Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Foetry: American Poetry Watchdog

Does your library receive requests to post on its bulletin boards announcements for poetry contest? We do. If the board is fairly clear of other matter, I post them for a week or so. Supporting literature and poetry writing seems a worthy cause. I now see, via an email from Library Link of the Day, that we should be screening these announcements.

“Angry Librarian's Darts Sting the World of Poetry” is an article, first in the Los Angeles Times and reprinted in the San Francisco Chronicle, that reports on the website Foetry, which tells about fraud in what appear to be major poetry contests. Some major universities, publishers, and well-known poets are involved in contests that the librarian Alan Cordle of Portland Community College claims are rigged so students, friends, and lovers win. The article and the website are interesting reading.

Tizon, Tomas Alex. "Angry Librarian Darts the World of Poetry" San Francisco Chronicle. July 10, 2005. Page unknown.

2 comments:

laura said...

I would also advise you to watch out for notices that advertise the real poetry contest scams--the ones run by vanity presses. For more information, see How do I avoid scams section at Poets & Writers.

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