Judge’s Report – Poetica Christi Press 2016 Annual Poetry Competition

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Earlier this year Andrew was invited by Poetica Christi Press to judge the press’s annual poetry completion. Andrew completed the judging in early October. His judge’s report contains some helpful observations about the art of poetry writing and is reproduced on this website below:

I was honoured to be entrusted with the task of judging the Poetica Christi Press 2016 Annual Poetry Competition. There was an excellent response to the Competition, with 190 poems entered. 

While the quality of the entries was uneven, many fine poems were submitted. The poems were wide-ranging in subject and theme, touching on family relationships, the natural world, international terrorism, biblical characters, and personal experiences. There were love poems and nature poems, laments and narratives, dramatic monologues and personal lyrics. While the majority of the poems were free form, many included rhyme, and some included regular rhyming couplets or quatrains. It was pleasing to see poets experimenting with some traditional European and Japanese forms: sonnets, villanelles, rondeaux and haiku. While these experiments were not always successful, the poets are to be commended for their endeavours to understand and master the poetic craft. 

It was also pleasing to note that most of the poems were cogent and accessible. There were very few poems that were confused or, worse, deliberately ambiguous. 

I noticed that two flaws kept recurring and it may be helpful to mention these.  [continue reading]

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE REPORT

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