poetree | Entries tagged with climbing the poet's tree: comm challenge

As we've seen this past week, despite being written millennia prior, and often remaining only in fragments, ancient poetry can still resonate strongly with modern readers. For our next pair of comm challenges, let's look at modern poetry that draws on or references ancient themes. Poetry was a revered tradition in many ancient cultures, and challenge takers are welcome to look for inspiration in any culture or tradition from a time before 150 BCE.

( Some resources and other links of interest: )
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For Writers:
Challenge #37: Write a poem of any kind responding to a poem written before 150 BCE. Please share both the inspiration poem (a link is fine) and your response in the comments.

For Readers:
Challenge #38: Pick a poem written by someone else* in the last fifty years that you think does an exemplary job drawing on or responding to ancient themes, and share or link to it in the comments.

* While you are welcome to pick them, please note that for the sake of fairness, poems written by our volunteer judge, elisabethhewer, are not eligible for winning.

This round's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) from one of the

poetree admins (

jjhunter or

alee_grrl).

More Contest Details:
( Read more... )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with details; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge.Deadline for both challenges is Saturday, October 4th, 2013 at 6:00 PM EST. Winners will be announced on Sunday.

poetree_admin

jjhunter

As part of our efforts to encourage and support more poetry collaborations for Pod Together 2013,

poetree is issuing three special tie-in challenges. Note that as Challenges #35 and 36 are significantly more ambitious than usual, the corresponding prizes are significantly more substantial.

For Everyone
Sign up to write or record poetry for Pod Together 2013 by June 22nd (signup deadline).

Of those who comment on this post with a link to their signup at

pod_together by the June 22nd deadline, the following day one person will be randomly chosen as the winner. ( Prize options )

For Writers
Draft a poem or poem series of 1,000+ total words for

pod_together by July 20th (day prior to check in #2).

Of those who comment to that effect on this post by July 20th, the following day one writer or writer group will be randomly selected as the winner. ( Prize options )

For Performers
Finalize your audio recording of part or all of a poem or poem series for

pod_together by August 15th (audio files due).

Of those who comment to that effect on this post by August 15th, the following day one performer or performer group will be randomly selected as the winner. ( Prize options )

poetree_admin

jjhunter

Dr. Seuss is as well known for his illustrations as for the poems that accompanied them. As an artist, his strong lines and bold colors have a playful, evocative effect of personality practically bursting off the page and hauling the poet (and readers!) along for the ride.

For our challenge this week, artist Tod Wills (also known as

djinni) has created an illustration of an original character very much in the spirit of Dr. Seuss.
Original art by Tod Wills of a two-legged blue critter with a white stripped tail wearing pointed boots and a crumpled stovepipe hat, from which a curling branch sprouts to tease a very long-necked red bird-creature with almost vestigial wings

Original art by Tod Wills of a two-legged blue critter with a white stripped tail wearing pointed boots and a crumpled stovepipe hat, from which a curling branch sprouts to tease a very long-necked red bird-creature with almost vestigial wings

Your challenge, should you chose to accept it, is to write your own original poem of any length about this mysterious blue critter and his long-necked companion in the style of Dr. Seuss, and comment on this post with the details between now and this Saturday, June 1st, ~~1:00PM~~ 7:00PM EST. Our judge this round is

alee_grrl; the prize is Tod's original watercolor illustration of the art above, which the admins will mail to the winner or a recipient of the winner's choice. Note that anyone is welcome to enter and eligible to win regardless of their affiliation (or lack thereof) with the POETREE community aside from the admins themselves.

( Larger version of the art prompt available behind the cut )

To help people get started, let's begin by brainstorming what makes a poem a "Dr. Seuss"-style poem. How would you describe his poetry to someone who has never read one of his books? What type of words or rhythm 'sounds' like Dr. Seuss?

Last edited 6/1/13 by jjhunter

poetree_admin

jjhunter

Congratulations go to

cadenzamuse and

primeideal, co-authors of the winning poem 'Seating' for Challenge #29.

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For Writers:
Challenge #31: Write a poem of any kind using the following open line:

A week later we sent for a poet

Post your poem or a link to where it posted elsewhere in the comment section.

( Origin )

For Readers:
Challenge #32: Find someone you don't know on Dreamwidth who writes or recommends poetry, and leave a thoughtful comment on one of their public poem posts. Link to your comment in the comment section.

This round's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

jjhunter.

More Contest Details:
( Read more... )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with details; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for both challenges is Saturday, March 2nd, 2013 at 6:00 PM EST. Winners will be announced on Sunday.

poetree_admin

jjhunter

Congratulations again to

primeideal who won Challenge #27, the serial poetry challenge, and

ysabetwordsmith who won the reader's challenge.

