Tag: writing prompt

poetry, Uncategorized

On Poetry Competitions

carolyncordon

The writing group I am the President of, has been running an annual, national poetry competition right from the time the group began, back in mid 2005. At the time, I was working part time for my local council, as a community worker.

My role was to try to bring about aspects of economic development to the community, and the poetry event competition was all a part of an event taking in the whole of the region where I live, with many towns being involved.

I now longer do that job, the funding ran out, and I moved into the volunteer realm. I enjoyed doing what I did for payment, for sure, but found some of it stressful. Now I’m doing similar things as a volunteer, the pressure is very much lessened.

So poetry competitions … The number of entries my group,  the Adelaide Plains Poets receive, is on a steady rise, in the main, and the overall quality is going up and up, in the current three sections – Open, Secondary Student, and Primary Student. This year, we have a larger entry for the Primary Student Section, because of work done in particular with one local school. This is certainly a good way to increase poetry submissions, if you talk to students and teachers in their schools, they will feel more willing to get involved.

I think we will do more of this, perhaps getting started on it earlier next year. Connecting with schools is fun, for many people. I certainly enjoy talking to a class about poetry, because I love poetry, and I’m working to increase the level of love of my favourite writing genre! If I can engage students, and help them to love poetry too, then I’ve done a good job!

Some people don’t have a lot of money to spare for fluffy things like poetry. That is why our group doesn’t charge for students to enter our competition. We also have a low charge for the Open section, and the fee is structured in a way that encourages a higher number of entries, without sending anyone broke.

We currently charge $10 for the first entry, then $5 for any subsequent entries. This is for the Open section only – students are limited to only one poem each. There has been a lot of variety in the way poets have interpreted the theme of this year’s competition. This is important for a poetry competition, a broad theme will engage more poets, as they consider how they think on the theme.

I have been able to speak to some of the people entering our current poetry competition and have been happy to find so many lovely people who thank me for providing them the opportunity to ‘have their say’, about something important to them. This helps to make this task even more enjoyable.

Then, when the winners are announced we will all find out which poems struck the judges as being ‘the best’. I spoke with both of our judges today, and was pleased with the things they both said. This is the first time we have had two different judges, one fo rthe adults, one for the youngsters, and I feel this has been a good move. It is a different task, judging the poetry of Primary or Secondary school students, compared to judging the poetry of adults, after all.

Finding out who the winners are, and hearing their words will be an exciting thing indeed! If you have ever thought of entering a poetry competition, I say go for it, as long as the entry fees aren’t too high, and the possible prizes are suitably high. Poetry is a fun thing to write, and these competitions could potentially be very rewarding, if you’re good enough! Comparing your own poem, with the winning poems may be just the impetus you need, to make your own poetry shiny bright and perfect!

But beware, there are some ‘competitions’ that are blatant rip offs. The fees we charge are reasonable, but some competitions have far higher fees, for very little possible recompense. Leave those ones well alone!

If you have anything to say about poetry competitions, leave a comment, I’d love to read your thoughts!

 

poetry, Writing

Festival Fun!

carolyncordon

The Adelaide Plains Poets writing group, has been running a ‘Festival of Words’ for the past 5 years. This is certainly a thing to be proud of, and the fact we have made a profit every year, gives us one more thing to be proud of.

This year, 2019, we are going to have a Festival over 5 nights and days, and venturing into new events and new venues, as well as the usual ones. It is getting close to Festival time, and I am proud to present our program, here:

http://festivalofwords.info/programme.html

This Festival is put on by a small writing group, but a group that is not afraid to take on challenges. We have a sub-committee who are doing great things, to make this Festival one that brings an exciting mix of word related events, written, spoken, with writing workshops, writing exercises, a Keynote Speaker of note, and a fun train journey!

And throughout the festival, friendship and food feature, at various venues in the Greater Adelaide Plains region. The event will be opened by the Mayor of Gawler, Karen Redmond, who has been extremely supportive of our group, and especially of this Festival.

The theme of this Festival is Location, and it is an interesting one again. We pride ourselves of the interesting themes we have for our Festivals. One of the important things our writing group does is to run a national poetry competition, which has the same theme as the Festival. The winners of the Poetry Competition are announced on the final day of the Festival, with the winning poems being read at the Gawler Poets at the Pub, with will be the final event for the Festival.

This Gawler Poets at the Pub event began more than twenty years ago, and is still going strong. There isn’t always a large number of attendees, but the quality of the poetry read is always high.

If you’re anywhere near Gawler toward the end of July this year, make sure you check out the Program, and find something interesting to do, you’ll be glad you did!

 

 

writing exercise

Creative Writing Workshop 1 – Acrostic & Cordonostic

carolyncordon

For this exercise we will concentrate on two different Poetry Forms, Acrostic poetry, and Cordonostic Poetry.

Acrostic poetry has been around for a long time, and is much favoured by school teachers, I think, who find it an easy way for their students to get into writing poems. With this style, a single word can be chosen, and then the first letter of each line begins with each of the letters of the word, in order. So, with my chosen word – Autumn, the first line begins with the letter, A, the second line, U, the third line, T, and so on, all the way to the final letter, N.

 

You can choose to use just one word for each line, or you can write a short phrase, whichever you wish. But a poem is not a novel, so keep those phrases short. Autumn is my favourite season, and I enjoyed writing this poem, some years ago.

 

The poem just below is my own Acrostic poem, based on Autumn, my favourite season. Attendees are to choose one of the four seasons, for their own two poems.

