PRISON POETRY COMPETITION??

I have considered how to write this for a few days... It's really been a week! My ambivalence has been due to my personal feelings on the matter, I want to attempt to remain objective while relating my personal experience.

Recently, I was given a flyer for a prison poetry competition by one of the college staff, initially I disregarded it, after a conversation with someone whose opinion I have come to value I wrote a piece for it.

Personally, I dislike prison poetry and art competitions with a passion. They cannot be transactional due to the fact the only people who have a semblance of winning are the first, second, and third place winners.

Is it really winning when you must surrender the rights to your intellectual property? Submitting to these competitions I have noticed that they require original pieces, the rights to the piece, and they may return the works of those who did not win.

While you wait for deliberation on if you are fortunate enough to be deemed a winner by someone whose qualifications you are unaware of, they are publishing vol. 1 of a poetry book and piecing together vol. 2 from the 997,000 submissions that were not accepted.

 

Prison Poetry and Art Competitions:

 *Are Predatory - Creative inmates don't usually know or believe a real market exists for their work or how to access that market, they see the opportunity to make money. Not realizing or caring they are competing on a national scale.

 *Misleading - Giving away rights to your IP removes your right to your work Rather it is used or not. Who is to say if returned that the returned document isn't a copy of the original or the original wasn't copied.

 *You are not paid as a freelancer or a piece worker.

 

These are a few issues I have with prison poetry competitions. I needed to know what the experience was like, so I wrote one titled 'DREAMORY' I will post it at the end of this. It wasn’t used in anything else, and it was an original piece. I had it submitted by their deadline, and I waited.

 

There was no:

*Thank you or verification email

*Progress update

*Notice of pieces selected

I should have heard something by April 12, 2025.

Honestly, I am grateful for a poor experience. It strengthens my resolve and gives me a baseline of expectations for the BEHIND THE EYES platform and Vol. II when I get the royalty and licensing legalities worked out.

Take care and enjoy!

 

1NF@MOUS!