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Iron Poet

The 4th 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 fourteen mystery ingredients which must be used, in order, as the end words to complete a sonnet (or sonnets) of their own devising. Sonnets of a science fiction, fantasy, or horror nature are admired but not required. Since the convention theme this year is "A Pirate's Tale," poets who slip the word "pirate" somewhere into their poems as an additional mystery ingredient may receive extra credit.

The list, with some words pillaged from the names of our guests of honor, Tim Powers, Todd Lockwood, and Patty Wells:

  1. master
  2. powers
  3. faster
  4. hours
  5. mock
  6. good
  7. lock
  8. wood
  9. mate
  10. sea
  11. fate
  12. lee
  13. wells
  14. swells

Rhyme pattern is that of the Shakespearean sonnet, but 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. As an example, "sea" may be changed to "see" or may be hidden in "piracy."

Please bring your submissions to the convention, and present them at the Bouts-Rimes Poetry Contest Panel on Saturday (at 1:00 PM in the Alameda Room). There will be a second contest on Sunday (at 2:30 PM in the Alameda Room) using a different list of words given out at Saturday's contest. Contest prizes include attending memberships for BayCon 2009. All entrants will receive the coveted "Iron Poet" ribbons.

All entrants must possess an attending membership in BayCon 2008 and must be physically present to participate. The names and entries of submitting poets may be published in the BayCon newsletter and/or posted on the BayCon website. Questions regarding this event should be sent to programming(at)baycon.org.

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