 

Autumn

April comes along, trees

Until then heat struck, though

Tended well, and watered

Ultimately recover,

Managing leaf colour changes –

Nature’s amazing beauty …

 

 

Next Poetic Form – Cordonostic Poem We may have looked at this form previously, but I will clarify what it is all about:

 

The Cordonostic poem is based on syllable counts, with the first line having three syllables, the second line having five syllables, and the third and final line of the first stanza (verse) having seven syllables.

 

For the second stanza, start with seven syllables for the first line, then five syllables for the second line, and three again for the last line. For the third stanza, follow the stanza count as the first stanza, and for the fourth stanza, follow the second stanza, and so on.

 

Using the same season as you used for your first poem, write a poem, using words and phrases about your chosen season, bearing in mind the necessary syllable counts for each line. For the title of your poem, choose a word that is relevant to what you have written.

You don’t have to concern yourself about the poem title first though, often you need to finish a poem to see what it’s about, and so what the title could be.

 

This poem below was written after I had done some research into why leaves changed their colours, and I feel it is a fitting tribute to the wondrous way Autumn brings on this colourful phenomonem.

 

Photosynthesis

trees, their leaves

red, orange, yellow

lovely, chemically changed

 

trees and branches a backdrop,

and a gallery

for the leaves

 

wind-released

they drift off downward,

as ground becomes a carpet

 

then leaves, in decay, produce

nutrients, and trees,

fed, grow more –

 

trunk, and leaves

then blossom, perhaps

and after blossom, come seeds

 

and then, wondrous, welcome fruit.

the process goes on,

always will,

 

so long as

trees get the water

they need, fruit will come again.

 

autumn – colour, winter – rest

spring – blossom, then fruit –

nature’s way …

 

Thank you, I hope you have enjoyed this poetry session today, and I look forward to our next session!

 

Carolyn Cordon,

 

Writer, Poet, Community member, lover of Nature

www.carolyncordonwriter.wordpress.com

 

kittycordo@gmail.com

 

0418806490

poetry

Another Day, Another Poem

carolyncordon

As I’m going through this month of a poem a day for February (#poemadayfeb), I am pleasantly surprised to see the quality of the poems I’ve produced so far. When you write a new poem every single day, you doin’t have lots and lots of time to fiddle with your poem, it’s a matter of get it written, get it edited, and get it out there!

In the past, I have kept my poems more to myself, holding to the thought, perhaps, that publishers want exclusive rights to my precious poems, so I need to keep them to myself. But I don’t actually send my poem to potential publishers very often anyway, so there’s that idea shot down in flames …

My idea at the moment is that I may see if I can get this month’s worth of poems published in a chapbook, there will be only 28 poems (or possibly more, if I get really keen), and that is a good number of poems for such a publication.

I’m also interested to notice that I have been writing some longer poems for this project. Today’s poem, for instance is 24 lines, and I think yesterday’s poem was that length too. In the past, I have tended to write poems that are between 3 words (haiku), and 12 to 14 lines. That may be because I am also writing a novel at the moment, and thinking about longer word counts, or it may be something else, who knows?

I don’t mind, I’m enjoying what I’m writing, and as long as these good poems keep on happening for the rest of the month, I’m happy! So here is my poem for today, the fifth day of February!

 

 

Full Circle

 

We travel many paths through life –

child, to not child, & then on to adult,

from victim to survivor, maybe, & beyond,

as the road to gaining knowledge, bumps

us onward, with ideas we thought fine

showing to be far from fine, but fake.

 

So we journey on willingly, toward,

the wisdom maturity may bring to us,

& we realise a truth – wisdom was in us

already, as a child, when we found joy

in every new moment, & new thing  –

seeing, feeling, tasting – sensory sublimity!

 

& holding to that thought, expanding it,

opening minds to the infinity available,

if we will reach out to touch it, taste it,

Smell, and listen to it, these tasks help us

to begin to see meaning for our journey

embracing all we’ve seen, & been & learned …

 

Life’s journey can take us far, as far as we’re

willing to go, and though the final destination

is the same for all, our journeys from childhood

to adulthood and beyond, can be amazingly

different – if we hold to our childlike mind

& can experience the glorious possiblities!

poetry, Writing

Hmm, Interesting Stuff Happens

carolyncordon

The theme for the #poemadayfeb poetry project today was ‘Beginning’. I had a bit of an idea about what I wanted to write, when I got started on this one, and I more or less produced something that covered what I’d wanted to write.

It seems bigger, and better, though, than I had even hoped, and if this continues to happen like that, for this particular poetry project, I will be one happy little poet, that’s for sure. It’s often said, the more you do something, the better at it you get, and it certainly feels like that’s true, regarding poetry, and other writing genre.

So this, below, is my poem written today, on the theme or prompt, of Beginning.

 

How it can go…

 

As it was in the beginning, so shall it be at the end –

we’re born, we need, we learn, we grow, the family rules.

We live and we continue growing, then, eventually, we know

all we need to know, living in cruise control mode.

 

Changes come, our needs morph, to medical not financial,

enough money, or not, but the money must be spent

to retain our health. We’re shrinking, not growing,

pieces surgically removed, posture slumping.

 

We’re slowing then, many needs lessening, as

dining out at night with lover, becomes friends’ lunch out,

then doctor & hospital is only visit out. We’re sinking

down, ever down, until getting up is our only adventure,

 

& even that may stop, with treatment from strangers,

instead of family visits. Our needs shrink, learning forgotten,

& if family is planning a journey for us, it’s not a trip to Bali,

but to our final destination, via coffin, not plane or cruise ship …