Editor
I am writing as a concerned citizen in regards to the annual Laguna Beach Library poetry contest.
There is a growing concern about bias and pre-selection by those overseeing.
The same contestants have won just as annually as the contest being held.
As this is a diverse and growing community of many cultures and voices, I feel that this bias towards a few is an injustice to our art-oriented community.
This contest should belong to the community not a few elite.
Patrick Collins, Laguna Beach
I am indeed late to the reading of this. The challenge outlined remains to be seen as of this writing. I sincerely hope this is not the case but cannot base my opinion on evidence. I reviewed only last year’s winners prior to submitting my first entries into the contest. Mine is a fresh voice in that regard and the submissions were of three distinctly differing styles. I will await the outcome of this year’s contest before assessing evaluation and ideally without prejudice. The concept is a great one and I do hope the fairness of the judging is commensurate with the requirement for only original work.