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For Writers:
Challenge #29: This past week featured collaborative poetry by

jjhunter and

untonuggan. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to team up with one or more other people to write a collaborative poem of at least ten lines long. You may enter more than one poem, and be part of more than one collaboration.

For Readers:
Challenge #30: Review a published poetry collection or poetry 'zine in your own space. The 'zine or collection in question can be entirely digital, print only, or any combination thereof.

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

jjhunter.

( Details for both challenges )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, February 1st, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

poetree_admin

aleegrrl

This week we're going to allow our challenge to branch out a little. Rather than having individual hosts this week, we are opening things up to community for a week-long challenge. Normally our challenges go up on a Sunday and community members have two weeks to post a comment containing their challenge response itself or a link to that response. For this challenge we will be posting the challenge on Sunday as normal, however, we ask that responses be posted directly to the

poetree journal. You do not have to request a day. If you write your response on Monday and are ready to post it then, you can. If you write it Tuesday and want to post it Friday, you can. The limits are that your post must be an answer to one of the challenges, though poems for the writer's challenge may be posted on separate days, and your post must be up before 11:59 EDT on Saturday, November 10th.

For Writers:
Challenge #27: Write at least two linked poems. You may create your own series, or, if you have the permission of the author, write a poem for an established series. You must have the permission of the author if you are not writing in a series of your own creation. We do encourage people to play, to riff off each others' posts if others are amenable, and to have a good time with this.

Two open worlds to consider participating are

ysabetwordsmith's Schrodinger's Heroes, and Ellen Million's Torn World. If you know of other open worlds that people might like to write two poems for, please provide the information in a comment to this post.

For Readers:
Challenge #28: Write a review of one of the poems posted under the serial poetry tag. Entry needs to be between 1 and 3 paragraphs and should reference how that particular poem fits into or informs the broader picture of the overall series.

This week's prizes:
Since the challenge is a little more difficult the prizes are a bit more substantial. Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 50 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of a bit more than one month of paid time), 3 icons, or 1 15+ line poem continuing zir series. Icons or poem will be created by one of the admins,

alee_grrl or

jjhunter.

( Details for both challenges )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Saturday, November 9, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. Winners will be announced on Sunday, November 18, 2012, which would allow our judge a full week to choose a winner.

poetree_admin

alee_grrl

Congratulations to

gramina who won Challenge #23, the limerick challenge, and

zirconium who won the reader's challenge.

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For Writers:
Challenge #25: This coming week

poetree will be celebrating it's one year anniversary. Anniversaries are often, though not always, celebrations on a particular event. They can be a time of happy remembrance, quiet contemplation, or even mourning. The challenge is to write a poem about an anniversary.

For Readers:
Challenge #26: Of the poems shared in the last two weeks, did any one in particular resonate or stand out in your mind? Share which poem and a brief explanation of why in the comments or on your own blog with a link to that entry in the comments. Week one starts here, and week two starts here.

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

alee_grrl.

( Details for both challenges )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, October 19, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

poetree_admin

alee_grrl

Congratulations to

untonuggan who won Challenge #21, the labor movement themed poem challenge.

untonuggan would have also won Challenge #22, the readers' challenge as she was the only entrant. However challenge rule prohibit the winner of the writers' challenge from winning the readers' challenge.

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For Writers:
Challege #23:

primeideal opened last week with some hilariously fun limericks. This weeks challenge is to write a limerick. Challenge responses may be posted directly in the comments, or you may post your response on your journal and post a link in the comments.

For Readers:
Challenge #24: Share your favorite limericks with others. Is there a reason they are your favorites? If so share a bit about those reasons. Answers do not have to be long and may be posted directly in the comments, or posted on your journal with a link provided in the comments.

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

alee_grrl.

( Details for both challenges )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, October 5, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

poetree_admin

alee_grrl

Announcement: Climbing the Poet's Tree Challenges are going to shift to a bi-weekly rather than weekly schedule. This gives everyone a bit more time to work on challenge responses.

Congratulations to

primeideal who won Challenge #19, the QUILTBAG poetry challenge. There were no entrants for Challenge #20, the readers challenge. Since it has been so long since our last challenge, no one is precluded from winning this round except for

jjhunter and

alee_grrl who are the community admins and thus always ineligible.

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For Writers:
Challege #21: In the United States the first Monday of September is celebrated as Labor Day, and is meant to be a reflection and remembrance of the Labor movement as well as a reminder of how important worker's rights and the Labor movement truly is. This week will be looking in depth at Julia Stein's Downtown Women. So your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a poem relating to the Labor theme. It can be a historical piece reflecting on the movement. It can be an piece on the need for modern day labor reforms. It can also be on one of the many issues connected to the Labor movement, like immigration and women's rights. As Downtown Women shows us, many of these concerns are deeply interwoven with one another.

