An Apology and Discussion on Poetry Forms

Recently I sponsored a contest (not yet judged) in which I made the mistake of instructing poets not to use Asian poetry forms. Here are my exact words: "This time, I do NOT want to see Asian forms or limericks in this contest." . I want to apologize to those who thought I was being racist. For one thing, I did not realize I had failed to specify Asian "short" forms. that was my intention, and I guess I did not write it that way. My contest was already posted as being for poems from 4 to 10 lines in length, and I had given examples of what kind of forms I wanted people to use. I didn’t think tanka or limerick, even though they contain five lines, would fit the criteria of my contest. That was my only reason for making that statement about Asian forms. I was not thinking of “style” of writing. I suppose Asian writers, Latin American writers, and writers of other continents have their own flair or style. That was not even in my mind.

Because I do not really see anything specifically “Asian” listed as forms for which we submit our poetry (other than tanka, sijo, sedoka, senryu, haiku, dodoitsu, etc.) I assumed the poets here would understand my meaning.I certainly did not intend to mean writing like an Asian might write in his own style of couplets or whatever. I usually prefer classic and modern poetry forms over free verse, which is why my contests often are based on “forms,” so again, I apologize for sounding racist if anybody else had a problem with that.

While I am on the topic, I am curious to know what kinds of forms are popular to those of you who enjoy writing in forms. Italy, for example, is famous for the Italian Sonnet. The French have forms such as Rondeau. The Japanese specifically gave us Haiku, one of my favorites. The Irish gave us Limericks! Many other forms exist within every culture and/or country. I know some poets who detest forms with repeating lines, but I am rather fond of Kyrielle, Triolet, Villanelle, and Quatern, all of which I just quickly searched to make sure they are indeed French forms. I guess I really love the French influence on poetry as well as the forms from Korea, Japan and other Asian countries. The Ghazal, one I rarely see here, is an early Arabic form I greatly enjoy.

I enjoy many modern forms that have been created within the past century. Etheree comes immediately to my mind as well as the many forms created by our own poetry community here at Soup. I don’t mind the modernization of sonnets, but I will probably always prefer the classic use of them.

So how about it? What are your personal likes and dislikes when it comes to actual poetry forms?

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