Don't know what a 'sifter' is? Read this blog first.
Tip # 1
Avoid these 5 topics: grief, death, aging, cancer, and identity.
Why? Because these are the top 5 most common topics that I see when I’m sifting, in that order. It’s not that these are ‘bad’ topics, there’s nothing wrong with these topics. In fact, I’ve selected death poems and cancer poems myself. But importantly, I selected those poems because they were very good poems, they just so happened to be about cancer and death, the topics themselves were not what made the poems good. Remember - prizes are given for writing the best poetry, not for having the deepest feelings or the edgiest subjects. A prize-winner can be about any topic at all.
People usually send their hardest-hitting poems to a competition because they think that’s going to make their poem stand out. But here’s the thing, if I’ve just read 399 poems about death and your death poem is number 400, I will be so bored of death that even if your poem is actually pretty good, I probably won’t take interest in it. If your poem is about anything else, then the sifter is more likely to take notice. I’ve selected poems about frogs, dinner parties, bird-watching, laundry, fields, empty houses, rotting onions, cats, Jesus… Give me anything, anything other than grief, death, aging, cancer or identity, and your chances of getting through to the next round go up.
"Prizes are given for writing the best poetry, not for having the deepest feelings or the edgiest subjects."
So, when you’re deciding which poem to submit to a competition, take a chance on an oddball. Send the weird poem, the poem that doesn’t quite fit, the experiment, the whim, give me a wildcard! If you have a poem you’d like to submit but you just don’t think it’s a ‘competition poem’. Send it. I might very well love it. A poetry competition is about quality of writing first and foremost, but it’s also a numbers game; the rarer and more unique your poem is, the more likely it is to stand out.
Now here’s a bonus tip. 4 out 5 of the top 5 topics are utterly miserable, and while ‘identity’ might seem like a neutral topic when compared to cancer or death, the identity poems I read when I sift are rarely ever joyous. As you can imagine, ploughing through all these grim poems can get pretty depressing. So, when I come across a happy poem, I tend to favour it. If my final choice comes down to an excellent happy poem or an equally excellent sad poem, I will probably take the happy one just because it’s more interesting.
"When I come across a happy poem, I tend to favour it."
To finish, I’m not saying don’t write sad poems, or don’t write death poems. Write on whatever topic you want; any topic could be a competition winner, there are no ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ topics. But, if you have a choice between submitting a tear-jerker or something else, then maybe think twice, is it really the best poem for the competition?
Cat Woodward
Looking for inspiration? Explore my poetry writing prompts and courses at The Poetry Master Class. Just click below.
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