Summer 2011 Poetry Contest

The Wayne Literary Review is proud to present its first poetry contest of 2011. And if you haven‟t figured out the topic: we want your science, It’s poetry in motion— baby. We want your astrophysics, your

She blinded me with

fluid dynamics, your nanotechnology, and your epigenetics. We want your danger labels, your rubber gloves, your goggles, and your Bunsen burners. All you have to do is bring it, and you could win big.

The Wayne Literary Review would like to thank Barnes & Noble for donating the $100 worth of gift cards that make this contest possible.

Prizes: The author of the First Place poem will receive a $50 Gift Card good at any Barnes & Noble Bookstore.

And the two poets who win Second Place will each receive a $25 Gift Card good at any Barnes & Noble Bookstore.

Rules: Submissions that do not follow the prescribed format below will be disqualified.

(1) You must be a registered student at Wayne State University to compete. To demonstrate this, you must use your Wayne State email for submission purposes and include your major in the “Mini-Bio” box.

(2) You may submit up to three pieces for the contest. Each piece must be titled, and you may only win one prize. So, for example, if one of your pieces of poetry wins the $50 gift card, your other two pieces (regardless of how good they may be) will be disqualified from the prize pool for the remaining two $25 gift cards.

(3) Each submission has a fifty line limit. You may not submit one piece of poetry that is one hundred and fifty lines. However, you may submit one poem of such length as three separate poems if the piece naturally is divided in such a way and each piece could legitimately stand as its own work. I‟ll make it easy, if you‟re not sure that your piece adheres to these rules, the answer is, „Don‟t submit it‟. Problem solved.

(4) You must submit your pieces of poetry separately, and they must each be attached to the submission form as a .pdf, a .doc, or an .rtf. No exceptions.

(5) Your submission must be about science! Ultimately, we, the Editors, have complete discretion on whether or not your piece is scientific to a statistically significant degree, but that isn‟t to say your entire poem must be drenched in it. Be creative! There is a “Notes” box on the Submission Form—so, feel free to let us know how your poem is scientific.

[Side note: Read the Wired news story “Recombinant Rhymer Encodes Poetry into DNA”.]

(6) Submission deadline for this contest is September 30, 2011 at 11:59 PM. Once it reaches October, you‟re out of luck!

Ideas: Feel free to use/abuse these suggestions. Remember to always get permission before doing something crazy. And don’t do dangerous stuff, etc.

(1) A photograph of poetry put (in such a way that it is easy to remove) on the wall of your lab.

(2) A poem written from the point of view of a microbe/particle (physics)/compound, etc.

(3) Something based on complex algorithms, etc.

(4) Ripping apart a copy of Scientific American/Discover magazine you bought and picking the words out of a hat (may take several dozen times before you get something verbally artful). You could also use the algorithm to go through words in the magazine

without cutting it apart. (This still will probably take a few dozen times to come up with something artful.)

(5) Poetry written inside of a computer language (double points if your coding still does something). Hey, computer science is a science! Also, if done tastefully, 133tsp3ak.

(6) I guarantee if you write a poem with rhyming couplets, you run a 99% risk of having your poem thrown in the garbage. (For example: Roses are red/violets are blue/science is fun/I like playing with goo will not be considered in the running for prizewinning.) Also, try not to center align the poem unless you are an experienced poet and know what youâ€&#x;re doing.

Want a non-creative example of science poetry?

Title: Redox Reactions skin is rust against the wet wind eyes are free radical bonfires cut away floss fibroins spun by crystalline spiders ketone-stabilized peppermint scent applied liberally eats away to the bones electrochemical cells along the hard necks and spines bend under nailstroke bend under maelstrom sucked over your saltbridges while my rust-skin suffers hypoxia, sepsis, shock Š Alyssa A. Bell 2009