Max's reply makes sense to me. Judges aren't perfect - they have quirks and favorite approaches and styles just like the rest of us. Any time you appoint a judge, you are - to some extent - skewing the judging in advance in favor of one group or another, depending on the judge's predispositions. (I assume you's agree, Jayne, that any contest is a crap shoot - there is no "best" poem - it depends on the judge.) Limiting every entrant to one award is a logical step toward limiting the influence of the Judge's specific taste, of smoothing the contest.
In other words - what Max said. (I didn't realize, as I wrote this, how closely I paralleled his remarks.) You can judge contests I enter whenever you want, Max.
Just out of curiousity, Jayne - what prompted this?
Last edited by Michael Cantor; 07-31-2014 at 01:14 PM.
|