The Science Fiction Poetry Association has announced the winners of its 2007 Poetry Contest, which this year called for sci-fi, horror, or fantasy sonnets.
It disappoints me to announce that Sonnet Boy is not among them.
A couple of faithful readers of my other blog, The Sonnet Project, told me about the contest and encouraged me to enter, which I enthusiastically did. I was even optimistic about my chances, as I felt some of my horror sonnets were definitely up to scratch, and after all, I had the cred, right?
Well, that'll teach me. :)
As often happens in cases like this, I found it difficult to read the winners with an open mind. They're fine sonnets all, and it's obvious that the judges' tastes, as you'd expect, leaned more heavily toward sci-fi than horror, the latter of which is my forte, if I have one.
And I know enough about editing to know that as much luck as skill goes into getting published/winning contests/etc.--a certain poem reaches a certain editor at just the right time, or hits just the right combo of personal preference and taste, whereas another just as skillfully put together somehow just fails to ring those bells. So while I'm disappointed that mine didn't win, place, show, or even get mentioned, I still maintain my belief in my own poems' quality, taking nothing away from the winners, which as I said were all quite good as well.
Magnanimous, no? :)
Anyway, I invite my readers (both of you) to have a look and tell me what you think.
Here are the SFPA Winners, and congratulations to them all.
And, in the interest of fairness, discussion, and because it's my damn blog and I'll whine if I want to, dammit!--here are my entries for comparison:
The Wendigo
Winter Dance
The Screams of Reason
Thanks to everyone for his/her/its encouragement.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
That'll Teach Me
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6 comments:
For what it's worth, choosing between the winners, I'd probably have switched first and second place.
Again, meaning no disrespect. I just liked the runner-up best.
I kind of thought they all were pale, superficial descriptions of things. Not like your sonnets, which tell the first story on the first reading, then more with every re-reading. I think that clearly they weren't interested in horror at all. Losers.
I mean plenty of disrespect, BTW. If they dis my friends, they dis ME. And that makes me MAD.
That's very sweet of you--in a threatening, confrontational, combative way. :)
Yeah, I think I obviously sent them the wrong sonnets. I should have sent some of my "Fairy Tale" labeled ones, which seem much more what they were looking for.
I'm really much nicer in person. =)
Ok, I lied.
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