2020 Thought Tools Timpani Poetry Competition

 

The announcement for the 2020 Thought Tools Timpani Poetry Competition, posted May 25th, is shown below.  Two poems, Homecoming, and Perch, tied for first place.

 

Thought Tools Timpani is conducting a poetry competition for children and adults of all ages. The poems by the winner and the runners up will be published on this website. A gift card worth $100 will be provided to the winner. 

How to Participate

• Submit your poem by July 31, 2020 to Thought.Tools.Timpani@gmail.com. 
• Please place your poem in the body of the email rather than an attachment to the email, to minimize risk of transmitting computer viruses.
• Include a title for the poem, your age, and how you would like to be identified if the poem gets published.
• You are allowed to submit poems under your name, anonymously, or if you prefer, using a pen name. If you are under 18, please consult your parents for advice on how to be identified on Thought Tools Timpani.
• Feel free to include something about yourself, but this is not required.
• You are allowed to submit up to three poems, each with its own email.
• You are allowed to submit something you wrote a long time ago. Please do not submit a poem covered by a prior copyright, because we want to publish the poems by the winner and runners up in Thought Tools Timpani.  
• If you would like us to include a copyright statement, feel free to submit that with the poem.   We can't guarantee the copyright will be honored by others, but there is no harm including it.
• Please do not submit as your own a poem written wholly or in part by someone else.

Guidance to Children and Young Adults

Do not feel you need to have your poem edited by someone older than you are. Your poem will be considered in the context of your age, and a poem that comes directly from your own thinking and your own heart has a value that's not the same as a poem that's been polished by someone older.  This is not to say you shouldn't work with someone else on your poem if you want to, only that it's not required.  If you want to work on a poem with the help of an adult, feel free to submit it as your own, or under both names and ages. Working on poetry together may deepen relationships in times of stress.  You are also welcome to submit a poem as a team of young people, with all names and ages listed.

Traditional Forms of Poetry

In the distant past, poetry followed specific rules. Today this is less often true. However, if you are new to poetry, you might be curious to see a few of the traditional forms. You are NOT required to use one of these forms, or even learn about them.

Haiku
- a short poem that captures, with apparent ease, a fleeting moment, finding depth in detail
- originated in Japan
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-haiku-poems.html

Sonnet
- a poem of medium length, with a specific structure
- made famous by the English poet William Shakespeare
https://interestingliterature.com/2016/02/10-classic-sonnets-everyone-should-read/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet
https://kids.kiddle.co/Sonnet

Limerick
- a highly structured short poem, intended to be humorous
- originated in Ireland
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/limerick-examples.html

Ballad
- a long poem that tells a story, often sung
- originated in Scotland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballad

What Is Poetry?

Here is a list of some of the qualities a person might seek in poetry.  Feel free to ignore this list.

• Clarity. Is the writer able to control the impression the poem makes on the reader?  
• Imagery.  Does the poem evoke strong images in the mind of the reader?
• Emotion.  Does the poem move us powerfully toward, awe, humor, joy, curiosity, anger, sorrow, calm, inspiration, gratitude or other emotions?
• Originality.  Does the poem surprise us? Does it open us up?
• Depth.  Does the poem have deep meaning?  Has it challenged us significantly?
• Justice.  Has the poem attempted to right a wrong in the world, in a way that's helped us, as the readers, become better people?
• Sound: rhythm and rhyme. Poems are no longer required by society to have a strict structure, but rhythm and the rhyme are sometimes as powerful in poetry as they are in music, whether the poem's structure is regular, as in a Limerick, or irregular, as in the poems of T.S. Eliot and E.E. Cummings.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, readers are likely to be grateful for poems that inspire positive feelings.  Grim poems can be very powerful, profound, ethical, clear and brilliant intellectually, but in this competition, when all is said and done, Thought Tools Timpani is likely to favor writing that uplifts the reader.

Believe in Yourself

Do not believe that Thought Tools Timpani is qualified to judge your poem--no matter what your age is--except from our particular perspectives. We have edited a small school annual poetry publication, and we have written and read poems.  But your poem is judged most importantly by you, and only secondarily by others.  Any poem that becomes famous is judged over many years by many readers, who sometimes disagree strongly with each other about its value.  

What Thought Tools Timpani can give you is an excuse to sit down and write poetry. We are also giving you the opportunity to do your best, and to share your work with others. Enjoy the writing, and love your poem.  In the writing, and in the loving, you gain a sensitivity that will make your life richer, and will not leave you.