# WF's Inaugural Grand Invitational Poetry Challenge



## PiP (Mar 17, 2016)

*
**In celebration of National Poetry Month 2016
we are pleased to announce WF's inaugural Grand Invitational Poetry Challenge!*



​*Grand Invitational Poetry Challenge
(2016)
*
Competition will commence April 1st, 2016​*
Hosted by PiP and Harper Cole*​​~ *4 ways to Win ~*​

​*First Place*​*$50*
*One Year FoWF
*1 print or digital copy of My Cruel Invention: A Contemporary Poetry Anthology, edited by Bernadette Geyer (print retail is $16.99 each).
*WF Prize Challenge WinnerMedal
Automatic qualification in 2017's competition, should there be one and if it works the same way.
Automatic Inclusion into WF's Anthology, if produced.**
*



*Second Place
**$25*
Six Months FoWF

*Third Place
**$10*
One Month FoWF

*People's Choice Award*
**$10*
One Month FoWF
(What is the People's Choice Award, you ask? After the competition closes,and judges have commenced writing their critiques, a poll will be set up to allow the illustrious members of WF to vote for their favorite entry.)



*The Prompt: Spaces Unseen*

*Venue: Poetry Challenges Forum*


*Submission Opens: **1st April (Midnight GMT)
**Submission Closes: **14th April (Midnight GMT)*


_
Entrants will either be a: Winner of Previous Monthly Poetry or Pip Poetry Challenge (2014/2015)
or
A Star 5 Judge or higher who has judged a Pip Poetry Challenge (2015)
_
*Invitations to be sent out soon!*




*~ Rules of Engagement ~*
The Rules of Play


* 200 word limit.
* No Prose entries
* Only one submission per member
* All forum rules apply: Please refer to them here.
* You are free to interpret the prompt in any way you wish, though of course, site rules apply. 
* Do not post comments in this thread. Any discussion related to the challenge can take place in the Bards' Bistro.
* We respectfully request that you refrain from using the like, thanks, or LoL buttons until after the Challenge has closed.
* The inclusion of explanatory text or links of any kind within an entrant's Challenge post is prohibited and shall be promptly removed.
* Kindly make sure your entry is properly formatted and error free before you submit to the Challenge Host. Please use the 'Advanced' option and then Preview before pressing submit. 


*Entries submitted to PiP**
**
Condition of entry grants non-exclusive publication rights to WF and its affiliates
Considered inclusion for the proposed follow-up anthology.*


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## PiP (Mar 19, 2016)

Invitations have now been sent! Please check your PM box


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## Aquilo (Mar 19, 2016)

Woohoo -- can't wait to see how many enter!


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## James Hercules Sutton (Mar 19, 2016)

What is a "PM Box"? Have one to enter.


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## Hairball (Mar 19, 2016)

James Hercules Sutton said:


> What is a "PM Box"? Have one to enter.



Your inbox, where you get PMs from folks here. But this might be by invitation only, but you can ask the admins and mods.


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## PiP (Mar 19, 2016)

James Hercules Sutton said:


> Have one to enter.



Hi James, 

_Only winners of the Monthly Poetry or Pip Poetry Challenge (2014/2015) or
A Star 5 Judge or higher who has judged a Pip Poetry Challenge (2015) are eligible to enter

If you enter one of the challenges and win you will qualify next year 

_


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## Lewdog (Mar 19, 2016)

Oh darn...well good luck to everyone else.   :sulkiness:


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## PiP (Mar 19, 2016)

Lewdog said:


> Oh darn...well good luck to everyone else.   :sulkiness:



Hey Lew, why not enter the the poetry challenges for the rest of this year? _If you're not in you can't win!_


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## PrinzeCharming (Mar 19, 2016)

I am looking forward to next year's round! Good luck to those eligible.


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## Darkkin (Mar 19, 2016)

:read:  (_Poetry Fubbing for Fun and Profit(?) in 2017).  :read:_


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## PiP (Mar 20, 2016)

Darkkin said:


> :read:  (_Poetry Fubbing for Fun and Profit(?) in 2017).  :read:_



I like it! Is there an F word or 'ph' you can use instead of profit?


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## Darkkin (Mar 20, 2016)

:read: _(Poetry Fubbing for Pun and Frophit in 2017...) _:read:

Step one...Put down this ridiculous book.
Step two...Breathe.
Step three...Try.


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## PiP (Mar 20, 2016)

Darkkin said:


> :read: _(Poetry Fubbing for Pun and Frophit in 2017...) _:read:
> .



*laughing!* You are a natural!


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## joshybo (Mar 23, 2016)

:read:_ (__Poetry Fubbing for Fun and Fortune in 2017). :read:

_​Perhaps?


