There are recurring grumbles/enquiries etc about the "poem of the week" feature, recently introduced to WOL.

Printed below for members reference is the original announcement outlining the launch.

Write Out Loud is launching a new feature called Poem of the Week, to recognise the high quality of poetry that is regularly produced on this site. Each week a member of Write Out Loud’s editorial team will take a turn in picking their favourite poem that has been blogged in the past few days. They will contact the poet, ask permission to feature it, and also pose a few questions that will provide some background to the poem - and the poet, too.

Arguably, all poetry judgments are subjective. So Write Out Loud’s Poem of the Week doesn’t have to be the most viewed poem on the site that week, or even the most technically accomplished – just the one that has caught a particular WOL team member’s fancy that week.

Those with long memories will recall a Poem of the Month feature that ran for quite a while on Write Out Loud a few years ago. We know there are quite a few of you out there that miss items like that. Watch out for the first Poem of the Week … coming early next month!

i will swiftly and brutally weigh in with my pennyworth then retreat to my cave to seek solace in the football.

firstly, i have enjoyed each and every poem of the week so far to an extent. several of them i had not read and the one the other week (i think it was about unicorns) was brilliant and i completely missed it when it came on. a plus and no mistake.

secondly, human nature is such that seeing ones mug and poem on the front of a damn fine poetry website is only going to encourage that person to write more and share more. a plus and no mistake.

another part of human nature is curiosity. since the feature began, i have wondered who picked the poems, what shady, satanic ritual was used to divine the true poem of the week from the pretenders. i would, personally, love to know who picked it for that week. and you know what, i would also love to know the reasons as to why they chose it. and here's why. i want to learn about poetry. i come on here to share and enjoy and educate myself. if greg (wild swing at a name here, no inference) chose this weeks poem of the week, i'd love to know why. maybe i'm missing something he has picked up on. as the people who choose essentially run this site, i assume they have a good poetic brain.

so thats why i'd like to know.

equally, i am happy not knowing and enjoy the feature.

a final note.

if people really are itching to know why, what, who, why then why not simply tell them.

or put it to a vote at the end of the week. this would also increase your clicks.

its only human to be a bit gutted when your not picked. whereas people of lesser make and model (i'm looking at you poetrysoup) would simply spit their dummies out and wail, at least people here are transforming that disappointment in positive ways.

so, in closing, i think the problem here is the veil of secrecy. the above post (sorry graham) will only add to peoples imaginings of a evil, WOL cult, sacrificing virgins to the alter of poetry.

transparency is, surely, the key to resolving this issue.

having said that, your all volunteers, so you can do what you bloody well want.

thanks for reading, i await my ROTW interview with baited breath...

(rant of the week)

Graham,
At your request I have transferred my comment on the latest POTW to this discussion thread, but I would like the original to be left in situ to give my remarks context and give viewers a chance to see the remarks, as the majority do/will not see the thread.

Here it is:

Poem of the Week - I am not one to pull my punches, so I'll ask the question that must be on many people's lips:
How did this piece get chosen? It was only commented on by 3 people (not including the author) all week, and has not raised a whole heap of favourable reviews since the announcement. It begs a return to Lynn Hamilton's question as to who is judging. No offence is meant by me as far as Matthew is concerned and I wish to make it clear that I do not want any of my own pieces considered for this esteemed honour until I know who is behind it.
Rob

To add more flavour I believe Stu has voiced, probably in a more erudite way, what I was particularly troubled by. Why can't WOL be more transparent, have the editorial member expand on why they were drawn to the piece and let us all learn something?
Rob

And I will include my reply on this thread too...

Hi Robert,

I'm interested in how you consider that comment not to be offensive to me? And actually to anyone who writes poetry. Would it not be fair to say that poetry is a form of self expression? And as such we connect best with whatever language and themes come out naturally? I agree, I don't get massive amounts of views and comments for my work but that's ok with me. These things take time. When I've been here a while I guess the comments will flow. I'm not here for a competition. I'm here because I love it and because I want to learn. The greater the exposure, the more I learn. Why should it matter whether work is chosen by one person or by committee? I'd rather it were chosen by one person anyway, because then the connection is real rather than cold, academic structures and balancing out of the varying judgements of different views on "what makes good poetry". To me, the Art community and the poetry community is best served by people who cherish each other's efforts and the diversity of what is created. I'm not a great poet. I don't claim to be. But I write genuinely and for genuine reasons. I think that by worrying about who judges this thing you're completely missing the point of why it exists. That reason being that it gives people a voice rather than reserving that voice for those within a culturally elite clique.

