Beauty In Horror
Competition: March 1 - March 31st
Entries now closed. Thank you.
Winners Announced Below!
Poster generously created by Cathugger
Winners
The time is upon us and after very difficult deliberation I have decided the winners. Judging this competition, like judging anything, was difficult. There were a great many excellent poems that I hope to release soon. The range of poems was quite diverse from direct narratives of the pandemic to focusing on the effects of the jab. A great deal of loss and pain was expressed in poems as well or musings on what could have been. I was blown away by the quality and overall almost everyone submitted something I would be happy to publish.
Each of the winners has a short explanation from me about what I think it deserved its place. I know I will be judged as much as I have judged on what I chose. It was not easy and like anything my personal whims and what I was looking for are reflected. Truly I wish I had more prizes and awards to give.
1st Place:
Sudden Diaspora by Mothwheat
www.atopthecliffs.com/poetry/2022/4/13/beauty-in-horror-1st-place
This poem to me really captured the emotion that many have felt over the course of the pandemic. Many of us have felt outside of normal society for views we hold yet nothing has been quite as visceral as the feeling of strangeness during parts of the pandemic. This poem really conveyed that sense of alienation that a lot of us have struggled with - further removed from the places we once loved. Of all the poems submitted this to me captured the nature of the experience the best and I think it a worthy winner that one day I could share with my grandchildren.
2nd Place:
First Light by Lily C Kerr
www.atopthecliffs.com/poetry/2022/4/13/beauty-in-horror-2nd-place
This poem is delightful in both message and simplicity. Some of the hardest poems to write are the shortest and most succinct. The ability to convey meaning with careful deliberate word choice is a valuable skill all poets cultivate. Here the subject matter is obvious to all and compliments the meter in a wonderful manner. This is a poem that could easily be read aloud and appreciated by all. It speaks to a beautiful moment and is very fitting to the ultimate theme of the contest.
3rd Place:
The Young Man and the Mother by Herkos Odonton
www.atopthecliffs.com/poetry/2022/4/13/beauty-in-horror-3rd-place
This poem struck me immediately the first time I read it. There are so many stories of people driven apart by the pandemic. There are also many tragic moments captured within the lines here. That sense of loss has been felt by many both from actual deaths and from spiritual ones. The powers that be have whipped those who trust them into a frenzy and set them against each other. The sense of sadness here resonates and I consider it an important part of the horror we have experienced.
My closing thoughts
Judging has also given me a moment of pause and reflection. The powers that be have largely relaxed their biomedical tyranny. Mandates are being struck down, masks torn off and yet still we are surrounded by True Believers. Branch Covidians who are in denial. Rage often sweeps up through me at times when I see some younger looking guy wearing a mask in public still or hear of a friend still unable to do X or Y because they opted not to be jabbed like cattle. They both want us to forget and we know they lust to enact that control again. The coming autumn will be a very interesting time. The fight is not over.
Thank you once again to everyone who submitted - the goal now is to compile a free chapbook of the verse and make it widely available. Will keep everyone posted on the next steps.
Please do keep submitting your work - this project lives and dies by what people submit.
Humbly yours
Arthur Powell
It’s been a long two years…
We have had to live under the yoke of medical tyranny, government incompetence, and Soviet-esque lies.
But I refuse to believe our people are cowed. Many great things have still happened during this time.
This poetry competition challenges you to reflect on this moment in history and produce a work about it. We must do this for posterity. One day our children will look back on this madness and these poems should offer a way to understand it.
Prizes
1st Place - 100$ Gift Card for Antelope Hill Publishing, All three of Imperium Press’s new limited print Hardcover books, a 20% discount code for Agartha Publishing
2nd Place - 50$ Gift Card for Antelope Hill Publishing, a 60% discount code for Imperium Press, a 20% discount code for Agartha Publishing
3rd Place - 25$ Gift Card for Antelope Hill Publishing, a 40% discount code for Imperium Press, a 20% discount code for Agartha Publishing
Rules
You may submit up to two poems, though each poem will be judged upon individual merit and it will not be possible to have both poems place. (You can’t come in 1st and 3rd place)
These must be original unpublished poems.
You may use a pen name or your real name.
They must be about something from the past two years that relates to the ‘Pandemic’. This is a broad scope and whilst the title is ‘Finding Beauty in Horror’ poems of loss or sadness are welcomed. If you are concerned about interpretation an epigraph can be added.
The Competition will run from March 1 - March 31 (ending 23:59 Pacific Time)
Submissions should be emailed in .odt/.doc/.docx format (please no PDFs) to atopthecliffs[at]gmail{dot}com and your email title should make clear it is a competition submission.
Winners will be announced by 2nd week of April.
Guidelines
The past two years have wrought incredible changes upon the world and the societies we live in. At times it feels like we are living in a weird Milgram experiment on monumental scale. In spite of that many fantastic things have happened and even during the bad times good things have come of it. People learned new skills, people fought for their rights, people helped each other out, and the resistance goes on.
I’m looking for poems that could tell a story, or talk of the madness we have seen. Think of what you would want your grandchildren to read as an accompaniment to a dry historical account. What gives life to this time and makes it real.
On a personal note I am not particularly well versed in judging longer poems (more than two full pages) and I wish to be clear about that here.
Good luck to everyone and I look forward to reading your poems.
