This work I’ve allowed myself to be distracted by a competition running on Instagram and it’s been huge fun. The Poetry School and Soda Pictures have teamed up to run a competition to mark the release of A Quiet Passion – a new biopic of Emily Dickinson (in cinemas 7 April). You can read all about it on the Poetry School’s blog where the competition judges explain what they’re looking for:
We want to see poems which use the concentrated visual qualities of an Instagram post to deliver a punch as strong as an Emily Dickinson line. You can use text images, photos of written or typed text, or some other creative or crafty way with words. Think about how ED herself might have used an Instagram account – ‘Forever is composed of nows’ – scrolling slowly through her feed.
Strong contenders so far, in my opinion, include Sophie Herxheimer, Claire Trevien, Pam Thompson and Majella Kelly. You can see all of the entries with this link
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/aquietpassionpoetrycompetition/
I’ve entered three pieces so far. I’m not sure if they’re poems, visual poems, word and image collages, or simply photographs with bits of writing arranged around them. Maybe all of these things. Maybe none of them. Entry is free and the prizes are a generous wad of Poetry School vouchers and tickets to see the film. Deadline is 27th March so there’s time for you to enter. Here are my three entries:
Josephine Corcoran 