Iraq War Poetry Contest
In 2004 I held a contest for poetry about the war in Iraq and published the best of it. Three years later, with the war grimmer than ever, I’m now holding a second such contest.
The inspiration for the contest comes from the poetry of Wilfed Owen or Rupert Brooke, because they often seem the most incisive critics of the current war — even though they died long ago and were writing about World War I. Somehow the ugliest of human pursuits, war, often seems to produce the most refined of literary achievements, from Homer on. And so let’s see what Iraq can inspire today.
I particularly welcome poems from people who have served in Iraq. My own tastes in poetry tend to be fairly traditional, but feel free to write as you see fit. I hope to run a column in June with a couple of the best poems, so only submit your own poems and make sure you have the rights to it (if it has been published somewhere else). And Times sensibilities are often more delicate than poetic sensibilities, so avoid potentially offensive language that would make it harder for me to publish your poem in the paper.
To enter a poem, send it to iraqpoems@gmail.com. The copy sent to the gmail address should have your real name and a contact phone number.
Comments