Poetry and Recipes Contest

Every time I think I've seen every kind of writing contest possible, another one comes along. This morning, I received notice of one I'd never have even considered. Poetry and Recipes!

The Walt Whitman House in New York state is sponsoring the contest. The winners will be included in an anthology to be sold as a fundraiser for the poets historic home.

The poem must be about food and a recipe must accompany the poem. No more than 32 lines for the poem and there is a $10 entry fee. But wait--that $10 allows you to enter three poems and recipes, and if you are so prolific that you have more, each additional entry is only $5. There are monetary prizes for the top three winners, but the others selected for the book win only a copy of the anthology. Weigh the pros and cons to see if you think it's worth the entry fee.

If you're interested, go to www.waltwhitman.org/component/eventlist/details/49 to read the full set of guidelines. Make sure you follow them carefully. Deadline is June 30, 2011.

Spend some time today thinking about a recipe you might use, something that would produce a poem to go with it. Ode To An Apple Pie perhaps or  How Do I Love Thee Cranberry Sauce  This whole concept strikes me as rather humorous but even so, it piques my interest, too. I've entered a contest at the  womens memoir website that asks for a memoir piece about a recipe and requires the recipe accompany the prose, so why not a poem?

Note that the guidelines state that chefs can enter and also that the poem can be a collaboration. Which means that maybe a chef can cook like a pro but write only Roses are red... kind of poems, so he needs help. Seems a bit unfair to me, but the people running the contest didn't ask my opinion!

Let me know if any of you enters the contest. And if so, my best wishes for a happy outcome.