Earlier this month I received a brochure from Green River Writers, Inc., located in Louisville, KY. I'm not sure how I first heard about this group, but a few years ago I submitted to one of their contests.
And I won the Jim O'Dell Memorial Poetry contest, which is for limericks, standard form (5 lines) wild and absurd.
I've never claimed to be a poet, but for some reason I'm drawn to this form of writing. Marcia G., the poetess in our group, says it's because of my Irish heritage. Maybe so.
I've decided to give it a go again. I wasn't able to attend critique group today, and our group doesn't critique poetry (with rare exceptions). So, I e-mailed three limericks (two I recently came up with and one I had already written) to our members and asked them to vote on their favorite if they had time. Did I mention how generous our members are?
The response was unanimous. Everyone selected #3, a poem I wrote a few years ago that won a small prize in a humorous poetry contest with a theme about summertime, sponsored by a Missouri poetry group.
I also dug out a short story I've polished and am revising a nonfiction piece I plan to submit--if I can finish in time.
Green Rivers Writers has a total of 15 contest categories, mostly poetry, but also short fiction, first chapters of novels, creative nonfiction, and scads of poetry categories--from country music legends, small town observations, the thing under the bed, and others.
Entry fees range from $3 to $5 for nonmembers.
If you want to find out more about Green River Writers and their contests, here's a link to the categories and guidelines.
Act fast; the deadline is September 30.
Good luck if you enter!
