07-07-2012, 05:54 AM
People sometimes asked me "Are you a published poet?" And to cut a long story short I usually just said no, because they invariably meant has your work appeared in a poetry magazine. Mine hasn't and I have no interest in putting it forward for many reasons. But I am a betting man and the notion of winning hundreds or thousands of pounds for a few quid appeals very much. So I enter a poetry competition now and then. Last year I entered a couple of poems in the Hippocrates Prize, each got Commended and I won £100 - the first prize is £5000!
A few weeks later I'm reading The Guardian and come across an article about the competeition by Mark Lawson, who was one of the judges. In it he mentioned one of my poems by name as an example of something or other.Just a few weeks ago I received an email from someone at The British Journal of Psychiatry asking for permission to reprint my other poem in their magazine. So when folks ask me now "Are you a published poet?", I say yes but only in The Guardian and The BJP.
A few weeks later I'm reading The Guardian and come across an article about the competeition by Mark Lawson, who was one of the judges. In it he mentioned one of my poems by name as an example of something or other.Just a few weeks ago I received an email from someone at The British Journal of Psychiatry asking for permission to reprint my other poem in their magazine. So when folks ask me now "Are you a published poet?", I say yes but only in The Guardian and The BJP.
Before criticising a person, try walking a mile in their shoes. Then when you do criticise them, you're a mile away.....and you have their shoes.