is the work on here starting to feel a little stale?  It's provocative and I expect to be hit hard but coming back to PC after a break, I could almost have predicted who would be recently added to picks, who would be on pg 1 of submissions.  And I was bang on. There's a few new faces/voices too which is heartening.

I'm back at the vexed issue of judging.  I wish deeply we could have anonymous submissions.  That way the work would be valued on its merits pure and simple.  Once picked work could be attributed.   I'm sure it's technically possible to come up with a system which uses randomly generated numbers for the submission process.

And so I step away from the podium my modest proposal delivered and wait for the voices in the thunder.

:)

k

Kevin,

is the work being submitted predictable or the behavior on the site?

i think one thing that contributes is the new writers don't say around long.  if anything adverse is said about their poems, they bolt! (i remember i wanted to bolt because my first submission was rejected, and looking back, it should have been :) ).  in addition, i think the people who have been here a while are writing the best stuff (you among them), which contributes to the predictability, if you will.  and, i believe that's because they've worked hard at improving.

it's a good question (one i've thought about as well); unfortunately, i don't have an answer.  

thanks,

tiko

i stayed away for a while because i felt stale and predictable. but i'll be back when i've found a voice i'm happy with.

dear Kevin

an interesting point your raise for discussion
as the Tibetan painters/creators of Thangka
never sign their work

they feel it is a knowing that flows through them
and do not attach their own personality
to a quest for recognition

miles of smiles
silent lotus

Thank you, Kevin.

I take your point, such moments pass
inspiring insolvency, experimental convention
at least we're free, to come and go — fusion
there is no right lingo for this, Kevin, speak up
— hang in there!

Best wishes


D






.

I'm OK with anonymous submissions, but I'm pretty sure it would contribute to plagiarism.  Lots of people think that if you don't put your name with your work that it's public domain and they can grab it.   According to the last time I looked at the copyright convention, ownership inheres in production, signed or no, but there are lots of sticky fingers out there, and I'd hate to lose my work just because somebody didn't know better.  And, given the nature of the Web, once it's out there, it's OUT there. Can't be called back.  And the catchier it is, the more likely this is to happen.

Rick

Thanks all, enjoying and learning from the discussion.

Valuable point you make Rick about anonymous submissions and plagiarism's sticky fingers.  I hadn't considered that angle.

k

It isn't just you.....I don't know about having anonymous submissions.....I think I could pick out Tom or Milner's voice without any name attachment. I've been reading them too long.

Truth is, familiarity breeds contempt.....after a while......we grow tired of what once enchanted us. Probably the best thing to do is what you did...take a break and try to come back with a new perspective.  If you're looking for others to change, you will be dissapointed. We cling to what little we know with squid tenticles.

If you are determined to fuel change, you might try submitting exercises that challenge writers to go in a new
direction. Tom's "word of the day" is an example of what I mean.

d

Lynn's, originally.
But yes, challenges are just that, prods to change.

I think it's easy to get clubby, especially if you build up a relationship with particular writers.  We like them, know their backgrounds, know their struggles, and it's hard not to give them a pass on minor difficulties in a poem.   When I do this (on those *very rare* occasions when I do ;)) the person I'm really going easy on is myself -- not wanting to damage the relationship by being too much of a hardass.

Rick

Not sure Kevin's proposition is clear. It seems the issue is in the "judging." The "judging" is evidenced by the movement of a work to the Editor's Pick and the Front Page. These acts are not the consensus of a contested prize, but the reflection of the taste of the editor making the pick. So the conclusion drawn from the proposition is that the picks are by the same editors and the editors are reflecting little change in their taste. I've been thinking about stepping back from the role and giving room for some new blood.

larry

Larry, what you wrote above has made me want to re-visit the idea of one-editor-picks-a-poem.  What would it hurt to have to have two or three of us agree on a poem?  I would much rather have you active in picking than bowing out to make things more fair.  I may disagree with individual calls, but I think all of us editors are good readers and have something to contribute to our colleagues' development.

Rick

I would love and support the idea of requiring a few editors to agree before a poem is moved to editors pick - I agree and have seen many poems there and wondered why/how/who would put this there - I think having 2 or even 3 editors support and select a poem would make the system much stronger.

This has become an interesting discussion
so i would like to add few thoughts to freely toss around.
silent lotus

There is a certain amount of beauty in diversity

Is there something wrong with each editor having the freedom to express their personal taste ?

Why not list which editor made the pick ?

And the Anthology from last year which we are still awaiting
was supposedly created by only front page selections
but i do not believe there is a registration in the front page
archive as to who made each individual selection.

Also as there has been discussion about how to keep newcomers from leaving PC
after having their work placed in the reject basket .....
i then pose this question to everyone at PC

Does judging by a secrete society build a community spirit ?

There are here also some members that submit poems
and very very seldom offer a response to anyone else's poems
as well as a hundred or so guests each day who just visit.

There are also editor's who have not posted a profile
so that leaves members not knowing at all who is
judging them.

nice idea