April 19, 2022 - I just received a letter in the mail informing me that my poem "Quizzical Sojourns" has advanced to the semi-final round of Eber & Wein Publishing's national poetry contest. To be transparent, I must mention that 60 percent to 70 percent of all entries advance to the semi-finals. That's still pretty good.
(Below is a photo of a section of the letter. Click/Tap on the photo, enlarge it, and then read it ... if you want.)
On February 27, 2022, I submitted online my recently self-penned poem for the contest and for inclusion in their upcoming anthology titled "Best Poets of 2021." (According to the letter, my poem will be published in the upcoming, multi-volume anthology titled "Turning the Corner." I am a bit confused because I do not know if these are two different anthologies or if there was a name change. I will find out soon enough.)
I will receive a page proof in the mail next month for me to proofread and return. The anthology will be published later this year.
In this poetry contest, there is one grand prize worth $2,000 in cash and a commemorative wall plaque. There are 121 other cash and gift prizes totaling more than $16,000, including 10 second-place prizes worth $100 in cash and a wall plaque; and 100 third-place winners who will receive only wall plaques and no cash.
I have already had two poems published with this company; hence, I am considered to be one of their "best poets."
My poem titled "That's Not What I Meant" appears in their 2021 anthology titled "Best Poets of 2020: Quarantine Edition, Volume 3."
My poem titled "Startled Glances" appears in their 2010 anthology titled "Sunflowers and Seashells: Nature's Miles." I won one of the third-place awards for this poem. I received a bronze medallion on a wooden stand and a $25 gift coupon for the company. I never used the coupon because I didn't want to purchase another anthology or have my poem printed and framed.
I have had many of my poems published in anthologies, mostly in the 1990s, but I still haven't won any cash prizes. My poem "Somnolence" won one of the second-place awards in a poetry contest in 1997 with The National Library of Poetry and was published in their anthology that year. I received a certificate for that.
As a (lifetime) performing member of The Port Jervis Poetry Society in upstate New York, I performed two of my original, self-penned poems on stage as part of one of our poetry, music, and art shows in February 1990; the show was later broadcast on public-access cable television.
By the way, I am (still) in the preliminary stages of self-publishing a book of seventy-five of my poems. I have written more than 300 poems since 1986, so I need to pick my best poems and my favorite poems for inclusion.
The tentative title of my book of poetry is "Quizzical Sojourns: Observations and Practices of a Self-Proclaimed Bohemian," which is currently the title of my personal blog. I wrote my poem "Quizzical Sojourns" not only for inclusion in the Eber & Wein anthology but also for inclusion in my book. (I will most likely have my book of poetry published with Eber & Wein Publishing, that is if I ever get my head together to get my book together. Technically, it's already written. I just have to compile it.)
I am also in the midst of writing an autobiographical novel set from 1992 to 1996, when I was a reporter, writer, editor, and researcher in New York City for an international weekly magazine on the chemical industry.
No comments:
Post a Comment