Poetry
Track Chairs
Outline
The poetry session is a regular and cherished feature of the CCT Conference.
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Participating poets perform original work inspired by their reflections on consumer culture. This year, we invite contributors to submit one regular poem and one haiku, offering a dynamic blend of expressive and minimalist forms. In the words of Robert Spiess, “(a) haiku is an up to a breath-length poem in which two, rarely three, objects in a now-moment of awareness are juxtaposed so that each enhances one’s appreciation of the other and together they evoke a felt depth, insight, or intuition of the suchness of things.” Our invitation is to be playful and curious about the Haiku form. This year, a surprise guest will support us in a preliminary workshop just before the performance to enhance our poetic form.
Track chairs will publish a volume of the poetry and haiku so that audience members can engage more deeply with the work. Submissions must include:
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An author page with complete contact information and the titles of the submitted pieces.
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The poem and haiku, each beginning on a fresh page with no identifying author information.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
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Originality and Imagination:
"The overall feel of each piece, its individuality, its freshness, its capacity to charm and surprise." (Weldon, 2009: 172)
Expression and performance potential:
Expression includes an assessment of how the poems succeeded in what the author meant to do: Make you laugh, or cry, feel pity or outrage, whatever, working through the original idea to good effect. (adapted from Weldon, 2009: 172)
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Maturity:
Evaluates the degree to which the CCT ethos and topics are well represented in the creative pieces. Does the work address cultural aspects of consumption and/or markets? Does it speak in a way that traditional prose cannot?​​
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Please submit your work directly to the track chairs via email to poetrytrackcct2026@gmail.com by the submission deadline.
Hilary Downey Award
This year, the best poetry in the conference will be awarded the Hilary Downey Award in honour of our beloved Hilary.
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Authors of papers submitted to the poetry track at the Consumer Culture Theory Conference will automatically be entered for the annual Hilary Downey Poetry Award. One paper will be selected as the “best poetry,” as would have been determined by Hilary.