$50,000 for one poem
 

Read all about it here:

http://montrealprize.com/

In US dollars, that's $52,176. Not bad for a 40 line poem -- though maybe a US poem is allowed to be 42 lines? I'm not sure about the poem conversion rates.

Maybe I'll just submit a haiku in an effort to set a world record for the highest payment per syllable ever received for a poem.

Thanks for the info. How very strange this contest is.

All that money and it comes down to that fellow Motion judging it. You KNOW the winner will be rubbish - probably African rubbish. And I could have that money!!!

John, write African rubbish if that's what you think is needed to win. After all, if the Speccie competition called for African rubbish, you'd happily accept the assignment all for a chance to win 25 quid.

Ouch, John! Besides, how bad can this Motion person be? After all, didn't you guys once hand him a butt of sack? ;)

Thanks,

Bill

Nobody knows how he got the butt of sack. They wanted to give it to Seamus Heaney but they couldn't because he is an Irish citizen. They should have given it to Ursula Fanthorpe but perhaps she didn't want it. Let me spell it out. I do not think everything that comes out of Africa is rubbish. It was a (perhaps unfortunate) shorthand for the sort of thing Motion will like. He will pick an African for non-poetry reasons. Or I think he will. If they must have a Poet Laureate the present one would be better.

I don't think you get the sack these days. Or was it Malmsey? You can drown people in Malmsey. Richard iii had his brother, the Duke of Clarence, drowned in Malmsey. Supposedly.

Yes, very unseemly. But you guys are always doing that sort of thing. Didn't you pickle Nelson in a barrel of brandy? A fine howd'yedo for Trafalgar, that one! ;)

Thanks,

Bill

Nelson was dead already. Clarence wasn't. Different, doncha know.

I predict that Bill will have entered this one well before I wake up next morning. And probably won it. Me, I'm too tired from the day job.

All hail, Kate!

P

I would think was good news, and should be viewed as such.

It's £12.75 (or £12.76 if they round it up) per poem for Brits to enter - but that's counting England as a 'developed country', which is debatable. :rolleyes:

I'll bet two poems' worth it won't be a rhyming poem that'll win.

This one set off all my sceptic alarms - sounded like another poetry.com scam. So I googled. And discovered that (a) I wasn't the only one who was suspicious, and (b) the other guy concluded it was legit. And he seems to have done a good job of checking it out, interviewed some of the principals, etc. The only bad feature is that, at this stage, it's a one-shot event. The $50K first prize donation was a one-time thing. They are hoping to keep it going through a combination of other donors and Bill Lantry's entry fees.

All you have to do to win is write a poem titled "To a Mother with Alzheimer's" or "The Pear Tree on West 4th Street" and talk about yourself and how emotional and insightful you are and mention what big, profound thoughts you have and don't let it rhyme and make sure it is not fun and don't be dead, white, or male.

Orwn, by George you've got it. That was what I was trying to express in my rather cack-handed way with my assaults on poor Mr Motion. After all, his mother loves him.

I've long wanted to create a pseudonym for such things, but however would I cash the check?!

Having said that, if the winner's name is Tsibuglia Karomisnegh and it's a poem about the spirit of dead baobad trees, it's yours truly.