During February, I received a questionnaire from Jim Barton, who will serve as the poetry speaker at the June 2009 Arkansas Writers’ Conference. He was researching the subject for his presentation. He asked:
        1. What is the FIRST thing that you look for in a contest entry?  How it looks on the page. I prefer centered and left justified, and if it comes down to the few left as possible winners, that fact tilts in favor.
        2. How big a role does the title play in your judging of a poem?   Not a big role at all, especially at first. Like #1, if it comes down to the “wire” of winning, it will finally count.
        3. How soon can you usually tell a poem is not going to win?   If it has smudges, the name torn off or scratched out; if it includes a cutesy font, or an extremely larger-than-text title; if –reading the first stanza,--it doesn’t follow the rules of the contest; or, if the rest of the poem doesn’t follow the form (meter, rhyme) set in the first stanza.
        4. What are some of the key things that make a poem stand out?  The use of poetic devices: similes, metaphors, alliteration, assonance, inner rhyme. The unusual treatment of a subject.
        5. What are some automatic disqualifiers that you have seen?  See # 3. If push comes to shove, I prefer the poem that does not capitalize every line.
        6. How many readings do you usually give a poem or poems before either passing on them or saving them as possible prizewinners?  During the first reading, I draw a check [√], a check-plus [√+], a check-plus-plus [√++] or a minus [–] at the top. Perhaps a question mark. Usually, I cull the minuses—especially if there are a large number of

entries. The second time, I use a different pen/ pencil to write on the paper. Again, I cull. The third time, I change writing instruments and make a comment. I circle or underline the positive things.
        When our group judges a contest we have sponsored, we all read each poem, giving each [on our own paper] a numerical rating from 1-10, 10 being the highest. I sometimes write out beside the number information to help me remember: rhymed, similes, etc. When all have read, a math whiz or someone with a calculator tallies the scores. Poems with the highest 10 (usually) scores are selected for an audible re-read and the same scoring method ensues anew. At that point, members may make comments defending their scores. After the third reading, again aloud, we rescore, and then choose the six winners with the highest scores. In case of a tie, those are re-read and re-scored. Group judging is a good learning tool for those who have not developed much confidence in either how to judge or how to write poetry.
        7. Have you ever awarded a poem that you did not feel deserved a prize? Why? Yes. Promises made in the contest blurb; lack of entries. The latter reason doesn’t stop some judges who won’t give an undeserved award. Once, I received the highest award in an essay contest and it was only a third place. College and university professor judges generally are the ones who do this. Recently, I judged a novice contest that had only one entry. She, of course, won the prize, but I took the liberty to critique her very, very basic work. She emailed back her grateful thanks and vowed to work on her poem.
        Other judges will have other answers, but these are mine.