THE POETRY PROJECT
THEME: WHERE CAN YOU FIND THE STARS?
Where Can You Find The Stars?
This is a question of a subtle demanding demeanour that requires redressal in social, psychological philosophical, anthropological and ecological ways. It has shaken up every being to the core as we cling onto a precariously hanging precipice and witness the world come to a screeching halt. The raging pandemic has seen people categorically struggle to squirm out of closed chambers and sick bedrooms, to daringly move out of the panting lockdown silhouette blotting out the orbs of hope into a luminous open. Where is the open, then, that humans seek? Is it only to be perceived through an extraordinary sensibility susceptible to the external stimuli and hence beyond the scope of mortal eyes? Is it exclusively individual? Is it a symbolic manifestation of a promise that indubitably redirects people to a singular course of a return to nature to reach a point of transition from the conditioned mechanized pattern of existence, a temptation to be redrawn into the vortex of a consecrated Wordsworthian creed? Or to slightly expand its linguistic periphery beyond the exemplum of any organist reconstruction of romanticism, does it stand to symbolise the inherent power of the greater feminine and the new epistemology in her voice that creates a feminism of difference? The power that is certainly not to be found in darkness but in the light of an ordinary every day in her imagined language, simplistic declarations and joyous innocence or is it to be found in the most unexpected of places where "the sea catches fire", where the summer's day lights up the forest as a white night blooming lotus and the mangroves move up and down the navel and return as smoke: cherry little boats of smudged vermillion? Whatever it is, we leave it to our contributors to pause a little and reflect and conjure up the most unexpected of lines that will take the world by storm.
Given below are two poetry prompts from a few selected works.
1."...to let the fire fly and bring home fireflies
to keep them in a jar of gold
to let the crystal waters of Cauvery flow
to break the prison of rust
to find a way forward of reaching the stars
and like a fireplace on a wintry night
to let it find you."
2." 'Look into my waters
Can you now see the stars?"
'The ones you plucked and left me in the dark?'
I walked miles thereafter and back
to come to you,
Down to your waters, leaving my flesh behind
to drink in the stars."
PROJECT LEAD
DEYASINI ROY
ANTARA ROY BHATTACHARJEE
PROJECT DETAILS & REWARDS:
1. Selected poems will be published into a digital anthology under TMYS ebooks. A selection from the rest will be published under TMYS web collection.
2. Net receipts from the digital book (royalty) will be distributed equally between the contributing authors of the anthology.
3. Excerpts from selected poems will be highlighted on social media, all through the release of the anthology.
4. All winners will be announced in January 2022 on TMYS social media.
5. Two contributors will win THE BEST IDEA title and receive special gift hampers.
6. Selected contributors will be invited for a live discussion on writing poetry and the theme of this project, where they would be invited to read out their own works.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
1. Choose any ONE from the two prompts given above. Your poetry must interpret the prompt of your choice in your own way. Your submission does not necessarily have to include the prompt as a part of your poetry.
2. Three poems can be submitted per registration. Submissions should be in English only.
3. Any submission that does not adhere to the theme will be shifted to the list of general submissions for the website.
4. Word limit : 1500 words.
While making a submission, the subject line should be: Where Can You Find The Stars: <the title of the poem>
All submissions should be emailed to poetryevening.tmys@gmail.com, attached as a word file, with subject as indicated above.
5. Each submission should include the contributor's introduction (150 words) pasted in the body of the email and an HD photograph (jpeg or png only) should be attached.
6. All submissions should use Calibri/Times New Roman, font size 12; font size 16 for headings.
***Only original and previously unpublished work will be considered.***
7. A participation fee of INR 200/- (USD 3 for contributors based outside India) will be charged per contribution. This is a non-refundable fee, but we will do our best to cooperate in case you have made an error that can be corrected to help you resubmit.
***In each such case, the editor’s decision will be final.***
Our bank details:
Tell Me Your Story OPC Pvt. Ltd.
A/c no : 059685800000177, Yes Bank. Branch - Shankardhan Plaza Junction,
MM Road, Mulund West, Mumbai 400080, IFS Code : YESB0000596.
Post making the payment, please send a mail at poetryevening.tmys@gmail.com to register yourself.
For writers residing outside India, please email us for a Paypal link.
***Registration doesn't guarantee publication***
8. Upto three poems can be submitted per registration.
9. Last date of all submissions: 30 December 2021.
For queries; send us an email at poetryevening.tmys@gmail.com with the subject ‘Query’.
We may not respond to irrelevant or obvious queries to save our time for the volume of submissions we receive. PLEASE READ THE RULES WELL BEFORE SENDING A QUERY EMAIL, most of your doubts are already addressed.
COMING SOON
Where Can You Find The Stars: A series of Poetry Reading
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------