Okay, this was an evil contest for the judge who has been tortured trying to decide among the Final Five (not to mention the other estimable entries). Never mind that after the aphorism contest the judge had to hide out in Sea Hills, NJ, for five weeks to avoid violence and public opprobrium. This time the pain was in the judging (and, believe me, the judge tried to hand off the honours but was flatly turned down several times). This time the general quality of the entries was so high, surprisingly high–it seems the NC crowd is upping its game, rising to the occasion. (I hope I haven’t turned you all into poets!) The Final Five are all just fascinating poems. And Gary Garvin may hedge about his “Spam Villanelle,” but you have to grant him the wit of the initial conception and the follow-through. The poems Gwen Mullins and Anne de Marcken entered are definitely the most “felt” poems, delicately threading emotion, language and thought. Of these two, the judge possibly admires the Anne de Marcken poem the most but he likes the Gwen Mullins poem on personal grounds–he has sons growing up. But then the judge appreciates the brash humour, the pure joy of Julie Larios’s ratty-ness poem. He wanted that one to win, especially because his dog makes a brief appearance (apparently a part of Julie’s inner menagerie, go figure). And finally he decided that Julie’s “At Play” should win because he admired it spareness and clarity of line and thought and its lovely description of the act of thought or writing. And so he thought he was done. But then he read them all again–torn, torn as he was upon the rack of ART!–
After an orgy of gin & tonics, a sleepless night, and a long, heartfelt discussion with a blue dog, the judge (anonymous) has rendered a decision. (Remember him in your prayers.) Below, please find the poetic finalists for this year’s contest.
“Spam Villanelle” made the final cut for its outrageous inventiveness. Julie placed two poems in the top five which will no doubt embarrass her, but what can one say? Gwen Mullins, obviously. And Anne de Marcken for the lovely juxtaposition of the inner and outer sea.
There are some wonderful poems in the entry list, all worth reading, especially dg’s (alas, he can never win) and Jacob’s sheepfold poem written after reading Tristan Tzara and Natasha’s cell phone poem and Anna Maria’s snake poem and Julie Marden’s students’ heart-breaking poem. And more. It’s amazing to see the NC crowd pitch in and enjoy writing for writing’s sake, to try unaccustomed forms and genres. In pretty much every villanelle, there was a moment of inspiration, a line with zing, a bit of quirky humour or a thought well-turned. I love watching these contests unfold, watching the minds at play. It’s also lovely to see Sage & Sarah join the fray and the general atmosphere of welcome and support. Five months and it already seems like a special place.
ENTRIES ARE OFFICIALLY CLOSED. COMMENTS STILL WELCOME.
Herewith the first ever (annual) Numéro Cinq villanelle writing contest. I am announcing it early so that you can work on your entries. Entries will be accepted between May 1 and May 15. Entries, as with the aphorism contest, should be posted as comments on this page. Entries are open to anyone in the world, but only if they are written in English, French, Latin, or classical Greek (the only languages anyone can speak in this house). As with the aphorism contest, I encourage you to familiarize yourselves with the form. See the craft and technique page for help. Roughly speaking, we’re talking about a 19-line poem written in tercets (except for the last stanza which has four lines). The first and last line of the first stanza become the last lines of the following stanzas and also turn into a couplet at the end of the last stanza. These are fun to write and can actually turn out surprisingly well if you arm yourselves with strong refrain lines (think: panache, drama, obsession, schizophrenia). You need not be a poet to enter. And it’s always a good thing for prose writers to extend themselves; it makes their prose more interesting. One lesson to be drawn from writing a poem like this is the way form drives content instead of the other way around.