Poetry Contests

Susan Richardson is a poet who blogs about her experiences with students, poets and the environment at Susan's Journal of Literary Things. She has some interesting things to say about poetry contests. She knows of them as a poet who is interested in creating a winning entry, and she knows of them as a judge. Here are a few of her comments dated November 4, 2008:

Adjudication

Spent an interesting evening last night at a meeting of Cardiff Writers' Circle, for whom I was asked to adjudicate their annual article writing competition. The group's been in existence for going-on sixty years and is made up of writers of a wide range of backgrounds and experience - last night's Chairperson, Jo Verity, for example, has a third novel coming out with Honno in January. Usually I'm on the other side of the fence, so to speak, entering poetry competitions and struggling to work out what might appeal to a particular judge (as outlined in a previous blog post and discussion). So it was fascinating to have to write a short critique on all the entries, select a winner and two runners-up, and so gain an insight into the whole adjudication process.

It's refreshing to see someone who is such a warm, kindhearted, loving human being. Visit her website and find out more about her work.

Read a review of Ms. Richardson's collection of poetry titled Creatures of the Intertidal Zone (2008) at New Hope International Review.

Read a few poems from Creatures of the Intertidal Zone online.

Buy a copy of Creatures of the Intertidal Zone from the publisher, Cinnamon Press. Once you get to the page you'll scroll down to see the book.

"It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued."
River Junction Poets Mission Statement