New Letters & Contests In General

I got a postcard from New Letters advertising a very appealing looking contest. Minimal entry fee ($15) that gets you a year's subscription, up to six poems entered, with $10 for additional entries. I think what appealed is that it's a postcard with all the information in one place, and also that you can submit online. Nice combination, marketing via snailmail but allowing online entries.

My friend David Alpaugh has just written an eloquent jeremiad about poetry contests, however. His reasoning, that contests have contributed to the giant glut of mediocre poetry in the world, leaves me feeling like a chump for even wanting to enter a contest. Perhaps even for wanting to write a poem today!

I won't be surprised if you can soon read his article in Poets & Writers (Jan/Feb. 2003), as they published his other piece, "The Professionalization of Poetry." A born gadfly, he's sure to stir things up in the contest world. And make you think before you send out that next manuscript.