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Montreal Poetry Prize a bit of a dud

Well, the ho-hum news is in.  After apparently scouring the globe for the 50 best poems of the year, and with a super star list of judges, here is the shortlist.  There are not really many well-known or established Irish or British poets here, and, frankly, few if any major Canadian or American poets either.  Comparing this list to the Best American, Canadian or British anthologies, the level of quality and relevance is startling.  The Montreal Poetry Prize needs to do a lot better in encouraging established, talented poets from across the English-speaking world to submit - and they probably need a better system of feeding poems to their main judge.  It is a good idea, and hopefully, in time, will amount to something noteworthy.

Comments

Coirí Filíochta said…
A majority of poems have been recorded by the poets and the mp3's are linked to on the site. This is a positive innovation; no?

I don't understand your complaint about there not being enough 'established' poets, particularly if you haven't read the poems in question. You seem to be dismissing these people not on the strength of their poems but because they are not as famous as people like us.

I personally welcome an anthology that is more interested in the poetry than the personality. Wanting to foreground the poem rather than elevating mediocre poets with more talent for social networking than writing quality gear.
Sat Dec 17, 07:22:00 pm 2011
Poetry Pleases! said…
Dear Todd

Congratulations on receiving your PhD. At this rate, you'll soon be joining 'Sir Motion' in the House of Lords!

Best wishes from Simon & Rusty
Sun Dec 18, 11:29:00 am 2011
Mike O'Brien said…
I disagree. The whole point of the prize, as I understand it, is to leave reputation at the door and get new voices in. The prize is judged blind, and with good reason: because they didn't want things like established names to be taken into account. Also, I believe the point of the prize is to widen Anglophone poetry beyond British, American and Canadian. The winner was Australian, but they got submissions from 59 countries, which actually seems pretty impressive for a prize that's just started up and which hasn't really received much media attention.
Mon Dec 19, 09:23:00 am 2011
shadow in the corner said…
Remember the competition, like many poetry comps, is judged blind. You might get well-known poets (if they entered) being short-listed or you might get newcomers.

Also, remember that last year's National Poetry Competition winner, Paul Adrian, was an unknown. Not every well-known poet wins competitions. That's the beauty of them. Anyone can enter and possibly win.
Thu Dec 22, 05:55:00 pm 2011
canadian12212012 said…
i like the blind judging as it is fair for all !!
Tue Jan 22, 06:53:00 pm 2013
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