About the Contest:
MICROPOETRY was a poetry contest meant to make poets say more with less. The poems had to be no longer than five lines, with no more that five words per line. The poems could be on any theme, and had to be submitted via text. The contest lasted for seven weeks with a winner for each week, running throughout August and September 2011.
The MICROPOETRY contest was organized by Write To The World in conjunction with Radio Univers 105.7fm. Founded in 2007 by Kofi Gyamfi Anane-Kyeremeh and Maxwell Odoi-Yeboah, Write to the World is an organization that aims to help youth to identify, enhance
and utilize their writing talents.
Four Questions with Contest Organizer Kofi Gyamfi Anane-Kyeremeh:
1. How did the idea of this contest come to you? Who originally came up with the idea and how did they bring the other groups on board?
The idea of MICROPOETRY (on radio) came to me in the month of July after participating in "micropoetry" blogging on Twitter. There many writers wrote very short poems and gave it the "MICROPOETRY" hash tag. I thought the whole activity could be further expanded to radio and so I came up with the MICROPOETRY contest for radio. I then spoke with a few people who expressed interest and finally got Open Air Theatre on Radio Univers 105.7fm to host the show in partnership.
2. How important was it to you that the contest happen via text? Do you see texting as a long-term medium for poetry, or a short-term one that will fade with the development of new technologies?
The poems were not supposed to be more than twenty-five words and texting afforded that more easily (a text is 120-140 characters), and our belief was that this would help the entrants to follow the rules easily. Secondly, texting was faster and more versatile, such that poems could be submitted in real-time. Texting is dynamic and it gets developed as technology develops so I don't see poetry and texting being something short-term.
3. In some ways, new technologies which limit how much we can say (texting, Twitter, etc.) force us to be more poetic, in that they force us to think about how to use language efficiently. In other ways, of course, they allow us to be lazy with language, throwing out message after message without much concern for grammar, sentence structure, etc. Do you think texts, tweets and the like are having a good, bad, or indifferent influence on the development of language skills?
To me, there are two sides to every coin. Tweeting, texting, paging does compel people to be considerate of what to say and how to say it as in the case of this contest. It made the poets who usually write so much cut down on what they say. In the same way it makes some people very abusive of the English language. As such I think the issue of texting is double-edged.
4. What's next for Write to the World? How are you going to build off the momentum of the MICROPOETRY contest?
Write To The World has a global outlook, to get writers from all the world to share ideas and also provide the platform needed to help them improve and utilize their writing talent. We shall utilize all forms of communication/media to advance our core values and to meet our three simple aims: Identify, Enhance and Utilize.
Contact Write to the World:
wrightworld(at)gmail.com
He is just a scribbler,
Like a painter painting,
Like a potter with clay,
Messed up with the guts of a soldier.
He soaks reason like a sponge
And urinates it out, like a broken fountain.
He is just a scribbler,
A man with a heart of gold,
Like a goldsmith on an anvil
Striking hot gold with his desires
To make jewelry he will never wear,
Like a man upon the waters,
Scavenging for scales, fins and gills
Rocking gently upon the turbid liquid.
He is just a scribbler,
Like a professor of knowledge,
Knowing and not knowing what not to know.
Like hungry rebels wanting to clench power
Which they cannot manage if they get it.
Like the musician who with a broken guitar
Sings dolefully to himself.
He is just a scribbler,
Scribbling the dirty words of his mind,
Confused but alert and ready.
He tells no tale a-sweet or sour.
He is sober but to the breaking point.
Like a crashing airplane, a somersaulting car,
A tumbling barrel, a shattering frame,
Like the moment of truth.
He is just a scribbler,
Writing with his blood, diluted with tears and spit.
Bloodshot pupils, his myopia shielding his shame.
His fingers quake at each letter, each word.
Like a violent volcano,
A bubbling ditch of tar,
like salty sweat.
He is just a scribbler,
Wishing he had died at birth,
Wishing he had never seen this damsel in linen.
He bleeds shame and neglect.
He reeks of years of failure.
For his heart is still single, beating double
It kills him more than gives him life.
Alas! He is mad!
He is just a scribbler,
With no quill, no inkwell, no parchment,
Not even a shred of cloth to hold on to.
He feels mocked. He is mocked.
But he does not wail, no he does not.
Like dust in the eyes, like salt in a bad tooth
He looks to the day when he will leave the scene.
He is just a scribbler,
Forsaken, forbidden, forgotten
Like a bad war, or great natural disaster.
His words are suicidal—no—genocidal
Yet he is no man that can take another life,
Like prancing fetish priests, drunk on the liquor of
Spiritualism and herbs more bitter than bile.
He is just a scribbler.
He tells that same tale told not long ago,
By travelers, doctors, paupers, engineers.
He tells the same tale of life, shrouded and hidden.
His heaving chest would soon stop
And when it finally does,
He won't feel anything anymore
He will be dead;
Killed by love.
Biography:
Kofi Gyamfi Anane-Kyeremeh (A.K.A. Kofi Baako Pe) is a talented young writer who just completed his studies at Takoradi Polytechnic. Born in Accra on May 12th, 1989 he started active writing at the age of 14, when he was in the Secondary School. He wrote his first book, Planet X at that time. He is currently the co-founder/head of Write To The World, and wishes to be an entrepreneur in the near future. He has written close to 600 poems, five books and many essays, and is bent on writing on anything that appeals to him.
Five Questions with Kofi Gyamfi Anane-Kyeremeh:
1. How long have you been writing poetry?
I have been writing poetry since 2005 when I was in Secondary School. I have a mighty lot of poems now.
2. Who are your favorite poets? Which poets have most informed and inspired your work?
For poets who have inspired my work I will say Shakespeare, basically due to his Sonnets.
3. What do you hope to accomplish with your poetry?
I want my poetry to entertain readers. A poem of mine always carries a lesson, a quote, a message, a proverb or advice, but its principal business is to entertain. If readers feel - for want of a better word - gratified, I am okay.
4. This poem demonstrates your love of similes. What is it about similes that draws you to them? Do you have a favourite simile, either in this poem or written by another author?
I sure do use similes but seldom, even in love poems. In this piece, I wanted to liken the "madness" of the poet in love to everyday happenings. I think similes help me to make good and easy comparison becuase sometimes readers don't get my metaphors quickly or fully. My favorite simile in this piece is "He soaks reason like a sponge/ And urinates it out, like a broken fountain."
5. Can you tell us a bit more about "Write to the World". What is it, and how can our readers contribute?
Write To The World (WTTW), is a writing organisation started in 2007 and co-founded by myself and my partner/associate Maxwell Odoi-Yeboah, after we completed secondary school. WTTW seeks to help young writers, regardless of location, nationality, etc., to enhance/polish their writing talent and help give them a platform on which to display that talent. We also seek to portray the importance of literature in our lives. Everything we offer is for free. Our sites are www.writeworld.co.nr and www.wttw-jwag.blogspot.com. All contact details are on the sites, plus we are on Facebook. We also partner with K-Hitz foundation in New Jersey, and Open Air Theatre on Radio Univers 105.7fm. We are here to help.
Contact Kofi:
Email: donscraper(at)hotmail.com
Blog: http://www.donscraper.blog.co.uk/