May I request your critique on my work Robert? That seems a more valuable use of the comments section for my work when I state on my profile the request for feedback. Positive or negative please, as long as it's said in a kind way unlike your previous message.

Yours with good intent, kindness and clumsy, awkward words that I enjoy writing,
Matt

Stu does make a valid point that it's nice to know who chose you and why. Nonetheless, I appreciate this site for providing a generally safe and caring site to share and to learn.

Yep, as I said, I'd be interested to know :)

As has been so very wisely said, poetry is subjective. You don't have to like a particular POTW. You may even hate it. You may passionately believe that you submitted a blog that week which was better, which knocked it into a cocked hat, and you may sit in front of your computer and seethe at the injustice of it all. Or maybe you read and re-read the poem and find something in it you wouldn't otherwise have seen: a use of rhythm and rhyme you hadn't previously noticed, a richness of language, a sense of humour, a vivid image, a striking metaphor. Perhaps you try and try and in the end still think "Nope, it's rubbish."

All of that is fine. We're not here to tell you what to do. Although I would quietly suggest that in poetry – as in all things – it's worth bearing in mind the old adage that if you can't say something nice, say nothing. Few things appear more graceless than publicly denigrating another poet's work.

We're not going to tell you you have to 'like' the fact that the choice of POTW is made anonymously, either. But I am going to ask you to accept that's how it's done. This site relies on the hard work of a small team of volunteers. They do so because of a love of poetry, not because they necessarily desire the limelight, or having to justify why they chose a particular poem. Reading each and every one of the blogs posted that week, assessing them, drawing up a shortlist, and mulling it over, that's a lot of work. And it's all done to bring a new element to the site, add a little bit of fun, and give individual poets – who may be starting out in writing, like Matthew, or be old hands at it, like Mike Watts – a chance to put their work in front of a bigger audience. There's no money involved, there's no prize. Just the knowledge that their poem caught the eye of the person making the choice that week. It's simply a bit of fun, and I think its presence has already enriched the site and proved both enjoyable and successful.

As I said, a lot of work goes into making that happen. It's done on the basis of anonymity. Without that, some of the people involved wouldn't want to take part. That would, in turn, increase the workload on the others, which would very likely mean they'd decide it's too much, and POTW would cease running. I think that would be a very great shame.

However, there's no reason why any contributors to the site should be compelled to have their work considered for POTW if they don't want to. If you'd rather your work isn't eligible, simply add a comment below the blog. Something like "I do not wish this poem to be considered for POTW" will be fine. (In accordance with your wishes, Rob, your poems will not be considered for POTW until you tell us otherwise.)

Finally, you may notice that Lynn Hamilton's comments have been removed from this thread. Lynn publicly left WOL a few weeks ago, and we're currently in discussion with her about her possible return. Until such point as those are concluded, we've told her that posting privileges are denied.

Great post Steve. I think that this is clear and honest. I also teach and sometimes we have to ask a student to accept a rule even though they don't like it or understand it. The point being that sometimes we just don't agree and have to put our differences aside to focus on the positive stuff that brought us all together in the first place... In this case poetry.

Perhaps as a competition we could write a poem called "Poem of the Week" about "Poem of the Week", and then have a debate about which poem about "Poem of the Week" should win, and why. Or maybe not. Back to work..
Or maybe not..

Here the latest update from one of my favourite UFO YouTube channels. Pay attention! Learn something debunkers!
https://youtu.be/slVI9IItZbs

I'm well up for that Suki! Let's do it!

I have no problem with not knowing who chooses the Poem of the Week. Human nature dictates: name a person; suspect a bias.

Selection must involve a lot of work, and from volunteers of disparate tastes. I'm sure they bring personal criteria to a choice, but I don't want to press them for reasons. I am sufficed with: 'I just liked it.' My work may not entice anyone on the list of choosers.

If we really want Poetry to become a more universal pleasure, in certain circumstances we have to lose the pedantry, and I think this is one of those situations. So, I say, respectfully, 'Debate is not part of the concept. POW is not a contest after all, but a simplistic feature to encourage writers at all levels. Comment to lend support, or say nothing at all.'