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## Darkkin (Mar 23, 2016)

:read:  _Poetry Fubbing, the Truth Revealed!  Fallacy and Failure by Phase.  :read:_


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## PiP (Mar 24, 2016)

joshybo said:


> :read:_ (__Poetry Fubbing for Fun and Fortune in 2017). :read:
> 
> _​Perhaps?





Darkkin said:


> :read:  _Poetry Fubbing, the Truth Revealed!  Fallacy and Failure by Phase.  :read:_



*laughing* these are great!

any further contributions from the audience, please?


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## Phil Istine (Mar 25, 2016)

I realise that two hundred is the maximum word count, but I wonder if there are any thoughts on a minimum; how few there may be before a poem is marked down for its perceived paucity on word count alone.


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## Phil Istine (Mar 25, 2016)

PiP said:


> I like it! Is there an F word or 'ph' you can use instead of profit?



Mustn't tell the joke about the pheasant plucker.
No!  Don't do it!


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## aj47 (Mar 25, 2016)

Phil Istine said:


> I realise that two hundred is the maximum word count, but I wonder if there are any thoughts on a minimum; how few there may be before a poem is marked down for its perceived paucity on word count alone.



What number would you suggest?


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## Darkkin (Mar 25, 2016)

astroannie said:


> What number would you suggest?



A minimum of five, maybe?  Not including the title.


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## Phil Istine (Mar 25, 2016)

astroannie said:


> What number would you suggest?



By continuing with my poem, I think I've arrived at a solution.
I had twenty five words originally.  It felt like they needed reinforcements, but I fell in love with the twenty five and didn't want to risk spoiling them  .
However, in writing, it seems to be traditional to write in threes, so I reckon that two more stanzas of similar length ought to do it - the trick being to do this without diluting quality*.  It's not as if I'm on a tight deadline with nearly three weeks remaining.
So, three stanzas comprising about seventy five words ought to do it I feel.  If it becomes too difficult to retain quality, I may settle for two at a push - so around fifty words.


*Bearing in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.


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## midnightpoet (Mar 25, 2016)

I have the opposite problem, whittling it down from 250 words.  Good luck to everyone.


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## aj47 (Mar 25, 2016)

Phil Istine said:


> I realise that two hundred is the maximum word count, but I wonder if there are any thoughts on a minimum; how few there may be before a poem is marked down for its perceived paucity on word count alone.





astroannie said:


> What number would you suggest?





Darkkin said:


> A minimum of five, maybe?  Not including the title.



It's too late for this year, but why not wait to see if that is a legitimate issue before considering codifying it for the future.  While it is theoretically possible to write a five-word lanterne, I don't know that it would be any good.  I'm not sure what one could write with four or fewer words, other than a sentence fragment.  Yet there is that school of folks who believe that labeling something a poem is the only requirement for poetry.


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## Darkkin (Mar 25, 2016)

I'm a long winded gibberer with 198...  The page was an inky mess after the battle, but the worlds that matter, well, they're still there.  And Phil, twenty-five seems highly reasonable.  Consider things like haiku, a few words, big meaning.


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## Glyax (Mar 25, 2016)

astroannie said:


> It's too late for this year, but why not wait to see if that is a legitimate issue before considering codifying it for the future.  While it is theoretically possible to write a five-word lanterne, I don't know that it would be any good.  I'm not sure what one could write with four or fewer words, other than a sentence fragment.  Yet there is that school of folks who believe that labeling something a poem is the only requirement for poetry.



Saddest;
The heart feigning
happiness.

I did 5 words.... does that count??


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## Darkkin (Mar 25, 2016)

Five, you have a little wiggle room...Four or less, from a coherency standpoint it becomes questionable...As with everything, it is completely subjective.  My shortest piece...Seven words.  I am a disgrace to paucity.  ffended:


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## aj47 (Mar 25, 2016)

Well, I think of escorial.  I'm sure if there's a three-word poem out there, he can build it from scratch.


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## Darkkin (Mar 25, 2016)

astroannie said:


> Well, I think of escorial.  I'm sure if there's a three-word poem out there, he can build it from scratch.




True that.  It is a knack I will never have.  Hats off to those who do.


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## PiP (Apr 11, 2016)

We now have TEN entries!

Any more? Remember if you're not in you can't win!


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## PiP (Apr 14, 2016)

Reminder: The Challenge is closing in just over four hours!


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## aj47 (Apr 16, 2016)

astroannie said:


> Well, I think of escorial.  I'm sure if there's a three-word poem out there, he can build it from scratch.



When I did my "Self-Centoed Bitch" piece, I discovered I'd written a 3-word poem.

*Change*

... paper becomes metal ...


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