For Readers:
Challenge #22: Poetry has long been a form of expression within the Labor movement. Share one of your favorite poems using this theme. What causes it to resonate with you? Are there particular word choices or rhythms in the poem that appeal? Answers can be posted as a reply to this thread and do not have to be long. You can also post on your own blog and share a link here in the comments.

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

alee_grrl.

( Details for both challenges )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, September 21, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

alee_grrl

Congratulations to

lnhammer for winning Challenge #17, the solstice challenge. All the entries were beautiful. Thank you to all who participated. There were no entrants for Challenge #18, the readers challenge.

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For Writers:
Challege #19: We have just spent a week celebrating QUILTBAG poetry. So this week's challenge is to write a QUILTBAG themed poem.

For Readers:
Challenge #20: We had some amazing and powerful poems shared this week during our QUILTBAG Pride extravaganza. Out of all the poems shared which one did you like the most? Why? You may answer in the comments or on your own blog. Answers do not need to be long or complex.

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

alee_grrl.

( ”Details )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, July 6, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

alee_grrl

Congratulations to

spiralsheep for winning Challenge #15, the summer haiku challenge. Thanks to all who entered, all the entries were wonderful. Congratulations to

bookblather for winning Challenge #16, our readers challenge.

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For Writers:
Challege #17: The solstice was this past week, marking the day where the days were either at their shortest or longest amount of sunshine depending on which hemisphere you live in. So this week's challenge is to write a poem about the longest day or longest night. It can be about the activities of the day, time itself, waiting, or anything else connected to the topic.

For Readers:
Challenge #18:

serene provided us with some wonderful examples of plain-language poems this week. Which one of the linked poems did you like the most? Why? You may answer in the comments or on your own blog. Answers do not need to be long or complex.

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

alee_grrl.

( ”Details )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, June 29, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

alee_grrl

Congratulations to

ashestosnow for winning Challenge #13, the write an activist poem challenge. Thanks to all who entered, all the entries were wonderful. Congratulations to

untonuggan for winning Challenge #14, our readers challenge.

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For Writers:
Challege #15: As we are now well into summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, this week's challenge will be to write a haiku on summer.

For Readers:
Challenge #16: Do you have a favorite poem about summer? Share it with us in the comments or on your own blog (with a link to that post in the comments here). Please provide a short explanation about why it's your favorite summer poem (can be that you like the particular wording or rhythm, explanation need not be long or complex).

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

alee_grrl.

( ”Details )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, June 22, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

alee_grrl

So we have been asking community members (usually the previous week's winner) if they want to judge the upcoming writer's challenge. So far this has been done on a week by week basis, but it occurs to me it might be easier to just have a list of those interested in being volunteer judges and what week would be best for them (similar to how we handle hosting).

Requirements for being a judge on one of the weekly writer's challenges are minimal. You must let us know you are interested. That's about it. :) We set the deadline for the weekly challenge at 11:59 Eastern Standard (or Daylight--depending on time of year) Time so that our judge has all day Saturday to read through the entries and pick a winner. You send us the name of your chosen winner via private message. We announce the winner Sunday with the next challenge.

If you are interested in being a judge, please comment below. Questions and concerns are also welcome either via comment to this post or a private message to myself (

alee_grrl) or

jjhunter.

Thanks!

alee_grrl

Congratulations to

night_mare for winning Challenge #11, the write a sacred poem challenge. Thanks to all who entered, all the entries were wonderful. Congratulations to

primeideal for winning Challenge #12, our readers challenge.

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For Writers:
Challege #13: This week

raze shared some fabulous examples of activist poetry. This week's challenge is to write a poem on a cause near and dear to your heart.

For Readers:
Challenge #14: Write a short entry on your blog or in the comments section of this post about your favorite activist poem and if possible provide a link to the poem.

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

alee_grrl.

( ”Details )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, June 8, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

alee_grrl

Hi all. The deadline date for the Climbing the Poet's Tree Challenges 11 and 12 will be extended to June 1, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. So if you have a sacred poem you are working on or comments you want to make, you have another week to do so.

Thanks everyone.

alee_grrl

Congratulations to

lnhammer for willing Challenge #9, the write a poem about nature challenge. Thanks to all who entered, all the entries were wonderful. We didn't have any entries for Challenge #10, so no winner to declare for that challenge.

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For Writers:
Challege #11: This week

ysabetwordsmit introduced us to some lovely examples of sacred poetry. Sacred poetry can reflect many religions and spiritual traditions. This weeks challenge is to write a sacred poem.

