I thought I would finish back where I started with a completely free, open poetry contest - old poems, new poems, any subject, any form. This will be my last contest as my PM expires on 1st November, and it really doesn't seem like a year since I sponsored my very first contest. The main reason I became a PM was so that I could have a year's experience hosting contests, and I've done that now. I now need to spend time focusing on my health and personal life. I'm very unwell with anorexia and other health problems, so I need to focus on that for the time being. I'm also going to be busy with the editing of my sister's novel over the coming months (a mammoth job!).
I just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed sponsoring the contests over the past twelve months. It's been a really interesting experience and I've loved reading your poems, so I hope my enthusiasm has come across. On the whole, the judging experience has been a very smooth one, with just one or two people unhappy with my decisions, but hey, you can't please everybody all the time, and nobody gets it right 100% of the time! I've always endeavoured to be the fairest judge I could possibly be.
I know recently there have been a few people who have placed highly with me, never having placed in a contest of mine before, and to place those people has given me particular pleasure. I know they will be successful with their writing because they possess two vital characteristics: persistence and determination. And nothing has given me greater pleasure than uncovering some lesser known poets who are producing excellent work, but who are not as familiar to many of us, perhaps because they don't comment much, or they can't be here very often.
I thank each and every poet who has ever entered a poem into one of my contests; it truly has been a pleasure to read them all.