounds like a disease, Tom... recognitis. The desire to be recognized even if it means cheating using AI and/or plagiarism.
Ibeh Avatar
June 1, 2026 at 6:33 PM
I share your frustrations as a fellow sponsor/judge, Constance. I couldn't take AI-generated poems winning trophies and POTD honors. It's so unfair and annoying. It takes forever to finalize a contest now because you check and recheck every single poem submitted for AI.
Lane Avatar
June 1, 2026 at 4:44 AM
The dastardly people who use AI to write for contests and then bask in the unearned glory when they receive a placement is pathetic. I find it intolerable that you, Constance and other sponsors have to waste your time trying to prove it. But I admire your tenacity and determination not to allow them to get away with it.
Lane Avatar
June 2, 2026 at 9:57 AM
I get that, Suzette. Lately it seems the problem is contests run by sponsors who require a certain form who do not adhere to that form's specific requirements. It's been the fault of those limiting entries to Limericks and now the Haiku form by awarding the top winner who did not use the proper syllable count. I had no entry, so it's not with sour grapes or a temper tantrum that I observed this. It really dilutes the purity of the poetic forms.
Richards Avatar
June 2, 2026 at 3:39 AM
Lin, I'm more inclined to NOT write for sponsors who proudly declare that they never use AI to generate poetry - even for own use. How will they ever learn to recognise AI-generated work? A good friend on here gave me the timely advice when the AI craze was still in its infancy to generated a couple of example poems for each contest I run to get my eye in with respect how AI interprets each prompt. I don't enter contests with AI poems, but will use it for the sake of expedience in blogs or articles - duly identified as such.
Lane Avatar
June 1, 2026 at 7:26 AM
I doubt they'd stop at first, Tania, but perhaps the lack of recognition would not give them the reason to continue. I've stopped writing for so many sponsors who just don't seem to care, despite knowing of those who are using AI and plagiarism. I find no fault with you for not wanting to be bothered with hosting contests.
Kitchin Avatar
June 1, 2026 at 7:20 AM
I agree, I think I may take a break from sponsoring contests. It's getting to be more of a headache. If there were no contests would the dishonesty stop? I often wonder.
Jones Avatar
June 1, 2026 at 3:15 AM
I don’t use AI and usually rhyme so hopefully I wasn’t flagged in error. I understand your frustration with AI and hopefully poets aren’t suffering erroneously who don’t use AI.
Jones Avatar
June 9, 2026 at 12:50 AM
I’m glad Constance!
La France Avatar
June 1, 2026 at 3:59 AM
Karen, I have never found any AI in your poems entered in my contest ~
Kitchin Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Constance, you have to be careful with the AI detectors. I just checked my poem and one site shows 89% and another shows 0%. I checked with a third one and it took out one part of a sentence and said it is AI. I can assure you that my poetry is 100% my own words and creation. I am not sure of the validity of these sites.
Richards Avatar
June 1, 2026 at 4:25 AM
AI Checkers are notoriously inaccurate. Then there are the bright sparks who deliberately insert spelling and/or grammar mistakes as no self-respecting AI would make those errors - resulting in false negatives.
Kitchin Avatar
June 1, 2026 at 3:23 AM
Constance, that makes sense. It's sad that we have to resort to these tools due to dishonest poets. There are still some who plagiarize by stealing lines from poems to make their poems.
Dietrich Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Tania. I remember one AI checker I used kept putting me at almost 100% every time. Then they ask me to pay to humanize my poems. What a scam. Phrasely I was finding to be fairly good . It never put my poems over 10% so I assume everyone is gonna score at least a small percent for AI. But in my recently judged contest I was really astonished that half the entries were over 50% with that same one that put me low. It had not shown poems that high in my last contest , so I just don't get it! Ayyy.
La France Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Tania, I know you would never use AI and I agree the detectors are not totally dependable by themselves, but by using 8 like I do, I get a fair look at what is going on with the poem. For example if 5 say 100% AI, and 2 say 50% and 1 says 0% .. I am calling that poem 100% AI.
Richards Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 2:46 PM
I find your comment about using AI to correct grammar and punctuation interesting, Constance. Long before the event of ChatGPT, I have been using Grammarly.com to aid in writing (not only poetry). Without it I might as well close my account as you now say that it is AI. I don't see it as any different to using a physical dictionary, for instance - just faster. Or autocorrect, especially spelling. Maybe I'm the only person on this site with dyslexia who needs writing aiids.
Richards Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Summary: Using AI for grammar, spelling and punctuation is no different from using Microsoft Word’s grammar and spell check, Grammarly.com, an online dictionary, or a printed reference. It will not show up in AI detectors as ‘AI-generated’. However, if you use AI-powered rewriting or paraphrasing features, those CAN trigger AI detectors, and false positives sometimes occur. I'm looking forward to the day when we must pay to use AI. Real poets will be able to reclaim their art.
Richards Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 10:50 PM
I'm glad to know Grammarly has the all clear. You had me worried there for a minute. Thank you for indulging my curiosity, Constance. Every word of that poem is my creation, except some of the punctuation which Grammarly automatically corrected as I posted it on the submission page. It automatically corrects my e-mails as well - without that app I would be lost. Thanks, again :)
La France Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Suzette, I do not consider using the dictionary, or the Grammar Checker on PS, or even Grammarly to check some grammar as anything close to using AI, as poets we use tools to help us write except AI is not one I approve of. Others may feel different.
La France Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Suzette, I used eight detectors and got 17%, 8%, 7.8%, 99%, 0% ,4%, 0%, 0% so in this case I would ignore the 99% and the poem would be judged in the contest.
Richards Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 3:02 PM
As a test in real time: Would you please run my poem, Just Desserts, through your AI Checkers and post the results here. I'm very curious. Also, my Suzette Prime poems score at least 15%, even before the event of AI, so I have to rely on other AI markers for those contest entries.
Dietrich Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 1:57 PM
I am glad to hear you use a number of AI checkers. I have seen some that are super unreliable. The one I was using - I felt it was reliable, but now it won't let me back on. It wants my email and email password. I just don't get it. Other people do so well with these AI checkers. I can't even find ones that are easy to get onto! It is too bad a few individuals spoil it for the many who are authentic poets. The world is being destroyed by AI and I am sickened by it. Wait until people lose their cushy white collar jobs. This is where we are headed.
La France Avatar
June 1, 2026 at 3:32 AM
Andrea, leave Phrasily for a few days and go back to it and it will let you in, it has a quota of how many free detections per day you can have, have some backups like Gpzero, or Originality and many others.. one is unreliable, together they are strong, that's only my opinion of course ~
Dietrich Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Ok. Thanks.
La France Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Andrea, there are tons of free AI detectors on line... some of them are very good, send me a soup mail
Dietrich Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 2:21 PM
a sad sad world. I will not pay for an AI checker. Guess I am on my own
La France Avatar
May 31, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Andrea, the Ai Detector site wants you to join as a paid member, if you like the site that might not be a bad idea. Otherwise check out other sites. I agree with AI is taking over in all aspects of life and business. Oh yes, people will be losing jobs. Jobs will just disappear from factory work to offices and government jobs , gone ~

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