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on starting out in poetry:
who put the "con-" in "contest"

filed 14 January 2004 | Chicago
by Kurt Heintz

A few days after the first e-mail from David Eaton, I got the following reply.

> I have had many questions answered and I appreciate
> all that you have done for me and my work. I have a
> question regarding [a particular international poetry
> society]. I have received much feedback from them and
> have received an invitaion to a convention in Florida.
> It included a nomination for many awards and other
> prizes. Is this a legitimate organization and something
> that I can get excited about or just a mass letter sent
> to all writers who have submitted work?

I replied as follows.

I'm happy that the response filled your needs. I get questions like yours quite often, so you're not alone in your concerns.

Regarding the society I think you mention... I have a story about that. It feels like debunking the Santa Claus myth, but it's not without some fun of it's own.

Some years ago, my uncle (now deceased) sent a manuscript to an organization running a poetry contest just like the one you describe. My uncle was a smart man and well-read, but he never considered himself a poet. A bureaucrat? Yes, and he'd agree about that. A persuasive speaker? When called for, especially at business meetings. But a poet? Never. And the poetry he submitted to the society's contest was deliberately bad. He saw to that. His wife said it stunk, and she wouldn't even talk about it more than that. My uncle thought it was so bad that it should be either ignored or criticized, but I think he knew the outcome anyway.

It took well over a month to get a response, but he eventually received a very congratulatory letter. Nice letterhead. Very enthusiastic, formal language. The quality of the letter would have made him feel quite amazed that his solitary work as a poet was finally recognized, if in fact he were more needy for attention and earnest as a writer. But since he knew his poetry was a ruse, the falseness of the society's letter stood all the more naked.

Careful reading of the attachments revealed that the cost of all those awards was to be borne by him. In essence, he'd be paying for all the prizes and recognition that the society bestowed. This was neither critical of the society nor, really, much of a prize to win. It looked like the society was really in the business of trumping up awards for a price, paid by the person getting the award. That said, my uncle relished getting it, because it ratified his cynicism. Any time he wanted to be a cynic, all he'd have to do is stand up, clear his throat, and declare himself an official, award-winning poet. The rest of us would laugh, call him a fraud, and then tell him to sit down and shut up.

Your desires for community within your art are very good and positive. Pursue them, because this is how any artist learns their craft beyond a formal education. But if I were you, I would be very careful how I pursued them and with whom, lest I be taken advantage of.

When a poetry organization gathers a congress from random contest entrants, the stakes for legitimacy are high. If it were just a festival or a workshop, then there'd be some potential for attendees to better themselves, or to survey other writers and so gain some contemporary literacy. I don't know all the details of the Florida confab you mention, so I don't want to write it off entirely. But I am suspicious. It's literary integrity seems questionable because contests of this category seem questionable in general. I've seen stuff like this before. And so did my old, dead uncle.

What amazes me is that people will go in for this stuff in numbers big enough to justify a convention. And what scares me is the potentially horrible quality of the whole thing. If this is the same organization that would not recognize tripe from real writing, and would praise both the same way, what are the attendees to expect when they get there? What if they actually start sharing their manuscripts, and can't impress one another? Even if a celebrity shows up with the intent of lending his/her legitimacy to the enterprise, they'll only create a temporary distraction. I don't see much positivity coming of it.

There is one possible exception. It may come from where the attendees respect each other and learn to lend genuine criticism. Poets are not obliged to flog themselves with self-imposed worthlessness, but neither should they expect wine and rose petals just because they write. If people meet, start talking critically about each other in an even-handed but supportive way, then something good may come of this. The curious thing is, everyone will have paid someone else for this privilege and a round trip to Florida. too. Now, how does that serve you at home, or the other writers around you?

I think it's far better to undertake the critique yourself. You have the power to make a better writing environment for yourself. We all do, and we don't need contests, artificial or otherwise, to remind us of this. It boils down to basic conversation. All anyone needs is the desire and time to do it right.

Work with people you can get to know and trust. Save your travel money so you can ship the copies of your edited manuscripts to the publishers whom you respect. Or spend your travel money when you get a genuine offer for a paying gig as a performing poet, and you need to cross the continent. Odds are, if the offer to you is legit', they'll reward you with more than a shrink-wrapped celebration.

- Kurt Heintz
e-poets network, Chicago

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Kurt Heintz is founder of the e-poets network, a writer and media artist living in Chicago.

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