All Poetry Competition Results 2011

First: ‘Killing Time’, David Campbell, Beaumaris Vic
Second: ‘The Coast-guard’s House’, John Egan Ashfield NSW
Third: ‘Fifty Cents’, Cynthia Rowe, Woollahra NSW
HC: ‘Floating With Chagall’, William Zappa, Earlwood NSW
HC: ‘Under The Stairs’, Maureen O’Shaughnessy, Newtown NSW
C: ‘Chestnuts’, Lola Rodopoulos, Malvern East Vic
C: ‘Tourist In Surrey’, Moira Kirkwood, Coledale NSW

Congratulations to everyone.

The variations in style and subject in your poems excited us.

Comments have been sent to as many poets as possible. We hope that, after further work, these poems can be sent out again. Even those that have won cash prizes can still be accepted by some magazines as we do not publish your entries anywhere.

Tips:

Follow conditions ie line limit, number of copies etc
Watch rhythm, even free verse should show a subliminal rhythm.
Edit your work for omissions, typing and spelling mistakes.
Be wary of too many adjectives.
Make your choice of word match the subject, tone, pace.
Avoid cliché.
Avoid sending poems previously entered in the same competition.
Improvement can be made by listening to criticism
and by reading modern poetry ie Best Australian Poems, Best Australian Poetry. Blue Dog etc (from Library): by all means read all those classic poems you love but take care not to use archaic language in your own poetry. Use the speech of today.