comps

[David Campbell]

Just submit it, Heather. To my way of thinking any decent open competition should be delighted to receive a poem that had won a novice section. As I've said before, I don't understand the obsession that some organisers have with discouraging entries. Do they really have so many poets beating down their door that they can afford to turn people away for nit-picking reasons? Unless the competition has specifically banned poems that have won any form of award, including a reference to novice sections, I'd say "Go for it!"

Cheers
David

[Terry]

Must be a Western Australian thing Mal, that's what they call them over here, Heathers was the same.

Cheers Terry

[Maureen K Clifford]

Might be a bit of a cheat but if you were really concerned about it change the title - that might stop them picking anything up on Google (they could of course type in a line though) but I agree with David's comment. They will eventually put themselves out of business or have such a low entry rate it becomes unviable to run with such ridiculous rules - it is akin to banning a racehorse from ever running again because it has placed in a race - totally self defeating.

Changing the title would give it the Fine Cotton effect

[Bob Pacey]

If I read their rules for entry and to my understanding it qualified I would just put it in,

Bob

Mal pass the word around and let everyone know which comp it was, the more we scream and shout the better chance there is of change.

Bob

[Glenny Palmer]

My Vicar told me ''My child...It is better to seek forgiveness than to ask for permission.' Bless him. I've sought a lot of forgiveness though.....

[Mal McLean]

Dead and buried now Bob. It actually causes me to smile a lot when I think about it

Mal

[Heather]

Stephen behind a bush. Now that really is a scary thought!

Nah, I couldn't sleep at night if I entered when told not to. It's a big 'un Maureen and David, so not worth the scandal of being caught doing something like that. I'd be roooned!

Bob the rules said, "can't have won first place in any competiton" and it did win the novice "section". I can't be bothered arguing with them over it. I'll just have to love that little poem all by myself - and it is a favourite.

Mal, you can tell us, we won't tell. Ssshhh

Heather

[Bob Pacey]

Bit like my Tamworth entries last year being classified as PUB HUMOUR and so not acceptable.

Funny I never seen that exclusion in the rules ?

Yeah Mal you have to laugh.


Bob

[Heather]

Who told you your poems were pub humour Bob?

[Leonie]

The rules of comps can be a bit of a minefield can't they? The one that gives me the irrits is the publishing one when so many comps do an anthology with all the awarded poems. That means that a poem that gets any kind of award, even minor ones, are out of heaps of other comps. One even chucks in some that haven't even received an award at all. Then you have the situation where awarded poems are 'published' on the festival or whatever’s website. I never think of that as publishing, probably because I rarely visit the sites, but I suppose it is.

I totally understand why some comp organisers don't want previously published poems, it's that anonymity thing, but it still gives me the irrits, especially that one that publishes non-awarded ones. That might be why I totally missed their closing date this year, maybe my subconscious irritability radar blocked them. Nah, just slackness on my part.