Abolish Poetry Book Contests?

From The Huffington Post – Poetry Book Contests Should be Abolished: Why Contests Are the Stupidest Way to Publish First Books, in which Anis Shivani argues (with selected examples from recent contest-winning poetry books) that “the contest system is at least partially responsible for: 1. A halt to aesthetic progression; 2. An encouragement of mediocrity and ambition; and 3. A corruption of the poetic process itself.”