What made me laugh today...

[Tannin]

Poets who have written about love, happiness, pain and mortality in Indigenous [sic] communities are among the finalists..... The $5,000 prize ... encourages Australian poets to write about religion and spirituality.

[this turkey] lives just down the rd....and I'm blacker than he is.

Where does it say he has to a member of an indigenous community to be eligible? Are there extra rules not in the quoted text? Or could you and I enter (assuming that we are both (a) Australian, and (b) poets)?

[3.14159]

This (Anglo-Saxon) bloke's poems are supposed to speak for Australian Aboriginals, about aboriginal issues and what it means spiritually to be aboriginal.

Then he changes his name to enter a competition to win a $$$ prize with-out informing the organisers of the award.

....to me that's wrong, bugger the rules, what-ever they are.

[Tannin]

What is his old name? Should we have heard of him?

[stui magpie]

This (Anglo-Saxon) bloke's poems are supposed to speak for Australian Aboriginals, about aboriginal issues and what it means spiritually to be aboriginal.

Then he changes his name to enter a competition to win a $$$ prize with-out informing the organisers of the award.

....to me that's wrong, bugger the rules, what-ever they are.

What does it say about the judging panel if a white bloke with no indigenous connections actually wins?

[HAL]

I like to learn foreign languages.

[David]

Damn poets, rorting the system as usual!

Some might say it's an impressively Dadaist move, but that might not wash with the judges...

[Tannin]

What does it say about the judging panel if a white bloke with no indigenous connections actually wins?

So far, we have seen no evidence whatsoever posted to show that the award is intended to go to Aboriginal people. Unless there is something in the rules that has not been posted here yet, there as absolutely no reason why a white man should not win. Or an Asian woman. Or a South American child. From what I have seen of the rules so far, the judges are supposed to be looking for a great poem. If there are other, secret rules, let's hear about them.

[David]

I think the confusion may lie in the first paragraph:

This made me laugh!

Blake Poetry Prize finalists announced
Updated Fri Oct 5, 2012 9:15am AEST

MAP: Australia
Poets who have written about about love, happiness, pain and mortality in Indigenous communities are among the finalists for this year's Blake Poetry Prize.

Seven poets have been picked from more than 400 entries from around the country.

They are Mick Ringiari and David Bunn from Victoria, Graham Kershaw from Western Australia, the ACT's Geoff Page and Christopher Kelen, and David Musgrave and Carmel Summers from New South Wales.

The $5,000 prize, which will be presented in November, encourages Australian poets to write about religion and spirituality.

As far as I can tell, it's not a specifically Indigenous poetry prize and not all of the finalists have necessarily even written on Aboriginal matters.

The link here seems to confirm that:

http://www.blakeprize.com.au/about/the- ... etry-prize

[stui magpie]

And based on the criteria,

Poets who have written about about love, happiness, pain and mortality in Indigenous communities

I re state my point, what does it say about the judges if a white bloke with NO indigenous connections actually wins?

the author could be any race, no doubt, but you'd think that to be able to write a decent piece about what happens in indigenous communities, you'd want to have more info than watching NITV on foxtel.

[Arch@M32]

My girlfriend, "where does our rain come from?"
Me, "the sky'.
Girlfriend, "no, what direction?"
Me, "comes from up there and falls down."
Girlfriend, "No!, is it usually form the north, south, east or west?"
Me, "west."
Girlfriend, "Which way is that?"

She'll be a doctor next year.

[stui magpie]

My girlfriend, "where does our rain come from?"
Me, "the sky'.
Girlfriend, "no, what direction?"
Me, "comes from up there and falls down."
Girlfriend, "No!, is it usually form the north, south, east or west?"
Me, "west."
Girlfriend, "Which way is that?"

She'll be a doctor next year.

Ha ha ha ha

[3.14159]

I'll send the Blake people an email and they can do what they like with it.

if you want to know his name, ask david
i've betrayed enough tonight.

[Morrigu]

My girlfriend, "where does our rain come from?"
Me, "the sky'.
Girlfriend, "no, what direction?"
Me, "comes from up there and falls down."
Girlfriend, "No!, is it usually form the north, south, east or west?"
Me, "west."
Girlfriend, "Which way is that?"

She'll be a doctor next year.

Ha ha ha ha

Sounds pretty spot on

[David]

And based on the criteria,

Poets who have written about about love, happiness, pain and mortality in Indigenous communities

I re state my point, what does it say about the judges if a white bloke with NO indigenous connections actually wins?

the author could be any race, no doubt, but you'd think that to be able to write a decent piece about what happens in indigenous communities, you'd want to have more info than watching NITV on foxtel.

Stui, you missed the most important part of the sentence:

Poets who have written about [...] Indigenous communities are among the finalists for this year's Blake Poetry Prize.

That's not criteria, it's just a description of the content of some of the entries.

[Tannin]

I re state my point, what does it say about the judges if a white bloke with NO indigenous connections actually wins?

Nothing. Nothing whatsoever. Well, it states that they thought this was the best poem.

A prize for poetry isn't like an Order of Australia or a footy club "best clubman" award (these are prizes for being someone), it is like a Norm Smith Medal or a Victoria Cross (these are prizes for doing something and it doesn't matter who you are). Notice that it doesn't matter if you are a saint or a complete arsehole, if you kicked 14.4 and were the best player on the day, or you stormed the foxhole and saved your mates, or if you wrote one brilliant poem - then the award is yours.

the author could be any race, no doubt, but you'd think that to be able to write a decent piece about what happens in indigenous communities, you'd want to have more info than watching NITV on foxtel.

How do we know this person hasn't had anything to do with indigenous communities?

But in any case, that's not the point. the point of an award for poetry is the poem. Nothing more, nothing less. It is unfair and discriminatory to judge a poem by what you know about the author. If you tried that caper on in many contexts, you could be sued for acting with prejudice - for example, if a woman presents well at the interview and has relevant experience and qualifications, but you knock her back because she is a woman (or black, or Catholic, or gay), you are likely to wind up in the cacky - and rightly so!

I can't imagine how a person with little or no relevant experience could write a poem good enough to win a prize, but these things happen with surprising regularity. Coleridge never went to Xanadu and did not meet Kubla Khan, but his poem is one of the most famous works in the entire English language. Jane Austen - possibly the greatest romantic novelist in history - never married. Henry Lawson - author of the archetypal Australian bush stories - spent his entire life in an inner Sydney office. The preeminent war story teller of the 20th Century, C. S. Forester, never served in the army, let alone the navy he described so evocatively. How? I have no idea how these brilliant writers wrote so well outside their own experience. But the facts speak for themselves.

Is it possible that this chap has written the great poem on this subject he apparently knows nothing much about? Of course it is possible. Poets do stuff like this all the time ..... well, the good ones do. Depends on if he's any good or not. And isn't that the point of a prize?