Octagon Arts Center

Entering poetry contests is one of the best ways for poets to challenge themselves while showing off their talent to write poetry in impressing fashion. Most serious and confident poets look for poetry contests to enter. While it’s a good thing that their seeking to enter poetry contests not putting forth their best effort is a bad thing. The eagerness to enter and win takes most poets minds off the most important thing which is writing a great poem. I’ve had the honor to judge many poetry contests so I’ve seen how by just a few mistakes in a poem can turn a poem that could have been great into a not so good poem. You may be thinking it’s due to grammar errors but grammar holds little weight when it comes to creative writing such as poetry. Most times it’s inconsistency within the poem. This means the poem didn’t stay on subject. These poems either drifted on and off the subject or got off the subject altogether. The use of aggressive explicit words is another reason why many poems fail quickly in the eyes of a poetry judge. I’ve read poems entered into poetry that could have been great and possibly had won the contest but due to strong explicit words the poem was totally ruin. Poets have to remember that although poetry is about expressing your feeling the poetry contest that you enter usually represents something whether it’s a business or sponsors. Here are some tips to keep in mind before entering a poem into a poetry contest.