Two of Anderson’s Foothills Writers Guild members became the first ever to participate in and complete the annual Poetry Marathon, an international event where the goal is to write and submit a prompt-based poem every hour. Each prompt is released on the hour to those who have submitted their poem from the previous hour.
An unprecedented 627 poetry writers applied to participate this year. Most were from North America; however, over 50 were from India, over 30 from the UK, and 17 from Africa. At least one person signed up from every continent except Antarctica.
The Poetry Marathon began online at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 15th and ended promptly at 9 a.m. the following morning. Writers applied in advance to participate in either a half marathon from 9 am-9pm Saturday, a half marathon from 9pm Saturday-9am Sunday, or the full marathon from 9am Saturday to 9am Sunday.
Each hour on the hour participants received an image prompt such as a flower or a landscape, or a written prompt such as a situation or a title and were required to write about one of the prompts or something related to the prompt or just an idea that came about as a result of the prompt. Those who completed the marathon were able to immediately download and print out the appropriate Certificate of Completion signed by the founders/organizers in Canada.
Anderson Magazine contributor, Jay Wright, completed the first half marathon. He commented about the experience stating,
“It was well organized and more fun than I’d expected. I enjoyed reading some of the work by writers from other countries; but I mostly enjoyed the range of themes and genres. Some poems were playful, some dreadfully dark, some romantic, some rather intimate, some sad, and some downright hilarious. I’m looking forward to next year–I’m going for the full marathon.”
Guild President, Angela Mason Lowe, completed the full marathon. She said of her experience,
“The marathon was a fun adventure anticipating what the next prompt would be. Completing 24 poems and submitting them left me with a sense of accomplishment.”
Both Wright and Lowe agreed they gained ideas for future poems and hope more South Carolina poets will give it a try in 2025. Watch for information about it next spring in our “Poet’s Nook.”
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