The Closing Date is Getting Closer!

Yes, the closing date for the current Adelaide Plains Poets is January 29, just a couple of weeks away. Don't leave it until the last minute, and lose out, get your entry in soon. The postie is still bringing me some lovely entries, but who know which the judge may choose.

If you love writing poetry, but you've never entered a poetry competition before, why not make 2016 the year you start putting your work out there, and try your talents against poets from all around Australia. I made some writing related resolutions at News Eve, and the commitment has excited me and I'm loving the new things I'm writing now!

So the theme for this competition is Transitions, and wow, the responses to the theme have been interesting, that's for sure. Our group likes to have themes for our competitions that can bring in a wide range of ideas about where a poet can go. This is good for the judge to read, and think about, and it's great for me too, because I'm the person who gets to read the entries first!

Reading poetry is a great way to spend a quiet morning, seeing what other poets around our country are thinking, and writing poetry about. Good stuff for sure. I've already begun thinking about the next competition, regarding the possible theme, about the closing date (change the time of year maybe?), and about ideas for encouraging more entries, in particular the student entries.

If poetry is going to keep on growing in Australia, it's important that we can get children interested in bot writing it and reading it. And regarding reading poetry, I'm not just talking about the dead white guys we all started on at school, all those years ago. There are lots of poets who visit schools, and I'm glad about this, and hope it continues.

The joy on the faces of young people when they write a poem, and share it with their class is beautiful! Do you have any thoughts on any of this? I'd love to hear from you it you do ...