Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Greetings and Welcome
One and All to the Poets Pub!!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A message from Bill and Myna,
It has been brought to our attention that some people may feel there is a lack of transparency in how we judge our contests, and although it has never come up before, Bill and I would like to address this.
First, all the work that is done here at the Pub, "Behind the Bar" is on a volunteer basis. We do this because we love the Pub and its members and want to have a place for all of us to share our passion for poetry. It takes time every day, to keep up with the posts, answering questions, designing new contests, covers, stickers etc. This time cuts into the time that each of us, that work at the Pub, have to devote to our own works. Posting poems and answering enquirers, etc., can take up to a couple hours a day. When you consider that Bill, for instance, has a full-time job that can take up to 50 hours a week of his time, it is a miracle, at times, that there are any hours left over. The Chatter alone, takes anywhere from 4 to 6 hours each week to produce. and considering that Myna does home schooling and is very involved in her family's lives, again, a miracle that there are hours left to devote.
Second, none of our judges are professional poets or writers. Some of them have some schooling that helps with the judging process, but again this is all volunteer. Our judges have been writing and reading poetry for over a combine 60 or 70 years (or more depending on how many judges we have). Does this make them professionals or experts? No, it does not, but they do have a good working knowledge of what makes a good poem.
There are times when decisions have been so difficult that outside judges, who are not connected with the Pub or Poets themselves, have been asked to give their opinions, based solely on what they consider appealing.
Third, let us explain a bit about our judging process.
1. Before a poem is posted we try and make sure it follows our guidelines, laid out in "Behind the Bar". If a poem does not fall within our guidelines, it is rejected.
2. Next, does the poem follow the instructions given for the particular contest? If a poem is completely wrong, we inform the poet and give the author a chance to change their poem and resend it. Otherwise we post the poem as it was sent. If there are spelling errors, line count errors, syllable count errors, we do not correct them, it is the poet's responsibility to make sure their poem is correct when they submit it. Examples are usually given by Bill or myself, so that there should not be any errors in interpretation. We give every opportunity to all Poets to submit a poem that follows our exact guidelines. Failure to do so is not a fault of the Poets Pub, but the poet themselves. Any of these errors will be counted against them in the judging.
