What to Submit?
1 original, poem on the theme of "Contemporary Poetry"
We are all on Poetry Soup because we love poetry. However, we probably hold a lot of different beliefs about poetry.
The “Modernists” were quite proscriptive, making pronouncements such as poetry should not rhyme, not be realistic, should challenge the understanding, should be free from form and formatting expectations. However, many of their pronouncements are almost a hundred years old now! Has poetry moved from this position over the intervening century?
You may choose a neutral topic such as “sunshine” or “love” or “old age” and craft it to demonstrate your beliefs regarding contemporary poetry. Your form should match the beliefs you hold.
- Modernist – you believe or prefer poetry should not rhyme – USE FREE VERSE
or
- Classical – you like poetry to look like and sound like poetry. You love to rhyme and rhymes come into you head even when you try to write blank or free verse. – USE RHYME.
or
- Freedom – you believe that in the 2000s poets should be able to do exactly what they like. Poetry can rhyme or not rhyme, and poets can even make up words! You may enjoy exploring the short forms and Japanese poetry forms as well.– DEMONSTRATE THIS BELIEF BY MIXING FREE VERSE and RHYME.
Prizes
First Prize, Glory
Second Prize, Glory
Third Prize, Glory
Ten Honorable Mentions
Preparing Your Entry
Submit one copy of your poem online. Format your poem. Please make your entry easy to read — no illustrations or fancy fonts.
Professional Presentation:
Do not include the sponsor’s name or say “Written for the competition”. As I have mentioned before, both of these things may influence the judge’s perception. You may however, wish to include a note regarding which school of belief you are trying to demonstrate.
English Language
Poems should be in English. Poems translated from other languages are not eligible, unless you wrote both the original poem and the translation.
A Note to Poetry Contestants
You are welcome to enter this contest, whether or not you won a prize in one of my previous contests.