← Previous Post: | Next Post:

 

“I was working on a poem about my childhood experiences in Exmoor and was careless. I used Helen Mort’s poem as a model for my own but rushed and ended up submitting a draft that wasn’t entirely my own work.”

Well, this one wins a prize.

As explanations for plagiarism go, it’s a winner.

And this guy needs a prize, just having lost one for plagiarizing – virtually in its entirety – a poem that had won him a contest.

Like almost all copiers, he’s done it many times.

He’s begun examining his other poems for plagiarism. Apparently you never know where the muse will send you.

I have begun to examine my published poems to make sure there are no similar mistakes. I want to be as honest as I can with the poetry community and I know it will take some time to regain their trust. Already I have discovered a 2009 poem called The Neighbour is very similar to Tim Dooley’s After Neruda and admit that a mistake has been made. I am still digging and want a fresh start.

***************************

UPDATE: People have begun writing limericks about Ward. Here’s one, from comments on a Telegraph article:

There was a young poet called Ward,
Whose verses appeared to be fraud,
When questioned about it,
He claimed he’s been ‘careless’,
An excuse that is seriously flawed.

Not bad. Here’s one from UD, American-accent style:


There was a young poet called Ward
Who thought of his childhood and soared
To heights of great feeling…
These turned out to be stealing
Which he thought would go largely ignored.

Margaret Soltan, January 12, 2013 5:29PM
Posted in: plagiarism

Trackback URL for this post:
https://www.margaretsoltan.com/wp-trackback.php?p=38808

8 Responses to ““I was working on a poem about my childhood experiences in Exmoor and was careless. I used Helen Mort’s poem as a model for my own but rushed and ended up submitting a draft that wasn’t entirely my own work.””

  1. Van L. Hayhow Says:

    Uh, if you are going to steal a poem,almost word for word, shouldn’t you use an older, more obscure poem from a poet who is dead?

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Van: That’s usually how it’s done – with plagiarism of any kind. I think this guy must be a bit on the pathological side.

  3. Hanna Gray Says:

    Have a look at the article inWorld University News of Jan. 11 on the gentleman in Singapore who has been found guilty of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, and mismanagement and who may well be the current world champion in this category.

  4. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Hanna: Ah yes. I’ve been keeping an eye on the gentleman from Singapore. Not sure why I haven’t posted about him yet – sometimes I wait awhile, to see if other articles come out…

    Thank you for the reminder.

  5. Barbara MacDonald Allport Says:

    Why don’t they award the prize to Helen Mort?

  6. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Barbara: Yes. Mr UD said they’ve already given it to her. In a way.

  7. Jeremy Bangs Says:

    His poem was about Exmort.

  8. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Jeremy: LOL.

Comment on this Entry

UD REVIEWED

Dr. Bernard Carroll, known as the "conscience of psychiatry," contributed to various blogs, including Margaret Soltan's University Diaries, for which he sometimes wrote limericks under the name Adam.
New York Times

George Washington University English professor Margaret Soltan writes a blog called University Diaries, in which she decries the Twilight Zone-ish state our holy land’s institutes of higher ed find themselves in these days.
The Electron Pencil

It’s [UD's] intellectual honesty that makes her blog required reading.
Professor Mondo

There's always something delightful and thought intriguing to be found at Margaret Soltan's no-holds-barred, firebrand tinged blog about university life.
AcademicPub

You can get your RDA of academic liars, cheats, and greedy frauds at University Diaries. All disciplines, plus athletics.
truffula, commenting at Historiann

Margaret Soltan at University Diaries blogs superbly and tirelessly about [university sports] corruption.
Dagblog

University Diaries. Hosted by Margaret Soltan, professor of English at George Washington University. Boy is she pissed — mostly about athletics and funding, the usual scandals — but also about distance learning and diploma mills. She likes poems too. And she sings.
Dissent: The Blog

[UD belittles] Mrs. Palin's degree in communications from the University of Idaho...
The Wall Street Journal

Professor Margaret Soltan, blogging at University Diaries... provide[s] an important voice that challenges the status quo.
Lee Skallerup Bessette, Inside Higher Education

[University Diaries offers] the kind of attention to detail in the use of language that makes reading worthwhile.
Sean Dorrance Kelly, Harvard University

Margaret Soltan's ire is a national treasure.
Roland Greene, Stanford University

The irrepressibly to-the-point Margaret Soltan...
Carlat Psychiatry Blog

Margaret Soltan, whose blog lords it over the rest of ours like a benevolent tyrant...
Perplexed with Narrow Passages

Margaret Soltan is no fan of college sports and her diatribes on the subject can be condescending and annoying. But she makes a good point here...
Outside the Beltway

From Margaret Soltan's excellent coverage of the Bernard Madoff scandal comes this tip...
Money Law

University Diaries offers a long-running, focused, and extremely effective critique of the university as we know it.
Anthony Grafton, American Historical Association

The inimitable Margaret Soltan is, as usual, worth reading. ...
Medical Humanities Blog

I awake this morning to find that the excellent Margaret Soltan has linked here and thereby singlehandedly given [this blog] its heaviest traffic...
Ducks and Drakes

As Margaret Soltan, one of the best academic bloggers, points out, pressure is mounting ...
The Bitch Girls

Many of us bloggers worry that we don’t post enough to keep people’s interest: Margaret Soltan posts every day, and I more or less thought she was the gold standard.
Tenured Radical

University Diaries by Margaret Soltan is one of the best windows onto US university life that I know.
Mary Beard, A Don's Life

[University Diaries offers] a broad sense of what's going on in education today, framed by a passionate and knowledgeable reporter.
More magazine, Canada

If deity were an elected office, I would quit my job to get her on the ballot.
Notes of a Neophyte

Archives

Categories