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Thursday, June 12, 2014

Winning a Poetry Award


 

Thank you to the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick for continuing to hold the annual writing competition, now in its 29th year. 
 
Congratulations to all of the winners and to those who received Honorable Mention in 2014.   I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the competition, and am delighted to have won an award this year.

My poem “The Late Season” won in the Individual Poem category.  The independent judge had this to say:
Carol Steel’s “The Late Season” has an Impressionist quality to it.  Her simple and direct language is judiciously chosen, without literary effect getting in the way.  Here is a good example of straightforward language used to maximum effectiveness.  The painting of rural scene offers a picture of the edge of a field “bending” toward the remaining years.  The delicate juxtaposition of “goldenrod and / yellowed grasses” with “the chickadee flits” is Impressionist pigment in words.

Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick
Winner in Individual Poem Category 2014
Judge Sean Wiebe, Prince Edward Island

 I wrote this poem in the late autumn last year, at a time when life seemed fragile.  It took three months of fiddling with it, to pare down to the fifty-five words it became.  I won’t post the poem here or on Facebook, as that is considered publishing and would preclude submitting it for real publication.  I have avoided placing any of my poems on the internet for over a year because of this restriction.  Those poems which do exist on my blog are early work or rough drafts.

Writing is often a lonely activity.  I hunker down after the initial burst of ideas and words, to re-write, again and again, searching for the best words to say what I’m struggling to express.  I belong to a writing group which listens and supports and asks hard questions.  I re-write, sometimes putting the work away for months to return to it with fresh eyes.  But most of this writing is done alone, which is why it is encouraging to receive positive feedback.

Thank you to the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick for the award. 

 I am delighted and grateful.


Apology:  When I transferred this blog entry from Word to the blog site, the line spacing became confused and I am unable to sort it back.

10 comments:

Gwen Buchanan said...

Congratulatons my Dear... you well deserve it... your hard work has paid off and you have been recognized. I am so happy for you. xo

Carol Steel said...

Thank you, Gwen. I appreciate the award but also recognize that despite hard work, there is also a lot of plain luck in winning.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations again
You we'll deserve the recognition
Gary

Carol Steel said...

Thanks for all of you support through the learning process. You've been wonderful. I know it's a typo and you mean "well" not "we'll", but I laughed when I saw that. Why? Because you more than anyone should be able to include yourself in the recognition, having listened to so very many versions of my writing as they evolve.

Margie said...

Wonderful news.
Congrats Carol

Carol Steel said...

Thank you, Margie.

Jane Tims said...

Hi Carol. You poem was lovely. I liked how it ended, hope contained in one small seed. You read well too ... Very enjoyable evening. Jane

Carol Steel said...

Thank you, Jane. I appreciated your support that evening and all the pointers you've shared along the way. You've taught me a lot and I am grateful.

Neil said...

Yeah, sure! That's great, Carol. But I really think I should've won.
And deep down, I know you agree.
Neil

Carol Steel said...

Well, Neil, as you guessed, your submission likely fell down the back of the desk. So they had to give me the award instead. I know you're joking. Thanks for your kind words and support at the event.