The Tom Howard Poetry Contest for all styles & genres 

The Margaret Reid Poetry Prize for Traditional Verse

What is traditional? The judges' definition is loose rather than strict. We quote two poems from Margaret's book:

This page provides information on 

The Tom Howard Poetry Contest 

for all styles and genres

and

The Margaret Reid Poetry Prize 

for Traditional Verse

What do we mean by "traditional" verse? In short, one qualification is poetry that looks like poetry, not prose. Fox example:

love is a book

a hopeful dream

a tide of delight

or a gallant search

for sorrows unseen

Now that little verse of mine may not be good poetry. And traditionalists might well object to the absence of capitals and lack of any punctuation marks. But it looks like poetry, and therefore it is acceptable as an entry for the Margaret Reid Poetry Prize.

Another way of looking at "traditional" is to think of poetic styles and genres that have been fashionable for at least 50 years or more. This would include free verse. Here is a poem by Margaret Reid herself, taken from her book, "Song of the Wayward Wind":

LOVE SONG

  Yes, my love, I hear,

      of course I hear...

Your meaning gossamers

        across pauses

wraps around your words

     its sweetest nectar

     and my spirit dances

              dances

    through green valleys

              dances

 in the springtime chorus

       of your meaning

   dances white orchards

            of delight.

 Yes, my love, I hear. I hear

     between your words

        rich symphonies

And in the silent reach of mind,

         I walk with you

           through stars.

So here is another way of looking at "traditional". Poetry that uses repetition or some other formal or informal pattern that could involve rhyme, meter, length of line, or even simply the way the lines of verse are positioned! 

However, experimental forms are also welcome. The criteria once again is that the verse form must look like poetry, and (unless it has at least a whiff of poetic imagination) not have the appearance of a block of prose.

Here is another poem from Margaret's book, "Song of the Wayward Wind":

Ode to Wisdom

She whose holy realm transcends the sun,

Whose light can penetrate the darkest gloom,

Can fire with hope the most downtrodden one,

Can speak to quickened ears, or from the tomb.

The most enlightened souls from Time's slow mill,

Attending to her promptings all their days,

Still speak through scrolls and books to waiting hearts;

Their inspiration breathes; their fires still blaze.

Young David heard her singing on the hill,

Inscribed her songs of love. We hear them still.

For where she walks, her music ne'er departs.

Now there's verse that's really traditional! It has a churchy flavor too, because Margaret is talking about the Holy Spirit. However, while religious poetry is certainly highly acceptable, I would point out that it's difficult to write without seeming flat or cliched. "Akeldama" by Peter Moltoni (included in the anthology, "Sailing in the Mist of Time") is an excellent example of forceful religious verse. 

To refine my point that even a poem that has the initial appearance of a block of prose, will still be accepted for this Contest so long as it displays even the minutest inkling of poetic imagination in imagery and/or language, here is one of mine. The subject is the famous painting, "Toledo" by El Greco:

Toledo! So starkly vivid in its nightmarish virtuosity;

Or shall I choose A Lady so beautiful in melancholy?

Toledo!   His mirror image of a soul grounded in hell or

A Lady whose eyes capture serenity's sad sweet spell--

Or perhaps merely soft burdens of lost youth?  In truth

A Lady demands a graceful charity, her benign attempt

To elicit sympathy is almost painful in her silent rebuke

of Age, her cherished yet seductive secretive swoon of

a smile forever ponders The Greek's intention to flatter

or detract, to revive sighs, or ignite a non-existent love.

In short, about the only new verse forms that will not be accepted for the Margaret Reid Prize are prose poems or storoems. And the good news is that in the rare event the judges feel your entry does not qualify as "traditional", it will not be rejected but simply transferred to the Tom Howard Poetry Contest instead.    

SAILING IN THE MIST OF TIME is our fourth and very latest Anthology of Prize-Winning Poetry. Containing over 100 winning entries from both the Margaret Reid and Tom Howard Poetry Contests, this beautiful book normally costs only $16.50! That in itself is a bargain, but in a special promotion, Amazon and other online bookstores currently have this large-format, 194-page book on sale for a mere $9.95! The book is also available direct from the publisher for $16.50: http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

As noted above, the trade edition is now on sale in bookstores throughout the U.S.A., Canada and Great Britain. 

"Traveling" and "Across the Long Bridge" our second and third Anthologies of Award-Winning Poems are available at Lulu and are also on sale at Amazon, Barnes & Noble  and other leading booksellers. You will find a "Traveling" link for Amazon at the bottom of this page. To buy direct from the publisher, please use this link:

http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

Absolute-must reading for all competition contestants! A new edition of my famous handbook "WRITE WAYS TO WIN WRITING CONTESTS: How to Join the Winners' Circle for Short Story Awards, Poetry Prizes, etc." is now available direct from Lulu at http://www.lulu.com/filmindex 

Price is $14.80 for this edition. The normal trade edition is also now available. Buy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other bookstores. Same price. You can click on the Amazon link below. What's $14.80 compared to increasing your chances of carrying off that $2,000 in cash First Prize?

 

The 5th annual Margaret Reid Poetry Prize for Traditional Verse is now open. A total of $5,250 will be awarded in prize-money for traditional verse as follows: 

First Prize: $2,000. Second: $1,000. Third: $500. Fourth: $250. Plus five High Distinction Awards of $200 each. Plus five Highly Commended Awards of $100 each. Fourteen cash awards in all, including that First Prize of $2,000.

Grand total: $5,250.

Song of the Wayward Wind is now on sale at Amazon and leading booksellers and also direct from the publisher at http://www.lulu.com/filmindex

The Margaret Reid Poetry Prize for Traditional Verse is now open. Closing date: June 30, 2008. For full details and online submission and mailing address: http://winningwriters.com/contests/margaret/ma_guidelines.php

Total Prize money: $5,250 (as listed above).

Entry fee: $6 for every 25 lines (or part thereof). Blank lines and titles are not counted.

VERY FEW RESTRICTIONS 

Send as many poems as you like. No restrictions on length or subject matter. Poems must be your original work, but previously published poems and poems that have won prizes in other contests are welcome. "Traditional Verse" is loosely defined, and includes free verse, haiku and most other popular forms except prose poems and storoems. In other words, your entries should look like poetry (or like any of the 106 winning and commended poems published in "SAILING IN THE MIST OF TIME").   

Entry forms are not necessary, but by entering this contest you agree to abide by all its conditions. Decisions by the chief judge are final. 

Winners retain all rights and are free to accept or decline offers of free print publication in an anthology similar to SAILING IN THE MIST OF TIME, featured above. However, you must agree to publication of your winning entry on the Winning Writers website.

Entries must be postmarked on or before June 30, 2008, or lodged online before midnight, June 30, 2008, Pacific Time.