For Readers:
Challenge #12: Pick one of the poem's shared this week and write a comment about that poem. What struck you particularly, what did you like? Doesn't have to be a long or complicated comment. Link to your comment in a reply to this post. If you've already commented on one of the posts it's okay to link back to that comment.

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a icon or poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

alee_grrl.

( ”Details )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, June 1, 2012 at 11:59 EDT. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

alee_grrl

Congratulations to

zirconium for willing Challenge #7, the "how are you in etheree format" challenge. Thanks to all who entered, all the entries were wonderful. We didn't have any entries for Challenge #8, so no winner to declare for that challenge.

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For Writers:
Challege #9: Many of the poems shared this past week by

snowynight were centered around descriptions of the natural world. This week's challenge is to write a poem centered around descriptions of the natural world, as these poems were. The aspect(s) of nature and the form are up to the writer.

For Readers:
Challenge #10: Pick one of the poem's shared this week and write a comment about that poem. What struck you particularly, what did you like? Doesn't have to be a long or complicated comment. Link to your comment in a reply to this post. If you've already commented on one of the posts it's okay to link back to that comment.

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

alee_grrl.

( ”Details )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, May 11, 2012 at 11:59 EST. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

alee_grrl

Congratulations to

lilmoka for willing Challenge #5, the found poetry challenge. We didn't have any entries for Challenge #6, so no winner to declare for that challenge.

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For Writers:
Challege #7: How are you? (in etheree). Pick a thing or two that sums up how you're doing today, this week, in general, and write about it in etheree format (see the link for details on the form). Link back to you post in the comments.

For Readers:
Challenge #8: Write a post on your blog (or in the comments section if you wish) about your favorite Poetry Month event.

This week's prizes:
Winner of each challenge gets zir choice of 30 dreamwidth points (the equivalent of one month of paid time), or a poem (any format, though some make take more time than others, and on a topic of your choice) by

alee_grrl.

( ”Details )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with links to your poem or comments; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge. Deadline for challenge is Friday, May 4, 2012 at 11:59 EST. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

jjhunter

Congratulations are due to the last round's winner:

untonuggan won Challenge #3 with Up/Down. There was no eligible winner for Challenge #4, though

untonuggan did a lovely fill for that challenge as well (Lizcommotion's "Best of Poetree" posts...Weekly Challenge #4). Thanks go to

ariestess for being our judge for the third challenge.

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For Writers:

Challenge #5: Create a piece of found poetry.

For Readers:

Challenge #6: In honor of Adrienne Rich's passing on March 27th, choose & repost or link to one of her poems in your own space and include a few sentences about why you selected that particular poem and what aspects of it did (or didn't!) work well for you. Alternatively, review a cowboy poem.

This week's prizes:

Winners will receive their choice of either 30 Dreamwidth points (i.e. one month of paid time) or custom digital art icon (100x100 pixels, 300 ppi) on a theme of their choosing made for them by

jjhunter. (Sample of larger piece here.)

More Contest Details:

( Read more... )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with a link to your poem or post; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge.

The deadline for both challenges is ~~Friday, April 13th, 11:59 PM EST~~ ETA: date changed to Friday, April 20th, 11:59 EST. Winners will be announced that Sunday.

jjhunter

Congratulations are due to last week's winners:

ariestess won Challenge #1 with I think Know Your History, and

bookblather was the winner of Challenge #2 with this comment. Especial thanks go to

bookblather for also being our judge for the first challenge.
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For Writers:

Challenge #3: Write a cinquain, an etheree or a triquint.

For Readers:

Challenge #4: This week is your chance to act as the curator of the 'Featured Posts' section on the landing sticky page (Under the Branches of the Poet's Tree). Make and post in your own space a list of POETREE posts that you feel best showcases all the comm has to offer. At least two of your featured posts must be 'vintage', i.e. posted between 10/1/11 - 1/31/12, and two 'recent', i.e. posted in February or March; otherwise length is entirely up to you.

This week's prizes:

Winners will receive their choice of either 15 Dreamwidth points or a new audio recording of

jjhunter performing a poem of their choice (audio samples here); if the poem is longer than 40 lines J.J. reserves the right to only do a 30-40 line selection instead of the whole thing.

More Contest Details:

( Read more... )

Note that you do not have to be a member of POETREE, or even Dreamwidth for that matter, to participate. When you complete one of the challenges, please comment at this post with a link to your poem or recommendation list; if you complete both, please comment separately for each challenge.

The deadline for both challenges is Friday, March 30th, 11:59 PM EST. Winners will be announced that Sunday.