[Janice D. Soderling]

Damned tootin', Mike

T.S. Eliot, I presume

Sometimes these cogitations still amaze
The troubled midnight and the noon's repose.

But the real gold mine likely lies in the numerous print magazines, methinks.

[Janice D. Soderling]

Or is Christian Ward an un-person, a hoax through and through, a figment of someone's imagination.


This from the Bridport Prize page. I may be overly suspicious but I wonder who wrote these highly commended and shortlisted poems?

http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/content/successes

Previous winners (listed alphabetically) have let us know of their continued writing successes:

Christian Ward highly commended, poetry 2011 & shortlisted, poetry 2009, 2010 & 2011
Christian Ward writes 'I wanted to let you know about some of my successes since being shortlisted. I won first prize in the 2010 East Riding Open Poetry Competition, first in the Sentinel Literary Quarterly Competition (April), highly commended in the 2010 Yeovil Prize and was shortlisted for the 2010 Arvon International Poetry Competition.”

The best way to rack up a bunch of creds is to publish the same poem at a variety of sites. Google "Christian Ward" "oysters and seaweed" and you'll get an awfully good ratio of creds to poem, all appearing in bios making it look like "widely published".


This raises two interesting questions. Firstly, how much attention do editors pay to investigation of submitted poems? Though it is true that a google is often foiled by an added comma and/or a replaced word.

Second question, what can we think of the quality of expensive education in creative writing.


Or are his education creds as fake as his poetry/translations. CW lists himself as a student at Chichester University, Roehampton University, Royal Holloway, University of London.


An academic background is a merit when submitting to literary journals at other universities and college. One cred gives another credential, so to speak.


Christian Ward(“The Stammerer and the Mountain”) is a poet and translator in London, England. His work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Welter, Rio Grande Review, and elsewhere. A chapbook, Slippage, was released last year from Liverpool-based Erbacce Press.

As a Spherian Word Nerd I am perplexed that a poem starting

A little unknown folktale is that Nazim Hikmet could tune into radio transmissions using the power of his heart alone...

What Word Nerd would write A little unknown folktale???

In fact, this was not a disqualifying phrase at least three sites.

http://www.kenyonreview.org/writer/christian-ward/

http://twinenterprises.com/the_fear_...our/hikmet.htm

[Allen Tice]

Originally Posted by Michael Cantor

Terrific idea, Allen! Why don't you start? Put up half a dozen or so, to inspire the rest of us, but make certain that they're catchy and snappy and slappingly good. And that they're really yours! Janice is watching, and sometimes her determinations will amaze the troubled midnight and the noon's repose.

Now that I've corrected my error on his frontage, I might include him in my own Purgatorio.

If they're not mine, who else but you to plagiarize? ("The Man Who Had Three Consciences" comes to mind as a good kickoff.)

A start could come from 'Pataphysics. Someone among those endearing nuts began a campaign about Jean Paulhan, I think. It went on like this : hundreds of leaflets were printed up and distributed that read (in French) "Jean Paulhan does not exist!"

In French, speaking as an non-Frenchman, it seems to have even more punch.

[Janice D. Soderling]

I am/was ignorant about Jean Paulhan, Allen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Paulhan

But I did mean that it is possible that the whole Christian Ward thing is a hoax from start to finish. It wouldn't be the first time that kind of joke has been played in the po-world.

I haven't yet heard anyone say, "I was in his class and never dreamed he would do this." or "He is one of my more talented students and doesn't need to stoop to such doings." Or whatever.

All I know, or think I know, is that there seems to be three people with that name, a poet, an artist and a musician, and whether the poet has chosen the name to further confuse the issue or if they are three separate entities and two are being unfairly drawn into this, or if they are one and the same real person isn't clear to me. There are the photos of course, at least three.

(You know I was only yoking with you, Allen, about the other three best poets. No offense meant.)

[Ann Drysdale]

I have several friends who took the course at Royal Holloway. I recently edited a brilliant collection for one of them. It is a respected institution and the tutors are beyond reproach. It angers me that good people's credentials are being put in doubt by this oaf.

[John Whitworth]

I have always thought that posting an entry to a competition on Drills and Amusements does not count as posting a poem.I suppose I ought to know, but am I right?

[William Cormack]

Thanks, Maryann. What are the rules for translations? Are they the same as for original poetry - i.e. do I need to have made 15 critiques of other members' translations before posting one of my own?

[Janice D. Soderling]

William, review the Guidelines and FAQ and the stickys at the top of each thread.

Crits of Fiction and Translations are anticipated to be more demanding because it is expected that fiction, and especially the translation posts, will be more complex to analyze and discuss, and because both forums have less traffic. As I recall, this is why 3 qualified critiques are required at both sites rather than 15, but having posted there will not enable one to post at the Met, Non-Met or Deep End forums which will still require 15 qualified crits to participate.

In all cases, it is expected that the critque giver is capable of serious assessment of the work at hand. You will find many less demanding critiques in the threads but hopefully the critque-giver will have already shown himself capable of a serious assessment of poetry (or fiction, translation). Traditionally, since its start, the goal of Eratosphere is to hold the standards high for original work as well as critique. As the guidelines state, it isn't a place for the novice.

That is the ideal, if not always the actual practice. You may see a shorthand response among members who have interacted for years and know each other well.

But most definitely, Eratosphere is not a vanity site where shoddy original work and/or fly-by approval is the accepted norm.
(Added in. Or where members post to get exposure of their work. The emphasis is on maintaining a qualified workshop for improving craftsmanship.)

The above is general information but do review the Guidelines, FAQ and stickys.

[Janice D. Soderling]

Ann, post 55

I have several friends who took the course at Royal Holloway. I recently edited a brilliant collection for one of them. It is a respected institution and the tutors are beyond reproach. It angers me that good people's credentials are being put in doubt by this oaf.

Perhaps he was not in the classes at all?

Angela, post 46

just to note another example has come to light:

http://kimmoorepoet.wordpress.com/20...ew-forster-16/

http://flaskandpen.com/poetry/the-be...f-damselflies/

It does seem more and more that this is the way CW has build his reputation, and surely this kind of credential building would not go unquestioned in an academic environment.

That is why I wonder if he is really enrolled.

[William Cormack]

Thank you, Janice.

I have read the stickies and guidelines at the head of the Translation section, but can't find any reference to the number of posts that are required before one is allowed to submit a translation.

In view of this, as an experiment, I will try to post a poetry translation to the section - if it's removed or refused, so be it, but at least I will have obtained some definite information that way.

I do take your point about novices and self-promotion. In my own case, I'm not sure that this applies, as I've been translating Nordic poetry for several decades, and don't really need to promote my work here. However, it might be interesting for other members to discuss my translation in a workshop context, which is the only context that matters as far as I'm concerned.

Again, thanks for your help.

William