I've never been to Listowel for Writers Week. Sounds like a great bit of craic and the line-ups and the workshops always seem top-notch.I think I've always been put off by the competitions and the cost of entering them. This year the single poem competition costs €10 a poem, which
I wouldn't pay. It would be interesting to see if they halved the price, would they double the entries?
The argument put to me by one editor is, by keeping the price high, only serious poets will enter and judges won't have to wade through piles of rough to unearth a diamond. Personally, I think that is a very dangerous argument. Its like keeping the price of opera tickets exorbitantly high to ensure that only true opera-lovers buy them.
Anyhow, closing date is February 25th. If you feel like entering the poetry collection award and have a spare €25, the closing date is the same.
I agree with you - I don't think keeping the price up discouraged 'rotten' poets at all - there are plenty of old ladies (like me!) with enough to spare to enter mediocre poems - they should be encouraging the young - who have not money to spare.
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