The 3rd Annual BayCon Bouts-Rimes Poetry Contest
"Kill him for his bad verses!" —Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene III
The Bouts-Rimes is Iron Chef for sonneteers. Invented by the French, and popularized by the Blue-stockings of 19th century England, the contest gives the poet not one, but fourteen, mystery ingredients which must be used, in order, as the end words to complete a sonnet (or sonnets) of their own devising.
As per usual, sonnets of a science fiction, fantasy or horror nature are admired but not required. Since this is BayCon's Silver Anniversary, extra points for poets who slip the word "silver" somewhere into their poems as an additional mystery ingredient. Finally, as it's Memorial Day, the judges will look with special favor on poets who compose works on a memorial theme. To that end, this year's word list is taken from a sonnet from WWI, "Ypres" by Laurence Binyon:
- name
- loss
- moss
- came
- flame
- toss
- across
- fame
- known
- brave
- glorified
- tide
- alone
- grave
Metrical choice is up to the poet. Traditional iambic pentameter is acceptable, as is anapestic tetrameter or other variants, including longer or shorter free verse lines. Spelling and punctuation of words may be varied, but basic sounds should be kept intact. The word "across" may be changed to "a cross." The word "came" may be hidden in "became."
Please bring your submissions to the convention, and present them at the Bouts-Rimes Poetry Contest Panel on Saturday. There will be a second contest, with a second list of words for Sunday given out at the convention. Questions should be sent to programming@baycon.org.
Prizes include memberships for BayCon 2008. Winners and Honorable Mentions will be published in the BayCon newsletter, and all entries will be displayed on the BayCon website. All entrants will receive the coveted "Iron Poet" ribbons.