| P O E T I C O N |
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I attended my first poetry convention in summer of 1999, in Washington, D.C. It was hosted
by The International Society of Poets, or ISP, for short, through the International Library
of Poets organization. The website was www.poetry.com I say “was” because I recently
found out through the Better Business Bureau it has gone out of business. You only need
to Google “ISP” to find out why. The website was taken over by www.lulu.com, even
though you can still log on to the www.poetry.com web address.
Despite the bad publicity, I attended every year for seven years in a row, sometimes twice a
year when offered. I even won a prize in four out of the seven years I attended, but never
the top three prizes. I may have been one of the few who attended for the poetry itself.
Most who attended I could tell went to see if they could win the $20,000.00 first prize. I
would have liked to have won first prize, but what I really wanted was to meet people from
other countries, meet the established poets, some of them genuine poet laureates in their
own state, and see where, in the scheme of things, rhyming poetry fit in.
Well, for the first three years I was disappointed. Why? Because ninety-nine percent of all
the poetry presented was free-style poetry. I was one of a handful of individuals who
presented a rhyming poem. To make matters worse, all of the ten winners won for non-
rhyming poems. Even the poems presented by the guest poet speakers were non-rhyming
poems. It was a bleak situation for rhyming poetry as far as I was concerned.
As I continued to attend, things started to change. Many attendees were inquiring about
rhyming poetry. I could hear the public asking why no one rhymed anymore and the ISP
started to listen, and one year, I was thrilled to see at least half of those attending submit
rhyming poems in the contests, and glad to see that half of the prize winners won for a
rhyming poem. Finally, I could see a change for the better in the world of rhyming poetry.
Then, Len Roberts, the Education Director for the ISP, passed away, May 25, 2007, and no
one seemed to know how to run the show. That year was the last time I attended. I have to
admit, it was poorly run. Last year, I didn’t bother to go.
With the ISP now gone, that only leaves two choices: The Famous Poet Society and The
Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. However, the Famous Poets Society is a vanity
press, exactly like the ISP, that offers a poetry contest, a convention contest, and vanity
publishing opportunities. Poets can submit their poems online using the website. Nearly all
responses, regardless of artistic merit, are eligible for publication. All accepted submissions
receive an acknowledgment letter and can pay to be published in an anthology. For their
work published, writers must buy the anthology. Claims have been made that when paid,
poems have still not been published in the anthologies or include errors. This is an equally
bad alternative to the ISP. That leaves The Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival,
formerly held at Waterloo Village, in Bynam County, New Jersey, every other year.
However, the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival is having problems of its own, and was
left with no choice except to cancel the next event, but it looks like they will be having the
festival in September 2010 after all due to some last minute interventions by organizations
who do not want the festival to be canceled. Since Waterloo Village has shut down due to
financial reasons, it is no longer a feasible site for the poetry festival. The new site will be
announced at a later date and the locations they are considering are Newark, Trenton,
and Jersey City. This is good for me since, no matter which site is chosen, the festival will
be close enough that I can attend.
So, where does rhyming poetry fit in nowadays? Nowhere, it seems. When you consider
almost one-hundred percent of all poetry publications still publish free verse poetry, and
those individuals who control the market don’t want to rock the boat, another avenue for
rhyming poetry has to be found. At this time I don’t know where, but I intend to find one.
Despite the inundation of free verse poetry, I still hear many individuals clamoring for
rhyming poetry. I still get many individuals agreeing with what I have said on my website,
and I still see a need to bring this wonderful art form to the forefront. In the meantime, all
poets interested in rhyming poetry should continue to learn more about the art of rhyme,
and create poems in as many of the rhyming forms as possible. I say: The art of writing
rhyming poetry comes after the practice of writing rhyming poetry. So, let's get rhyming!
Poetically yours,
Eddie Morales
P.S. I will once again update this website on a regular basis.
by The International Society of Poets, or ISP, for short, through the International Library
of Poets organization. The website was www.poetry.com I say “was” because I recently
found out through the Better Business Bureau it has gone out of business. You only need
to Google “ISP” to find out why. The website was taken over by www.lulu.com, even
though you can still log on to the www.poetry.com web address.
Despite the bad publicity, I attended every year for seven years in a row, sometimes twice a
year when offered. I even won a prize in four out of the seven years I attended, but never
the top three prizes. I may have been one of the few who attended for the poetry itself.
Most who attended I could tell went to see if they could win the $20,000.00 first prize. I
would have liked to have won first prize, but what I really wanted was to meet people from
other countries, meet the established poets, some of them genuine poet laureates in their
own state, and see where, in the scheme of things, rhyming poetry fit in.
Well, for the first three years I was disappointed. Why? Because ninety-nine percent of all
the poetry presented was free-style poetry. I was one of a handful of individuals who
presented a rhyming poem. To make matters worse, all of the ten winners won for non-
rhyming poems. Even the poems presented by the guest poet speakers were non-rhyming
poems. It was a bleak situation for rhyming poetry as far as I was concerned.
As I continued to attend, things started to change. Many attendees were inquiring about
rhyming poetry. I could hear the public asking why no one rhymed anymore and the ISP
started to listen, and one year, I was thrilled to see at least half of those attending submit
rhyming poems in the contests, and glad to see that half of the prize winners won for a
rhyming poem. Finally, I could see a change for the better in the world of rhyming poetry.
Then, Len Roberts, the Education Director for the ISP, passed away, May 25, 2007, and no
one seemed to know how to run the show. That year was the last time I attended. I have to
admit, it was poorly run. Last year, I didn’t bother to go.
With the ISP now gone, that only leaves two choices: The Famous Poet Society and The
Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. However, the Famous Poets Society is a vanity
press, exactly like the ISP, that offers a poetry contest, a convention contest, and vanity
publishing opportunities. Poets can submit their poems online using the website. Nearly all
responses, regardless of artistic merit, are eligible for publication. All accepted submissions
receive an acknowledgment letter and can pay to be published in an anthology. For their
work published, writers must buy the anthology. Claims have been made that when paid,
poems have still not been published in the anthologies or include errors. This is an equally
bad alternative to the ISP. That leaves The Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival,
formerly held at Waterloo Village, in Bynam County, New Jersey, every other year.
However, the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival is having problems of its own, and was
left with no choice except to cancel the next event, but it looks like they will be having the
festival in September 2010 after all due to some last minute interventions by organizations
who do not want the festival to be canceled. Since Waterloo Village has shut down due to
financial reasons, it is no longer a feasible site for the poetry festival. The new site will be
announced at a later date and the locations they are considering are Newark, Trenton,
and Jersey City. This is good for me since, no matter which site is chosen, the festival will
be close enough that I can attend.
So, where does rhyming poetry fit in nowadays? Nowhere, it seems. When you consider
almost one-hundred percent of all poetry publications still publish free verse poetry, and
those individuals who control the market don’t want to rock the boat, another avenue for
rhyming poetry has to be found. At this time I don’t know where, but I intend to find one.
Despite the inundation of free verse poetry, I still hear many individuals clamoring for
rhyming poetry. I still get many individuals agreeing with what I have said on my website,
and I still see a need to bring this wonderful art form to the forefront. In the meantime, all
poets interested in rhyming poetry should continue to learn more about the art of rhyme,
and create poems in as many of the rhyming forms as possible. I say: The art of writing
rhyming poetry comes after the practice of writing rhyming poetry. So, let's get rhyming!
Poetically yours,
Eddie Morales
P.S. I will once again update this website on a regular basis.
| International Society of Poets Out of Business |