Member Article

Poetry competition for over 50s

A poetry competition for people aged over 50 has been launched across the North East. Entries to the competition may be on any theme and in any style, and the winner will gets the opportunity to have a collection of his/her work published and receives 100 copies of the book. Commended entries are also published in an anthology, with a free copy to all poets whose work appears in it.Judging the competition will be president of the Poetry Society Jo Shapcott. Jo has published several collections and won many prizes for her poetry, and she teaches Creative Writing at Royal Holloway College, University of London and is also Visiting Professor in Poetry at the University of Newcastle and the University of the Arts, London. Jo said: “Probably the most prevalent myth about poetry competitions is that judges are looking for poems which are closest to the ones they might have written themselves.” She adds that she would like “nothing better than to discover an astonishing poem written from an angle no-one could have predicted, or in a style never seen before.“Organiser Jeanne Macdonald, adds: “Last year’s competition attracted over 400 entries – which means around 2,000 poems. This year, I hope to top that figure and I am particularly keen to receive entries from ethnic writers.“The competition entry form and rules can be downloaded from the website www.blinking-eye.co.uk or send a stamped addressed envelope to: Blinking Eye Publishing, PO Box 549, North Shields, Tyne & Wear NE30 2WT. The closing date for entries is 7 August 2006.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .