I won a poetry contest!
It's sort of silly, but it does accept worldwide entries, which are judged over several months by at least one real established poet. So at least it's a legitimate contest of a decent scale. Plus I suppose entries support our local Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival by "raising awareness" (definitely a silly phrase, but I digress).
This could almost bring me out of the slump I've been in since I received my last rejection letter (because I stopped submitting fiction afterwards >:P) in late 2011. But I was surprised to find that what made me happier than winning was seeing the "like"s from my former wordsmith coworkers. Of course the little thumbs on Facebook don't mean much -- I spam them all the time -- but these are people who work with words themselves, and who usually don't "like" my inconsequential Facebook posts.
My heart is warm, even if my 1-bedroom is not. ("Utilities included" my arse.)
Anyway, my 2011 entries for the haiku invitational didn't even get an honourable mention, so this year I'll be content with 2nd place.
Next year, though... ;)
