Hey folks! Happy frigid Wednesday to you all!
Well, as it turns out, Dakota County IS a hotbed of Poetic activity. 145 poems were entered in the children's competition, around 75 were entered in the teen competition, and 45 entries came in for the 18+.
There were three prizes, and I didn't win one of them :-)
I did have the utmost pleasure in hearing one judge tell me plainly she argued hard for Winter, Act 1, to place, and that the first stanza really grabbed her (on the off chance you are one of the few people who know me and Didn't receive a copy from me, here are the first two.) :
Well, as it turns out, Dakota County IS a hotbed of Poetic activity. 145 poems were entered in the children's competition, around 75 were entered in the teen competition, and 45 entries came in for the 18+.
There were three prizes, and I didn't win one of them :-)
I did have the utmost pleasure in hearing one judge tell me plainly she argued hard for Winter, Act 1, to place, and that the first stanza really grabbed her (on the off chance you are one of the few people who know me and Didn't receive a copy from me, here are the first two.) :
"Winter turned up first in the
seed barn
playing bones with the Norway rats,
teasing us with a gusty wind
from Hel
from time to time, but we didn't
really think it was him.
We could walk in, but miss him,
tucked
as he was under burlap,
behind Canada wild rye.
Anyway,
we were more worried
about the rats."
Heid Erdrich, guest judge and 2009 MN Book Award winner read selections from 3 of her books, you can order them from Birchbark Books, I believe - it's the bookstore she and her sister own. She's a writer in a variety of genre, and I have to say I love what I heard tonight from her. As a bonus, she was kind enough to say she liked my reading style and enjoyed the two I read. Yes, I brought the turkey poem too :-)
So, to wrap up this post with the Wed. ROW 80 update, I did a crit-read on one short today AND read out loud at the contest Open Mic. ( I don't plan to write on the weekend.) Yesterday I wrote my 30 minutes, and did the same Monday as well. I ALSO got feedback from our own, talented, Claudia Lefeve - hells bells that woman is generous! She read my WIP (with full disclosure that I had no idea how to write a horror story) and...still liked it. She noted some basic grammar stuff, and a few outright mistakes, but gave me a serious boost about what I'm doing with the story. Finally, in my own poetry research this week, I've come to understand that my poetry is better than I think it is, but could always use some work.
All in all, I feel that between progress, insights, and results, it's been a happy and successful writing week.
And tomorrow, all I have to do is.....show up.
And keep writing :-)
I hope everyone has a fantastic week, writing or not.
S.
I'm sorry (and honestly surprised) you didn't win a prize.
ReplyDeleteYay on all of the other accomplishments this week - and how cool is Claudia? Enjoy the rest of the week Shari. :)
aww, thanks, Claire :-) Two of the poems that placed ahead of me were clearly major efforts - thoughtfully researched, very good technically, and well-written. I'll try not to cavil too much about the third (ovaltine? ;-)) as it was very well-written also. And my talk with the judge who lobbied for me was encouraging, as was my talk with the featured speaker - All GOOD!
ReplyDeleteClaudia is amazing. End of story (oops, my puns are showing!!) You have a great week too - can't wait to stop by and see how YOU did!
Congrats on a successful writing week! :)
ReplyDeletekeep writing!
ReplyDeleteHey Rebecca! wish I'd set myself up to better follow your advice on the tail of the week! thanks for coming by - I hope your week is a great one!
ReplyDeleteHiya Ghenet - thanks for popping by again - loved that post of yours :-) And thanks for the encouragement - my feelings about my writing have become ridiculously positive after this week. Now I just need to stop coughing ;-) I appreciate your kind words :-)
ReplyDelete