[Duncan Gillies MacLaurin]

My poem, 'Letter to an Employee', workshopped on TDE in October, has just won a commendation in Quantum Leap Magazine's Open Poetry Competition (with a £2 prize!).

An interesting feature of this competition is that the judge comments on each winning poem. The judge, Pamela Hodge, writes about 'Letter...': 'A delightfully tongue in cheek piece but written with skill. A poem with an excellent rhythm, and rhymes which are so right they belong. All the unstressed/stressed syllables in the correct place make this poem a joy to read aloud.'

Thanks, Sphereans - and special thanks to Jim Hayes for putting me right on the direction of those interest rates.

Duncan

[Janet Kenny]

Well done Duncan

I hope you spend it wisely.
Janet

[Duncan Gillies MacLaurin]

Thanks Janet!

I will spend it wisely - my renewal to Quantum Leap is due, and after 4 years' subscription to it and with five poems published I'm running just about even! (I won a £50 First Prize once.) Quantum Leap pays £2 for every poem published - and it packs in a lot of poems. It's a quarterly and only costs £14 for a year (UK), £18 (Rest of Europe), £19/$38 (Rest of the World). Single issues: £4 (UK), £4.50 (Rest of Europe), £6/$12 (Rest of the World). It's a mixed bag - pearls and trifles side by side. It's metric friendly without being metric biased. It's based in the charming town of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute (West Scotland). It's not on the web, but for anyone interested the address is:

QUANTUM LEAP
Alan Carter
15 Argyle Terrace
Rothesay
Isle of Bute
PA20 0BD
Scotland


Duncan

[mandolin]

Congratulations, Duncan!

And thanks for the magazine contact info.

[Julie Steiner]

I remember the poem, as well as your determination to keep working on it until you'd smoothed out the wrinkles. Well-deserved congratulations!

Julie Stoner

[Dan Halberstein]

As I recall, sticking to your guns was as important as taking the good crits on this one - bravo, on both counts!

[Terese Coe]

Duncan, not only a profitable award but an encomium too! Keep up the good work.

Best,

Terese

[Duncan Gillies MacLaurin]

Thank you, Mike, Julie, Dan, Terese!

Duncan