Contests: Enter or Not
by Carol Willette Bachofner
A (very successful) poet friend, former professor of mine (poetry) advised me to stop entering contests. He’d already won a few prestigious ones, so this seemed like odd advice. I asked him about this.
“I was probably lucky back then,” he said. “Back when things were not so incestuous in the po-biz. The contest game is just that: a game. Focus on your writing.”
My friend’s caution became a lengthy, lively conversation about who gets acknowledged and rewarded and what it takes, whether or not there is a magical formula to winning, and why the writing is far more important than the winning. (Is it?)
According to him, the motives include: good advertising gig for the folks who run the contests, a stream of revenue, a way to develop readership or membership. I’m left wondering: If this is true, can it be a bad thing? He cautioned me that some contests are automatically going to go to “famous” poets, well-established poets who do not “need” the recognition or the prize money. Certainly a big name can boost readership or membership. But isn’t “discovering” a new voice good for that too?
I agree with my friend that the writing itself ought to top the rest. We write to say something we believe others need to hear/read. Serious writers, “professionals,” want to be recognized. Contest wins, along with being published, can influence writing or teaching careers. But here’s the tricky part: recognized how? and by whom? I like the notion of prizes awarded in categories such as “established,” “emerging,” “first-time entrants,” etc. This seems to level the ground for all. I like no fee contests especially, although I do notice the “big names” don’t seem to compete in these contests.
I have won contests, including a few that paid decently ($100-$1,000). I’ve lost contests where I was disappointed to read the winning poem and thought: What kind of drivel is that? Who the hell decided THAT was a winning poem? I’ve noticed, not infrequently, bigger prizes seem to make the rounds among well-known poets. Although the judging is supposedly “blind,” I often wonder if this is not 100% true. I ask myself if these poets aren’t doing the rest of us dirty by gaming the system. There is no way to be certain.
Edna St. Vincent Millay found bias based upon gender when her poem lost to a male poet whose work was not as accomplished as hers. Others were outraged and she was disappointed. I don’t think that gender is on the bias scale now as it was in her day. But there do seem to be trends to choose poems from certain ethnic or cultural groups. Niche bias. Misogyny may be part or that, but not as obvious as in Millay’s time.
I have judged contests too. I enjoy that. I like when ALL the submissions come directly to me, not “screened” by editors first. I know I can be completely impartial and give every entry equal treatment based solely on the quality of the writing. According to ME . . . and herein lies another problem with contests. What other biases (of the judges) color the judging? Can someone who detests end-rhyme or “first letter of line” capitalizing be unbiased in judging contest poems where these things are present? What about religious bias? “Topical” i.e. writing about pets, babies, etc.? Yes, some people actually dislike poems about pets, or babies, etc. What about writing that has “offensive” language? I am sure all of this comes into play, at least somewhat. I’ll admit to being biased when it comes to certain words in poems: shard, crystalline, muse.
So, what to do? I think it’s a bit of a coin toss. Enter if the fee is small and/or you trust the press or organization. Decide based upon the quality of work that has won before. Match your aesthetic to what you see. Above all, YOU decide according to your fee budget and confidence. Meanwhile, keep writing to improve your poetry. Venture forth as the spirit urges. But remember, as all content instructions warn: send only your best work. According to: YOU.
I’ve thought about my friend’s advice and our conversation so many times. Especially whenever I click the send button to “pay” for a contest entry.
Carol Willette Bachofner is author of 8 books, her latest Every Place I Look, women with embers at their feet (Main Street Rag, 2025), a finalist for a Maine Literary Award. Her unpublished chapbook, A Place For What’s Missing, was a 2026 finalist for The Poets Corner Chapbook Contest, and her poem, “Spring,” is a recent finalist in the inaugural Vincent Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Dawnland Voices, An Anthology of Writings from Indigenous New England (University of Nebraska Press). Find her at carolbach.substack.com.
