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AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE YOU'VE PROBABLY JOTTED DOWN A POEM OR TWO. MAYBE EVEN THOUGHT YOUR POEM WAS GOOD ENOUGH TO BE PUBLISHED.
WELL THERE'S AN ENTIRE INDUSTRY THAT WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOUR POEM, MAYBE PUBLISH IT. ONLY THING IS, THEY DON'T PAY YOU, YOU PAY THEM. OUR RESIDENT WORD-SMITH AND CONSUMER REPORTER, LIZ CRENSHAW, IS TAKING A LOOK AT POETRY CONTESTS TONIGHT. LIZ.
Liz Crenshaw:
SUSAN/DOUG, WE FOUND ADS FOR POETRY CONTESTS IN LOTS OF MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS.
THEY PRETTY MUCH ADVERTISE THE SAME THING. YOUR POEM COULD BE PUBLISHED.
YOU COULD EVEN WIN MONEY OR OTHER PRIZES. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU COULD BE A POET.
IT'LL JUST COST YOU SOME MONEY TO KNOW IT.
HERE'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T SEE TOO OFTEN. POETS WANTED. OF COURSE THESE POETS ARE WANTED BY
US TO ENTER POETRY CONTESTS. WE SET UP A TABLE AT BALLSTON COMMON MALL IN ARLINGTON VIRGINIA AND ASKED SHOPPERS IF THEY'D WRITE A POEM FOR US. KEVIN BUCHANAN WROTE US A POEM.
"Roses are red, violets are purple, my love for you is as sweet as maple syrple."
THAT'S RIGHT, "SYRPLE." CALL IT POETIC LICENSE. YVETTE BLOUNT ALSO WROTE US A POEM.
"Love is...a mother's touch. a baby in her mother's arms... smile from your lover...a friendly wave...a sweet goodbye. Oh, touching poem."
THE REASON WE NEEDED THESE POEMS WAS TO ENTER POETRY CONTESTS. YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN THE ADS.
"YOUR POEM COULD WIN..."
"$1,000 GRAND PRIZE.."
"$48,000 IN PRIZES."
WITH AWARDS LIKE THAT, WE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT IT TOOK TO WIN.·
"Aspacia...I see you in the morning and I grin...I call you during the day and I grin."
SO WE TOOK OUR POEMS AND SENT EACH TO 5 DIFFERENT CONTESTS. WE ENTERED CONTESTS FOR:
THE POETRY GUILD.
"I feel you every day I call my attorney. I can't wait to see you my little Emmy."
FOR THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF POETRY.
"The mall is a place to have fun. It is also a place to step out of the sun."
THE FAMOUS POETS SOCIETY.
"Isn't it nice to have someone who cares, someone who needs you, who tries to please you."
THE ILIAD PRESS.
"If ever a sun so bright. If ever a wrong so right. If ever a life so dear. If ever a creation so near."
AND THE AMHERST SOCIETY.
"When I awake in the morning and I see the bright sunshine I am touched by the light of love."
WE ALSO TOOK OUR POEMS TO PROFESSOR JANE SHORE WHO TEACHES POETRY AT THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN WASHINGTON,
D.C. COULD THERE BE A WORDSWORTH OR LONGFELLOW IN OUR COLLECTION?
"Are these good or great poems? I don't think they're good and I don't think they're great. I think they're very cliched and very common."
BUT PROFESSOR SHORE SAYS THAT'S NOT THE POINT TO MOST POETRY CONTESTS. PROFESSOR SHORE SAYS THE POINT IS USUALLY TO SELL YOU ANTHOLOGY BOOKS.
"I've actually seen these anthologies. What it looks like is a yearbook. The paper though is Xerox paper."
"There were about 5 or 10 poems per page and it had a couple of hundred pages. And if you really add that up then somebody's making a lot of money."
HOW MUCH MONEY? WELL THE CONTESTS WE ENTERED TYPICALLY WANTED WINNERS TO PAY $45 TO $50 FOR AN ANTHOLOGY BOOK. ADDING YOUR BIOGRAPHY COST $20 TO $25 MORE. WANT YOUR POEM TYPESET? ADD $25.
A CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT? ADD $25 MORE. AND WITH ONE CONTEST YOU CAN EVEN HAVE YOUR POEM RECORDED ON AUDIO CASSETTE, $33.
AND WHICH POEMS ARE WORTHY OF ALL THIS POETIC ATTENTION?
"I think they have a stamp and the stamp says accept, accept, accept. I wonder if anyone's ever been rejected?"
WE WONDERED TOO. NONE OF OUR POETS RECEIVED A SINGLE REJECTION LETTER.
TO FIND OUT WHY WE PLACED CALLS AND WROTE LETTERS TO EACH CONTEST, BUT ONLY ONE ANSWERED US.
ILIAD PRESS SAYS ABOUT 90% OF ENTRANTS QUALIFY.
IT SAYS IT USES ONE JUDGE WHO HAS A MASTERS DEGREE IN ENGLISH BUT COULD NOT NAME WHAT COLLEGE IT'S FROM.
ILIAD ADMITS IT'S A VANITY PRESS WHERE WRITERS PAY TO BE PUBLISHED.
BUT ILIAD PRESS SAYS IT PROVIDES A SERVICE TO PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE PUBLISHED. IT SAYS PEOPLE WHO WIN FEEL FANTASTIC. AND IT OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE TO GET EXCITED ABOUT WRITING.
AS FOR OUR POETS, ALL RECEIVED ACCEPTANCE LETTERS FROM CONTESTS THEY HEARD BACK FROM, AND NOT EVEN KEVIN BUCHANAN'S "MAPLE SYRPLE" POEM, GOT A REJECTION LETTER.
"I just think it's very sad that people are taken this way. They don't see that
they don't have to pay to have their work published. That people should pay them."
AS FOR PRIZES, ILIAD PRESS TELLS US IT GIVES AWAY FOUR $1,000 CASH PRIZES A YEAR TO THEIR BEST POETS PLUS OTHER PRIZES WORTH $40,000.
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