We should keep plugging for poetry critiques because I thrive on them. Set up a different type of 'contest' with no claws barred on poetical techniques. And watch the metaphorical fur fly. Oh, yes!

Done! See my latest blog. Cheers

I am writer of POTW this week and I must say I am happily surprised - I did not rate my 'Brisbane Road' poem that highly - had maybe performed it twice in the past year as I didn't think it cut the mustard.
I gave it quite an edit - removing around 100 excess words - and hopefully sharpening and improving it a bit - brevity is next to godliness in poetry (for me anyhow) - it does seem to go well with listeners though - I performed it a couple more times recently and find it is nearly 'there'.
If nothing else the POTW recognition here has helped lift me out of an inspiration cul de sac. So many thanks indeed.

I'm with Rick, above, I wasn't sure of the quality of my POTW, still a step away from godliness myself, but it has lifted my poetic voice, it is a real encouragement, and I'm happy that it is the choice of one member of the WOL staff on any given week. If nothing else the poet gets a glance from many of the WOL poets, which is worth quite a bit. I like my poem more now, by the way. & congratulations to you Rick.

Thanks so much for your feedback, Rick and Dominic. Reading your comments, I could jump up and down for joy, because what you say – about the effect of POTW on your appreciation of your own work – is *precisely* what we hoped might be one of the results of re-introducing this weekly venture.

Write Out Loud offers a platform where poets can share their own work, read other poets work, and be encouraged to use the site to develop their writing. I've always believed that feedback, comments, and recognition can do wonders for a poet's sense of the value of their work, and reading your comments confirming that has just put a big grin on my face. Thank you.

I submit some poems to one site where the quality is pretty low and it used to hurt like mad when their 'poem of the week' variant was some piece of doggerel that made my jaw drop at its sheer awfulness - usually written by an attractive female (I'm sure there's no correlation) but the pain has eroded over time, now I just grin.
Our poetry can be like babies entered into a beauty competition, our words are precious to us, and to see them (intentionally in our minds perhaps) passed over for (that we perceive as) less charming ones spikes indignation.
Poetry open mics can be cockpits of jealousy and rivalry but as a good pal once said, "Their poetry might be crap but they ain't going out mugging old ladies."

I joined WOL and put up a poem, and it got chosen as a pick of the month. Thus began a beautiful friendship between me and WOL.
Everybody loves a bit of appreciation. It is really great to give people an accolade when they have put something up for others to read and try to fathom.
I think its good to have a pick of the week poem.

Oh Lordy.

This old chestnut again...

Ha ha Russell, you like to sneer and be avant gard but I bet you would also like to be picked and appreciated.
Chestnuts are good for you.

Poet of the Week also had the impact mentioned above on me when I received the honour a couple of months ago. It gave me a bit of confidence in my work which was a relief. I also benefitted, I think, from the opportunity to defend my poetry and the praise of my defence of my work. So, even when you take a little stick, I still think that Poet of the Week is a great addition to WOL and something would be lost without it ?

Hi Freda

In fact I have already been picked (Aug 2009) and I did indeed enjoy the appreciation that it generated. As you probably recall, it was Poem Of The Month in those days and was decided by a different system - the writer of each POTM being asked to select their successor, and to write a few lines explaining their choice.

However, this also eventually caused mass consternation on the discussion-boards, and the system was changed.

Apologies if I came across as sneering and avant-garde. Neither were intended. It just seems a shame that people can't simply enjoy POTW for what it is, and feel pleased for the selected poet rather than making a fuss about it. Even if one doesn't like the poem oneself, it's a good opportunity to exercise the critical faculties and ask oneself why it might appeal to other people.

It almost seems that, when it comes to POTW/POTM, the poor old WOL team can't win. Thank heavens there's no money riding on it - imagine the hoohah there'd be then!

I am sorry Russel, I obviously misunderstood your meaning. What was the old chestnut then? Maybe I should not have assumed I knew what you meant. I thought you were referring to what I wrote, but it could easily havecreferred to something said earlier.

Hi Freda

I was just referring to the things that Graham mentioned when introducing the thread: the fact that there had been some 'grumbles' about POTW. It gave me a sense of deja vu...

Apologies for any offence caused.