Judges of the Secret Court

[Vic Jefferies]

I believe the judge(s) should be anonymous until after the competition as I am very certain judges favour certain styles and subjects. I know some of those who judge and I know what they consider to be "good" writing and "good" poetry. If you disregarded certain judges standards or criteria you would be foolish and diminish your chances of success.
This is not meant as a slur upon judges just a simple statement of fact.

[Terry]

Hi Brenda,
I didn't realise that all those things could affect the judging of a poem, so what you suggest should be implemented as quickly as possible. It seems silly that poets could be entering different competitions where rules may differ. It makes sense that every poem should be presented so they all look the same on paper anyway.

I reckon competitions should be all about the poetry with as little emphasis (within reason) placed on the points you mention as possible.

I also understand that judges are the same as the rest of us and have their preferences to certain types of poems and that's good, it means one judge may overlook your poem but the next may well award it. That's why I've always felt that the bigger the pool of judges the better the chance of a poet finding one who likes his or hers type or style of Bush Poetry.

Cheers Terry

[Neville Briggs]

G'day Neil, Faultless solutions I do not have.
Do I need to possess a faultless solution to raise a point of discussion ?

I just thought that as a gesture of good will and openness we could know who was doing what in the competition management.

As Manfred has said in support of my comment, who knows what any judge might favour. I don't think you can ( apart from what is stipulated in the entry conditions )
In fact I think if there was indeed any improper bias, then publicising the judge's identity would show this up and make it very difficult for any judge to be partisan.

I think I know what you mean Brenda. However in my experience, guidelines become requirements which become rigid rules which are an end in themselves instead of a means to an end.
Eventually we die the death of endless interpretation and defining of rules.

The only suggestion I meant to bring up was a transparent appointing of referees, I can't see any problem with that.

[keats]

Brenda
If there were set ABPA guidelines for submission re these non-poetic issues and if everyone had to use the same type-face, it would overcome this and also ensure the absolute anonymity of poets.

The ABPA does not and should not rule all written Comps.

Neville

Some Judges do not want to be identified. Some do. Again there is no solution without a bigger pool of judges. We do not have that as most of our accomplished poets prefer to enter the comps rather than judge them. If some names were advertised as Judges and they wanted anonymity, then we lose more judges. I am also just throwing out ideas. But I DO NOT feel it relevant to accuse some of being 'narrow minded'. They try their best. But you always have the choice not to enter if you don't like the conditions.

Neil

[Maureen K Clifford]

I've always thought/suspected that Poetry judges were like insurance or taxation department assessors. The rules are all in place, you know what you can and cannot claim, you've submitted all the paperwork on time and yet somehow???? the refund can differ I think it comes down to the human factor.

I have no idea who judges my tax returns or my insurance claims and they have no idea who the person submitting them is - seems to work OK. If it ain't broke - leave it alone.

[Neville Briggs]

I suppose things won't change.

Just a small point Neil. I didn't accuse anybody of being narrow-minded, in fact if you carefully read my post you will see that I said the opposite, that our judges were SURELY NOT narrow minded.

I still don't understand why any of our friends want to operate under a cloak of anonymity,
we are all mates aren't we, we have nothing to hide or be ashamed of in our poetry practices.

[David Campbell]

For what it’s worth, I would never penalise a writer for the layout issues raised by Brenda. I don’t like the practice of using a capital letter at the beginning of each line…it’s an old convention and it disrupts the natural flow of a poem unnecessarily…but it still seems quite common and is a minor irritant. Some competitions state that poems should be presented double-spaced…probably to allow room for the judge to write comments if necessary…but I’m not going to downgrade a terrific poem if it’s single-spaced in that circumstance. It’s the quality of the poetry that’s important.

Far worse (and more likely to be penalised) are poems presented entirely in capital letters and completely lacking in punctuation, poems written with a keyboard dipped in tar on paper that’s been scraped off the bottom of a budgie cage, and typed poems with handwritten corrections and words whited out (it happens!). Judges don’t have the time or the inclination to decipher indistinct and poorly presented pieces, so it’s important to ensure that the copy is neat, clear, and clean.

As to anonymity, there has to be allowance for variation. Some organisers insist on it, and some judges also prefer it. Doesn’t bother me either way.

Cheers
David

[Neville Briggs]

It’s the quality of the poetry that’s important.

Well said David.

[keats]

Duhh, Neville.

[Bob Pacey]

Does not worry me either way I write as I write and either they like it or they don't.

Like most things anyone can be a judge just that some are better than others.


Bob