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The Suspicious Minds of The Realizer.
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Forest Poetry Fantasia
Forest Poetry Fantasia
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Poetry has been a form of sharing stories since the beginning of time. In the 3rd millennium BCE, the oldest surviving poem was written - "The Epic of Gilgamesh". This ignited a spark which led to some of the most famous poems ever, such as Homer's "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad", being written.
As empires fell and new languages were developed, poetry remained an integral part of culture. Poetry became a way of recording history and sharing tales of gods and goddesses. Poets would often share their epics at large gatherings and festivals where hundreds of people would come to listen. Throughout time, poetry has continued to be a way of bringing people together, particularly in the Roman times when poems would be recited in front of thousands in famous amphitheatres.
Fast forward a few thousand years and poetry has evolved from the epics of old to the shorter forms which we know and love today. It's these shorter forms which we are celebrating in this competition. We invite everyone across the NationStates community to channel their creativity and let their imagination run wild!
Format
- The competition shall start on 5th May
- Participants have until the 21st May to submit their poems
- The results will be announced on the 26th May
Categories
- Haiku
- A Haiku is a poem that comprises of seventeen syllables across three lines. With line one having 5 syllables, line two 7 syllables and line three having 5 syllables.
- Although Haikus traditionally are about the natural world, your Haiku can be about whatever you wish
- Freeverse
- A freeverse (or freeform) poem is a poem that has no set structure or length, no consistent rhyme scheme and no set metrical pattern. In other words, you can do whatever you like!
- Your freeverse poem can be about anything you like! This is more of an open category for you to let your thoughts run wild
- The Environment
- This can be in any form you want! The choice is entirely yours!
- The only requirement for this category is that it must be about the environment. You could write about anything from forests to mountains, from pigeons to cheetahs! It's completely up to you! Let your imagination run wild!
- Vision
- Again, this can be in any form you want! The choice is entirely yours!
- The only requirement for this category is it must be about vision. This is a broad topic so let your imagination run wild! You could write about what you see, visions of the future, how lucky we are to be able to see, perhaps even Eurovision! There are no constraints and with such a broad topic, I'm sure you could write a moving poem...
Submissions
- Participants can submit a maximum of 5 poems across the 4 categories
- However, each participants may submit only 2 haikus
- Participants do not have to submit all their poems at once. You can submit them one at a time if you so wish!
- To submit a poem(s), participants should telegram 
Forest Poetry Judge. You can either attach a dispatch with the poem(s) in or write out the poem(s) in the telegram - either is fine...
- All poems shall be proudly displayed in a dispatch throughout the event
- The deadline to submit poems is 21st May
Judging
- All poems shall be judged based on three criteria by a panel of 7 judges, comprised of forestians and foreign trees alike...
- Each of the three criteria shall be marked out of 10, with each poem receiving an overall total out of 30. The criteria are as follows:
- Effectiveness
- How effectively is the point gotten across?
- Is it clear what the poem is talking about?
- Are there certain techniques the writer has used to get the point across?
- Thought
- How much thought has been put into writing the poem?
- Has the writer thought about the words they have used?
- If there is a rhyme scheme, are the rhyming couplets forced?
- Has the writer included any literary techniques?
- Resonance
- Has the writer thoughtfully used literary techniques to make the point more meaningful?
- Is the poem moving in any way? Does it resonate with the reader?
Judges
We're still waiting on confirmation from a few judges from our embassy regions but here are the judges we have so far -
Our esteemed Forest Keeper... Having been hailed as a "literary genius" by all, Zerphen is a great choice to be on this judging panel. |
An ex-Forest Keeper and our current Deputy Forest Keeper! There are rumours that Garbelia may be a direct descendent of William Shakespeare! Those literary skills have definitely passed on through the generations and that's why Garbelia is an integral part of the judging panel... |
They're not a Forest Keeper, or a "literary genius" BUT they do have an 8 at English GCSE. And that's why they are the best, worst part of this judging panel... |
The Region That Has No Big Banks's foreign minister and chess master. Their poem "Back to Banks" has been lauded as one of the best poems of the 21st century by many and that is why we are honoured to have them on our judging panel. |
Rules
As with all great writing comes a few rules...
- Participants must write the poems themselves. NO AI SHALL BE ALLOWED, it won't help you anyway and ruins the point of the event...
- Do not plagiarise the work of others
- Keep all writing PG-13, in line with NationStates's T&Cs
- And most importantly, Have fun!
