Written Competition Poems - When to Call it Quits?
Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 5:39 pm
Greetings All ...
I'm throwing out for discussion a topic that I often wonder about - and I guess I'm really asking for general guidance from those of you who are judges and/or seasoned written competitors.
Let me paint a hypothetical scenario - I write a poem, enter it into a written competition and receive a 3rd prize. That immediately makes it ineligible for some subsequent competitions (which disallow any placed poem), but it is still eligible for those which only disallow 1st prize winners. So I enter it into a few more (say 3) - some of which may be concurrent. It is unplaced in 2 comps, but receives a HC in the third.
According to the rules of many comps, it is still eligible to be entered in (not having won a 1st prize). However by now the poem is becoming rather well known. Perhaps it has even been published in a booklet or online by the organisers of one or more of the competitions. Its title also appears in our results pages or forum with my name appended. At this point my usual approach is to think my poem has had a pretty good run and to retire it from written competitions. But there have been times with others have suggested to me that I should try again with a particular poem.
So my question is not about competition rules, but about the feeling of judges on this issue. I know you will continue to judge the poem on its merit for as long as I legitimately enter it, but I can't quite rid myself of the niggling vision of a judge groaning, "Oh no, not this one again! Doesn't this poet have anything else?"
Looking forward to your feedback ...
Cheers, Shelley
I'm throwing out for discussion a topic that I often wonder about - and I guess I'm really asking for general guidance from those of you who are judges and/or seasoned written competitors.
Let me paint a hypothetical scenario - I write a poem, enter it into a written competition and receive a 3rd prize. That immediately makes it ineligible for some subsequent competitions (which disallow any placed poem), but it is still eligible for those which only disallow 1st prize winners. So I enter it into a few more (say 3) - some of which may be concurrent. It is unplaced in 2 comps, but receives a HC in the third.
According to the rules of many comps, it is still eligible to be entered in (not having won a 1st prize). However by now the poem is becoming rather well known. Perhaps it has even been published in a booklet or online by the organisers of one or more of the competitions. Its title also appears in our results pages or forum with my name appended. At this point my usual approach is to think my poem has had a pretty good run and to retire it from written competitions. But there have been times with others have suggested to me that I should try again with a particular poem.
So my question is not about competition rules, but about the feeling of judges on this issue. I know you will continue to judge the poem on its merit for as long as I legitimately enter it, but I can't quite rid myself of the niggling vision of a judge groaning, "Oh no, not this one again! Doesn't this poet have anything else?"
Looking forward to your feedback ...
Cheers, Shelley