Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Richard Watt


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete per WP:SNOW. King of &hearts;   &diams;   &clubs;  &spades; 19:56, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Richard Watt

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This looks like a referenced biography for a notable writer, but look a little closer. The "prize-winning" claim refers to a university poetry competition with no independent coverage cited. Half the supposed sources do not mention the subject, and those that do are not about the subject at all, the only one which is more than a namecheck is the univeristy student newspaper article on the undergraduate poetry prize. The creator is a single purpose account. The four or five previous deletions have eben for another non-notable Richard Watt, but I think this is a combination of vanity and resume padding. The publications are by the Unreasonable Press, which is run by one Richard Watt, i.e. self-published (and a very amateurish website at that). Of the 450 or so Google hits (including duplicates), for "Richard Watt" +poet, most are not about this person. I can't actually find any non-trivial independent sources about him. So: vanispamcruftisement, I think. Guy (Help!) 12:07, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Delete, per nom. In addition, I tried but was unable to verify the claim in the "He has been shortlisted for two of 2009's top bursaries for Scottish fiction" contained in the opening paragraph. The reference given there is to the main webpage of the Scottish Book Trust. I did several searches on that website and could not find any info there related to the above claim. A self-published book, to be released in 2009, does not inspire more confidence in the notability of this case. Also, the article says "His time-travel suicide novel Why Be Blue? is under consideration for the Dundee Book Prize 2009". The reference given is this link which does not mention Watt at all, but is a general description of the prize. So apart from notability concerns, there are WP:V issues here as well. Nsk92 (talk) 13:10, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Delete per WP:N and WP:V. I too failed to verify the Scottish Book Trust claim, and when you search the database of Scottish writers on that website he is not listed.  Gold Dust and Riverrun have nothing to do with poetry or him; shortlisting for a minor prize (even if verified, which this isn't) is not noteworthy.  An appearance as part of a group of "new writers" at a small literary festival doth not notability make, and namedropping the headliners at that festival doesn't confer notability by association. May merit an article at some point, once his work is properly published and independently covered.  Ka renjc 18:08, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Delete As per above.  Lady   Galaxy  19:01, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Delete as per above. JEdgarFreeman (talk) 01:33, 18 August 2008 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.