My "Tooth Telling" Chosen as a Writer's Digest Contest Finalist
I have mixed feelings about poetry contests. Composer Béla Bartók said "Competitions are for horses, not artists." But at the same time, I do see good in them. In 11th grade I won a Lorain County students poetry contest in which I had no idea my Midview High School creative writing teacher Ned Lyons had entered me. I won 20 bucks - but the artistic self esteem it gave me was more valuable and lasted a lot longer. I might not consider myself a poet at all today if not for that contest.
On a whim I recently broke my no-contest rule and sent about five itty-bitty poems to a "Red Heart :: Black Heart" poetry contest sponsored by Writer's Digest, not really expecting anything to come of it. And they wound up choosing my "Tooth Telling" as one of 46 finalists overall (one of only 10 finalists in their "Red Heart" category) — which means they'll be including my poem in an upcoming collection. I wanna dislike such contests - but it's hard to do it when they choose me as a winner of sorts.
Here's a link to their list of all the finalists: http://writersdigest.com/article/redheart-blackheart-finalists/.
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I still haven't totally recovered from getting home at 3 a.m. (WAY past my bedtime) after a good poetry reading in Toledo last night. So I'll finish my Sandusky reflections tomorrow or the next day - and finish the video I shot last night (of poets Dan Provost, C. Allen Rearick, and a few of the open mic performers) as soon as I have a big chunk of uninterrupted time to do so.
Thanks for your friendship and support!
Peace and poetry,
John
I entered a poetry contest once. I think it cost me $20.00 to have my winning poem included on a cassette & read by some over-dramatic out-of-work actor. I basked in the glow of hearing my poem read by someone of such fine distinction until I played it for my friends & I'm still not hearing the end of it! Bastards!!!!!
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Haha... I enjoyed your story. Goin' on 20 years ago, I entered a some cheesy so-called poetry "contest" and ended up having to pay 40-some bucks to see my poem in some "anthology." They apparently used every poem they were sent by anyone who was willing to fork over the 40-plus. Maybe I should have gotten the cassette instead and saved half my money.
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John, you are the Man!!!! wish i was back in toledo!!!
Peace out Munchie
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Thanks, bro! If you're ever around the area, give me a shout.
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I think that's awesome and I celebrate your win. Good for you!!
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Thank you very much, Neve!
I want to congratulate you on your novel as well. Best of luck with your event this Valentine's Day!
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Grats! So, do ya subscribe to Writer's Digest? Find it worthwhile? Or did you just find out about the contest by other means?
On a similar note, can you recommend any good books about writing (poetry mainly but in general)?
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I do not subscribe to it, but I often get a friend's secondhand copies. My aunt got me a gift subscription for a while around the late 90s. Frankly, as far as my interests and ambitions go, Writer's Digest doesn't usually offer a lot that I find useful or that engages my attention. Whether I find something in it worthwhile for me depends on which issue I'm perusing. For example, the October 2008 issue has a very good section on landing an agent. Generally, in the magazine I find good information for what I mean to do with my memoirs/book, but not much for what I mean to do with poetry.
A couple books I might recommend include The Poet's Companion (edited by Dorianne Laux & Kim Addonizio, both of whom have works in the Crisis Chronicles Online Library) and its "sequel," Ordinary Genius.
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I only found out about the contest and entered because a friend brought it up and coaxed me into doing so. I'm glad she did!
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Congrats!!! Ya.. now I remember that poem that was the one on your blog you said you were going to pick a winner from others people wrote to go in your library... from ones people posted. Huh...
Nice to get an entry on a shortie. I find shorties hard to do and get just right. You seem to come by them naturally. Much deserved!!
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Much appreciated, Chris! So far I chose one response to that blog to go into the Online Library: Want Ad (by Steven B. Smith). I've been meaning to go back and include a couple more one of these days.
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Thank you for pimping me, John!
See you at the Lit?
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You're welcome, Neve. We missed the Lit Cafe last month, so we'll definitely be going this time. See you there!
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the few contests i've entered have all been won by inferior friends of the judges, so i quit.
the worst face of competition i've ever seen is the poetry slams - content gets tossed for style and surface.
so basically my attitude on contests and competition is to avoid it at all costs.
the one thing i'm proudest about artcrimes is in 20 years of publication, i never rejected anyone, no matter how bad they were.
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ps - in spite of that, congratulations on your achievement. way to go.
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I like how you always keep things real - while remaining supportive.
In this case, I swear I'm not one of the inferior friends of the editors (though frankly, I felt I sent them some of my inferior poems, since the ones I consider best were already submitted elsewhere). Can't even tell you who the editors are without going to their site and looking.... But I didn't win the number one prize either... lol.
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Well, congratulations, partner! How cool! I see the compilation will be available as a free download from the WD site-- can't wait to get it!
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Thanks, Dianne! I'm glad you made me aware of the contest in the first place.
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