Contest Winners

This morning we announced the Eye On Life Poetry Contest 2011-2012 Winners and Honorable Mentions.  They will be featured during in the first week in March on the Poetry Locksmith and Poetry Unlocked pages.  Please stop by and see.

Before the end of the day today I will post a new poem by Donal Mahoney.  Always worth checking out.

Contest Winners to be Announced Feb. 20th

We will be announcing the winners of the third annual Eye On Life Poetry Contest tomorrow, Monday, February 20th.  Do stay tuned

Now the Poetry Unlocked section of Eye On Life will feature audio recordings of poets who are kind enough to send us an audio file.  Our debut into audio was made possible by Elizabeth Swados, who sent us our first mp3 files.  Now you can stop by Eye On Life and not only read great poetry, but hear it, too.

Almost Ready and…

Almost, almost done with judging the 2011-2012 Eye On Life Poetry Contest.  Almost time to award the $100 first prize and $50 second prize the two books of poetry as third prizes.  Almost.

But today we are featuring a poet new to Eye On Life, Elizabeth Swados.  She sent us some great stuff!  You should stop by and check it out.

Coming up next week, Donal Mahoney and hey, we might be announcing those contest winners.

Now for the Hard Part

Now that the deadline has past, it’s time to start judging the works of the poets who entered.   Who’s judging?  Not me.  A panel of poets whose opinions I respect will score the poems.  Their cumulative scores will determine the winners.  Stay tuned.

This Tuesday: EOL Poetry Contest Deadline

Midnight Eastern Time on January 31st is the deadline for the third annual Eye On Life Poetry Contest. There is still time to enter. Fame, glory and the one hundred dollar first prize could still be yours – but you know what they say. If you don’t enter, you can’t win.

EOL Poetry Contest Countdown: 10 DAYS TO GO

Only ten days left to enter the Eye On Life Poetry Contest for 2011-2012.  

Just sayin’.

We have a number of entries now that should make it easy on the judges, but who wants to make it easy on the judges?  Odds are still great for winning the $100 first prize.  In my totally unbiased opinion – hey,  you should go for it, bucko.

Remembering Cris

It’s not like Cris Advincula and I ever met, yet I felt a kinship with him that will last beyond his life and perhaps mine, too.

Today Cris died unexpectedly from complications of diabetes.  He was a young man, on his computer, probably creating compelling poetry or images as was his wont.  He was ever an inspiring and community building man, always with a positive outlook.   Even when the tsunami took everything, still he was able to take it in stride.  His strength and his creativity remain as totems and exemplars to us, we who are left behind to try to grasp some corner of his genius before it is blown off into oblivion by the winds of time.

Three Weeks and A Day

Twenty-two days left in the Eye On Life Poetry Contest.  A few more entries have come in, but there is room for many more.  Already, however, I can see that our panel of judges will have their work cut out for them as they decide the winner, both because of the quality of the entries and their eclectic variety.

This week at the Poetry Locksmith we are once again highlighting a sampling of poetry events around the United States, in California, New York, Chicago, Massachusetts and North Carolina.  I am always amazed at the number of quality poetry events that are available, and I know that we are only scratching the surface.  The current of poetry runs deep in America as it does elsewhere in the world.

Less Than Four Weeks to the EOL Poetry Contest Deadline

I would just like to remind everyone that the deadline for the Eye On Life annual Poetry Contest is January 31st.  We have only a few entries so far, so odds are still good to win the $100 first prize, $50 second prize or a book of poetry for one of two third prizes.  Take your time, but don’t miss the deadline!

Meanwhile we have some new work up from poets Donal Mahoney and Jason Alan Wilkinson.  Please stop by and enjoy their fine work.

I take great pleasure in publishing the work of such fine poets.  This time Donal gives us a chuckle and Jason makes us run for the dictionary.

This Week at Eye On Life Online Magazine: Jason Alan Wilkinson

Jason possesses one of the most eloquent vocabularies of any poet I have encountered.   His word play is esoteric and challenging.  Some might be daunted by his eclectic word choices, but if your command of the far reaches of the English language equals his or you don’t mind referring to a dictionary to expand your understanding of a poem, please stop by and read his exceptional work.

Click here for Jason’s bio and links to his poems at Eye On Life.  

I will be rereading them and looking up those words over which I stumbled again so that I get a good grip on their meanings.  Previously un-encountered words are like finding a fifty-dollar bill in the street.