Thursday 27 November 2008

Poetry Landscape


Looks like I didn't win the Patrick Kavanagh. Again. Anyone know who did?

Meanwhile, the Geological Survey of Ireland, as part of 2008 International Year of Planet Earth, presents an evening of spoken word highlighting the links between rock, landscape, nature and people.

The line-up is rather good, including poets Moyra Donaldson, David Smylie, Janet Shepperson, Stephen Gharbaoui and Mark Cooper, and will conclude current Ireland Chair of Poetry Michael Longley.

Where: Geological Survey of Ireland, Beggars Bush, Haddington Road, D4
When: Friday 28 November @ 5.30pm

T: 048 90388462 E:gsni@detini.gov.uk

11 comments:

Totalfeckineejit said...

It wasn't you? Well it feckin wasn't me either and I'm beginning to wonder (what with not even an acknowledgement of receipt let alone a polite rejection)was my (ill afforded) €20 well spent? These ubiquitous poetry competititions with entry fees of often 3 , 4 ,or €5 euro per poem and upwards for prestige affairs, can cost a poor poet a pretty penny.Okay ,sure it would be grand to win,and you might get noticed if it's a big one,but wouldn't we be better off ,financially and psychologically, just submitting to magazines for free? Ps. Wonder if the winner has an M.A.? If this sounds like sour grapes it's only because my mouth is full of them!

Emerging Writer said...

I hear you Peadar. Let's see who won this time and then get some grapes.
I know a very talented poet who didn't win for a few years, then one year, she took out no more than 4 poems and replaced them with 4 stronger, newer poems and won. So you could be 4 poems away from winning (so could I)

Logan Lamech said...

Well I didn't win either but I'm considering that the process of elimination might not be the most efficiant way to discover who did.

Logan Lamech
www.eloquentbooks.com/LingeringPoets.html

Unknown said...

Winner was Mary Branley from Sligo. There was a small piece about it in last weekend's Irish Times Loose Leaves column.

Liz said...

Hi emerging,
'twas not me either...but am uplifted by your account of the 4 poems-out and another 4 poems-in story. : )

Peadar, I did get an acknowledgement by e-mail from a very kind-sounding lady.

Agree that it would be nice if they just said 'sorry not this time, folks' at least...as I was wondering for days what the story was...

Padhraig Nolan said...

Bummer, not me, either. I did get a receipt though, by email (I requested one in my cover letter).

Its a dark art, innit? No Freedom of Information Act here. I'd guess they get a good amount and qualtity of entrants though - probably tight enough between those that make the final cut and those that don't?

What's the deal with the MA? Is it becoming a must-have to separate the serious contenders from the likes of me?

Unknown said...

Exactly - perseverance is the one thing we need to have as writers. Funny how that word sounds to me: severe and purse put together... it's like a bad case of writer's purse syndrome... i.e. we never have much money in them ;)

Peter Goulding said...

Until I hear the winners, I'm clinging to the hope that the email to me announcing my success has somehow become lost in the ether (together with the acknowledgement for €20)though the words straws and clutching keep reverberating in my head.
I think I might impose a €10 limit on all competitions in future.

Emerging Writer said...

Hi all,

Mags: I think the Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh fellowship is a different award than the PK. It is given for support of Irish poets in their middle years. Mary Branley already has a collection, A Foot on the Tide and the PK is for a poet without a first collection. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2008/1122/1227276708528.html

so we'll wait for a white smoke still

Totalfeckineejit said...

Now for the face-saving,ego- massaging clutching at straws who- am-I-kidding moment of realisation that other people got acknowledgements, ergo my poems were lost in the post ,ergo I would have won it after all-if they had read them and Mary from Sligo is winner only by default. Ah yes , now where's that champagne?

Emerging Writer said...

Mary from Sligo won something else - the fellowship...we are still waiting to hear who won the PK for unpublished collection.
I got a receipt email too, I just checked.