In Recognition Of NPM, How About A Poetry Contest?

[NobodyNothing]

Actually I'll happily take responsibility for the "no contest" vibe since I'm probably the most vocal opponent and I always kill it off when the mods suggest it. It's partly because I'm evil and no fun at all, but largely because winners of contests are chosen so arbitrarily. There might be 42 poems of equal skill, showcasing equal facility with form, function and creativity, but one will stand out to the judge(s) purely based on preference. A judge who prefers free verse will rarely choose a sonnet; a formalist judge will be less likely to accept a beat-style poem. And a judge with less experience in reading and writing poetry will not always recognise skill, but will go with gut feeling.

However, may I add my thanks for the offer. There is nothing more heartwarming than people showing such acceptance of the site that they're willing to put something so substantial back, and we greatly appreciate it. It's just that here, the only currency we really think of as important is time.

Of course, all valid points in regards to the judging of such things. I was definitely aware of them. But I've found you can't get around such biases, even in the minds of the judges of our national poetry awards. I was just thinking in terms of aggregate incentive and reward amongst any participants, rather than merely the one-winner-thing.

But that's neither here nor there, and I'm certainly not in the least put-off by the lack of interest in such an idea. Just blame it all on a sudden quantum fluctuation in my grey matter.

As for the money thing, I just added that in after reading Milo's post in which he said that he'd sell all his poetry for a $100.00 dollar gift certificate at Amazon. The money thing came up in that thread in regards to poetry, and I thought to myself "okay, well here it is" (as meager as the winning sum might be.)

Anyway...all in fun.