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Poetry slams and events |
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Over 2000 poetry slams, conferences, events and readings
are held every year in America and the U.K. Many are local
affairs, and will be listed at your community arts centre.
You can also search with Copernic
on location and 'poetry events' to find what's on in your
region. For wider coverage, and particularly for international
conferences, keep visiting the poetrykit,
getunderground,
about.com,
oingo,
lycos,
yahoo,
bbc,
poetz and
the poetry
society sites. Poetry Slams in USA, Canada and Europe
are listed at poeticvoices,
defpoetryjam,
dontfeedthepoets
and poetryslam.
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Poetry competitions |
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Much can be said against poetry competitions –
they're a travesty of literary appreciation, a money-spinning
racket, a means of extracting from the deserving many
to give to the arbitrary few. Some, like poetry.com, come
close to vanity publishing. Nonetheless,
the more prestigious prizes do look good on the C.V., and
awards can lead to a first collection appearing. A short
list appears on the right panel: you'll find more by browsing
the ezine listing and visiting the small presses
listed on poetrymagic.
Choose carefully. Get the shoptalk by browsing sites given
under Book News, Chit-Chat and Competitions.
Research the preferences of the organisers and adjudicators.
Adhere to the submission guidelines. and don't give up the
day job if you win.
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Poetry publications |
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Every new poetry collection or anthology issued by
a major publisher alters the literary scene a little. Something
new is in the air. Other publishers must consult their lists,
and poets dust down their manuscripts because a new yardstick
suddenly exists. Poetry lovers will want to sample the new
work and read the press comments. Poets – established
or wannabe – will have to measure themselves against
the new kids on the block. They need to know what's happening
– particularly if they're taking a publisher out to lunch.
Do read poem exerpts before purchasing a poetry collection,
however, as reviews are not always disinterested or reliable. |
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Publishing trade news |
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Books may be the precious lifeblood of their authors,
but they're also theatre for the book trade, a platform for
its hype, under-the-table deals and gossip of the moment.
No freelance journalist would submit (or possibly even write)
without knowing who was taking what and when, and poets also
need to understand the market, if only to provide editors
with concepts to sell to their own managements. Remember it's
not commercialism but professionalism to keep visiting the
sites listed under Book News and Chit-Chat.
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| If
you want the convenience of reading poetry and other literature
through a hand-held device, then consider a portable ebook
reader. Several have been released in recent years but the
best is probably Ectaco's jetBook, which lets you take advantage
of the hundreds of thousands of free downloadable texts. Visit
the Ectaco
site to learn more. |
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