Appearing in the guise of submission guidelines for Elly May Moody Golden Poetry Award, Charles Bukowski’s poem, ‘Poetry Contest’ is a precise but very loyal criticism of the murky practices found in the publishing industry. Through this poem, the author shows the readers, how some of the magazines which purport to be the heavenly figures of literature are actually exploiting the aspiring writers by their unethical practices. The guidelines for the poetry award call for submissions of poetry limited to ten lines which can be on any subject or in any style. The only indication of the magazine’s specific requirement is that they prefer ‘poems of affirmation’ which is not a clear manner of explaining one’s taste. Any writer can submit poems for the competition but the number of submissions should be limited to ten and each poem entails a ten-dollar payment. Thus a writer who wishes to send the maximum number of poems will have to pay the magazine an amount to the tune of $100. The first prize is a mere $75 which gives us a clear idea of how much money the magazine stands to earn from this contest. The author, through his use of irony and other literary devices, shocks the audience with the saddening realities that exist in the publishing industry and how it exploits upcoming writers.
The language and style that the author uses in revealing the theme are simple but appropriate to the main idea in the poetry. Most of the poem comes off as the specific guidelines, which are written in the standard language are usually found in the media. However, the points at which the lines are broken do give the poem a refreshing rhythm and perfection of diction. The line break at the beginning where the author breaks the line at ‘only’ and keeps it as a single word in the second line is a good example of this. So far irony is concerned the poem is littered with several instances of highly sarcastic connotations. A magazine is supposed to exist for promoting literature, to help young and budding writers, grooming them and making them experienced writers who can then give something to improve the quality of the literature by their efforts. However, what we encounter here, is a mean editor who thinks of a poetry contest that will help him make money and also work as a platform for projecting his self-image and promoting his work.
Sarcasm is also evident in the poem where the name of the editor is repeated five or six times in a small space but the guidelines hardly give any idea about the nature of the magazines or what it actually stands for. The false pride of the editor is skillfully exposed by the statement that the winner will receive $75 along with “a scroll signed by Elly May Moody” – as if it matters a lot to all writers. The final line also, where it states that the winners will also receive a copy of the editor’s poetry collection, is a significant indicator of the use of irony in this poem. Overall, the poem ‘Poetry Contest’ by Charles Bukowski can be seen as an exemplary work that uses the literary devices of irony, style and diction to reveal the malpractices existing in the publishing industry and show to his readers how some editors who never care for moral principles, pretend to be the protectors of literature, are actually exploiting budding writers.