Homework 29/6/15: A Shadow on the Stair

[David Campbell]

Trouble is, you reach the pointy end when a competition needs a judge (or judges). If there’s nobody prepared to do it, whether there’s a line limit or not, the competition dies. On the money side of things, I was asked to judge a comp this year and dug my heels in over how much was on offer. It was one I’d judged before, so I knew how much work was involved, and the amount hadn’t changed for many years. I named an alternative price (which wasn’t much), but the organiser said they simply couldn’t afford it. Result? I didn’t judge that competition. Presumably they asked someone else who was prepared to do it for that amount.

Let’s just say we did away with all the written competitions and, as far as new work is concerned, relied entirely on people contributing an occasional poem to this site or the magazine…how would that go, do you think? In other words, if we removed the competitive aspect altogether (as some advocate), what would happen?

Cheers
David

[warooa]

love all the input . . . going way off topic (unusual that ) enjoyed your homework piece David.

This is the next best thing to the idyllic situation of having these conversations over a few pints around the table with all the added nuances and off-topic rolls, inflections, rolling of the eyes and all that

[Shelley Hansen]

This certainly is a stimulating and fascinating discussion!

David - I'm not sure where we'd be with no competitions. I look at them as an opportunity to match skills with other poets and to learn, learn, learn! One would imagine judges should have the qualifications and experience to teach us much - and I'm not saying they don't - but the subjective nature of judging is always there, and our craft is never going to be like marking a maths competition, is it? I suppose with no comps, we'd have to rely purely on peer feedback in order to learn and grow in our writing - which could be a good thing too.

I like the idea of a short (very short at 18 lines, Terry!) competition. I agree that with such brevity, each word must count. It would be a very interesting challenge! My earlier works were shorter but after receiving a number of suggestions from judges to "flesh" them out more, I began to write longer poems. I certainly agree that "long for the sake of length" defeats the purpose and often leads to ambiguity.

With regard to judging, I would be both interested and willing to work towards becoming an ABPA judge. As mentioned in a separate thread, I judged the Adelaide Plains competition this year. However, I understand from the application form that it is necessary to win three ABPA competitions in a year to qualify to be a judge - and as I have yet to achieve that, I will continue to strive diligently!

Oh, and by the way Bobboooooooo .... thank you for making up those missing e's ... I no longer feel shortchanged

Onward and upward ...
Shelley

[David Campbell]

Hi Shelley

In terms of qualifying to be a judge, I don't think those three wins have to be "in a year". The form states: "Please note that the basic requirement is that an applicant must have won at least three ABPA affiliated or approved competitions in the category (i.e. performance for performance, written for written)." So there's no specific time frame involved. You've notched up some wins, and the fact that you have already judged a poetry competition, even though it wasn't an ABPA affiliated one, would surely have to count for something!

Cheers
David

[Shelley Hansen]

Hi David

Yes, you are right - I've just read the form. I don't know where I heard or read that it had to be three in a year - maybe I dreamt it!

Although I've been "bridesmaid" many times with second and third prizes in ABPA affiliated competitions, I actually have just the one first prize - last year's Ipswich Feast. I've won others - the Adelaide Plains twice, the NQ Feast of the Senses and the FAW Cherry Festival, plus several literary eisteddfod poetry comps - but none of those were ABPA affiliated.

But we live in hope

Thank you for your vote of confidence - but I shall keep trying until I've met the criteria on the form. I fully support the requirement that judges should have definable track records - otherwise we'd have every Tom, Dick and Shelley out there judging! I had no qualms in accepting the invitation to judge the Adelaide Plains, as I had won it for the previous two years and been highly commended the year before.

Cheers
Shelley

[Shelley Hansen]

Matt - that gives me more incentive than ever to work towards becoming an ABPA judge - just to know that there is a distinct possibility that I will find myself awarding a future prize for Australian Bush Poetry to Jimmy the Chow!!

Cheers, Shelley