Saturday 12 April 2008

Reading Poems


OK, so back to my premise, there are reading out loud poems and reading on the page poems and, surtitles excluded, they usually aren't found in the same poem. Although in saying that, there can be poems that are one type of poem if you just hear them and when you read them on paper, you get a whole new interpretation or slant to them.

Anyway, I just didn't get Sinead Morrisey's poem "Through the Square" window which was judged the window of the highly prestigious and rich National Poetry Prize. I thought it was just me. I can be quite thick on poems. And stories, sometimes. And films too. I got all the way to the end of The Sixth Sense without twigging. She read it at the Poetry Now festival (not a reading out loud poem, I suggest) but that was the right thing to do although, if she mentioned it won the competition, I missed that bit. I didn't get it/ Was it about Playschool ("Through the round window, the arched window or the square window, children?")

And I read it too online and I still didn't get what quality made it the winner. And then it turns out, I was not alone. Carol Rumens in the Guardian agreed with me. If she had been judging, it wouldn't have won.

And the lesson here, apart from that there are reading out loud poems etc..., is that just because your poem/story/novel/screenplay doesn't win or get shortlisted in a competition, or accepted in a magazine or by an agent or staged or whatever, doesn't mean there isn't someone else out there who will recognise the quality that makes it uniquely yours and a winner.

7 comments:

Roger Stevens said...

I thought the poem was okay, had some nice images and a good atmosphere. Not sure if I'd have awarded it a prize though.

Carol Rumens' review reminds me of that Billy Collins poem about creative writing classes. which I would quote here but is in a box many miles away from where I am right now.

Page or Stage. Some poems manage both I guess.

Colm Keegan said...

Interesting post Kate - I don't get that poem either - saw you in lucan library today by the way!

Emerging Writer said...

You saw me in a library and didn't say hello?! Did you see me in the Trib today?

Group 8 said...

I didn't see you in the library but I saw you in the paper! Well done and best of luck.

Padhraig Nolan said...

Hey, what did you have in the trib?

BTW I've referred to this post on my review of the Strong Reading over on my blog. cheers, PJ

Emerging Writer said...

Hi PJ, I'M up for the Hennessey Award for Emerging fiction Writer. Fingers Crossed

Padhraig Nolan said...

Excellent, well done you! fingers Xd here too!