2011 April PAD (Poem-A-Day) Challenge: Guidelines
I may make updates to this post as we go along. If I do, I’ll put a little “updated” message at the top of the post with the date. *****…
I may make updates to this post as we go along. If I do, I'll put a little
"updated" message at the top of the post with the date.
*****
This is the initial post for the 2011 April PAD (Poem-A-Day) Challenge, and
it will be used to give the general guidelines for the 4th annual challenge.
Main Objective: Write some new poems during the month of
April. I provide the prompts (and my own poetic attempt); you write the
poems.
Dates:
April 1-30: Beginning at some reasonable
time on the morning of April 1, I will provide a prompt. I will repeat this
around the same reasonable time (usually between 8-11 a.m. Ohio-Georgia time)
throughout the month.
May 5: Each participant will submit his/her five (5) favorite poems from the
month. Rules for how to submit are included below.
July 4: After running the
Peachtree Road Race in the morning (unless I get up super early), I will make an
announcement of the top poems from the month and who the 2011 Poetic Asides Poet
Laureate will be (and possibly a few other notes of recognition).
July 5: We'll set our sights on
the fourth annual November PAD Chapbook Challenge. (Or so I hope.)
Guidelines during the month:
- Poets should write a poem each day of April. (After all,
this is the main goal of a poem-a-day challenge, right?) - Following the daily prompt is optional. (However, I will
only consider poems at the end of the month that follow the prompts and specify
which prompt prompted them.) - Posting poems on the Poetic Asides site in the Comments section is
optional. (Reason: I know some poets have voiced concerns regarding the
difficulty in posting comments and the possibility that posting can make a poem
considered "published" in the eyes of some publishers.) - Participation is free.
- No registration is required.
- I will not be able to delete poems once they are added to the
Comments section.
Guidelines for possible recognition:
- Submit the 1-5 poems you wrote in April that you want considered as
possible Top 50 poems for the month. Those who submit more than 5 poems
will be disqualified. (Notes: To be considered for Poet Laureate, you will
probably need to submit 5 poems, since I'll be looking for a consistency in
quality.) - For each submitted poem, indicate which day and which prompt
inspired the poem. I always try to stick to an honor system on these
types of things, so please don't submit poems written before the challenge. - Submissions should be sent to robert.brewer@fwmedia.com
with the Subject Line: My 2011 April PAD Submission. - Submissions should be sent by 11:59 p.m. (Georgia/Ohio
time) on May 5, 2011. (Any received after this time will be
disqualified.) - Poems should either be submitted either in the body of the e-mail or
as a .txt or .doc file. (Note: You should be able to
include in the body of the e-mail at the very least.) - I will choose a Top 50 for the month or Top 10% (whichever overall
number is fewer). - Most likely, I will only select my Top list from the actual
submissions, but I may notice a poem or two during the month from reading poems
posted in the Comments section. (Note: This is one extra reason to consider
posting your poems in the Comments if you're wishy-washy on doing so.)
Okay, I think that covers the basics, but like I mentioned earlier, I will be
updating these guidelines from here on out. So if you have any questions, please
leave them in the Comments for this specific post.
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Please follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer
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Check out the 2011 Poet's Market, edited by Robert Lee Brewer. It is loaded with poetry publishing opportunities and business of poeming articles and interviews.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
