Reviewing Various Types of Poetry Contests

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by: Janet Kirk
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Word Count: 634
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2011 Time: 8:05 AM

Many different kinds of people enter poetry contests. Interested poets can be charged to enter the competition although there are some contests without a fee. A poet should understand what the contest is about and work hard to make their poem stand out from the other poems submitted.

The setup of these competitions can either be general, where poets are allowed to submit any style of poem or they can be more specific – such as motivational poems, inspirational, love, or Christian poems.

When the poets are required to write inspirational poems for the contest they need to enter a poem that meets this requirement. They should include poems about overcoming a difficult challenge, hope or self esteem in order to qualify under this category. It is more likely that writers of inspiring poems will win the poetry contests of this category if their poem is different from the others submitted. r

A common type of poetry competition is for motivational poems. The poets are required to enter poems that are motivating. They range from poems on achieving a goal, gaining something, or overcoming low self-esteem. The motivational poems are often written by poets with various backgrounds that can be drawn upon to write a poem. The motivation poetry contests can indeed motivate an individual to write a motivational poem. Perhaps that could be your topic. Think outside the box when writing a poem for a contest.

When the poetry contests leans on the love poem category, poets are required to enter poems that focus on the area of love. The poem could either be about romance, family or friendship. Since so many poets write love poems - these are popular poetry contests. As expected, these kind of poems are usually about the love one has for another person that they are in a relationship with. To make your poem stand out you can think of another way of writing for this type of contest.

Urban poetry contests are also very popular. Poems that fall under this category are mostly written by African American people. This is a tribute to their urban culture. Therefore, any poet interested to enter their poem in a poetry contest that features poems of this kind need to write poems that relate to urban culture in some kind of way. The poems are written with urban style words.

There are other poetry contests that attract competitors who write short poems in a story style. These may include people who often write fantasy or fiction poems, as they qualify for this category. Short story poems can be written about anything. However, the poem needs to be in form of a story.

On the other hand, Christian poetry contests feature poems that are based on Christian’s faith in God. The competitors are required to enter poems about God in some kind of way. These contests appeal more to poets who write pure poems or go to church often. However, this does not exclude people who do not believe in God or have faith in God as they may enter a Christian poem that explains their disbelief in God. This is another way you may have your poem stand out in what seems like a topic with little flexibility.

People are advised that before they enter poetry contests, they need to have some knowledge on the host of the competition. This is because there are some contests that are scams and the host is out to gain money from the contestants. Look for contests that are hosted by a large writing community. And the poems entered in the contests need to be very creative to give the author the best chance at winning the competition.

About the Author

Janet Kirk is the author of this article on Writing Poetry. Find more information on Poetry Community here.

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