Answer to Editor of Plains Producer

This letter was published in the Plains Producer the week after the Editor published the piece I complained about.

Dear Editor,

Thank you for the poetry comments in the “My View” column of last week’s edition of your fine newspaper. I took your words as a bit of satire and grinned like the Cheshire Cat as I read them. What is it they say? “All news is good news”. So thank you for bringing poetry to prominence.

As I said in my speech opening the Adelaide Plains Cup Festival Poetry Event at the Mallala Hotel on Saturday afternoon, ‘…record numbers of entries in the Adult section this year, nearly cracking the ton, so if anyone tries to tell you poetry is dead … it’s thriving, all across Australia’. Poetry is not dead, but I agree it may not be for everyone.

Neither is going for a run, or watching a horse race; we’re all different, and there’s plenty of room for us all at the Adelaide Plains Cup Festival. There will be a poetry section again next year, and I hope we can get more involvement from the younger members of our community next year.

There are some fine schools in the Adelaide Plains, and it was sad there were no local students amongst the winners. Surely there can be room for poetry in the school curriculum. Balaklava High School has been prominent in the poetry section of the Adelaide Plains Cup in previous years, and it’s time for other students and their teachers to step up and get involved.

Adelaide Plains Poets would be delighted to get assist if any schools require help in getting their students interested in poetry.