[Alex Pepple]

Originally Posted by David Anthony

Well, obviously, contests should be judged blind. It's not a gold standard, it's just normal practice nowadays.
David

David, that's not an accurate statement because there are several reputable and even high-profile contests that are not judged blind nowadays. I could list the many PEN poetry awards, the National Book Award, the Governor General of Canada Awards, the many state-based book awards such as Colorado, Massachusetts ..., the Griffin Prize, etc. etc. So, blind judging is not a given even for today's countless big and small contests. Each contest, well-known or little-known makes its own rules on the judging style -- whether to adopt a blind judging style or not ... and poets and writers still enter them in droves. Even though I can't be sure about it, I bet the above-listed contests and others like them not judged blind don't have to deal with any mass protest against their non-blind judging ways, and most of them have been running for years if not decades!

Cheers,
...Alex