[Alex Pepple]

Dear Eratosphereans,

Another is upon us begging to be filled with Distinguished Guest events! We already have some staples such as the must-have Sonnet bakeoff. However, there's room for suggestions for some new events or reruns of popular ones from years past.

- So, go ahead and suggest events.

- Suggest Distinguished guests and/or distinguished guest events

- Volunteer to be a distinguished guest (assuming you're distinguished enough!)

- Volunteer to be a distinguished event host (assuming you're sufficiently hospitable!)

Here's the listing of events along months - filled or waiting to be filled:

Late April — The Sonnet bakeoff: Tim Murphy, Distinguished Guest; Gail White, Host.
     Submissions: - March 19 to April 15. Event: April 27 -..

Late May — Litanies, Lists, and Explorations bakeoff: John Whitworth, Distinguished Guest; Lance Levens, Host.
     Submissions: - April 23 to May 13. Event: May 25-..

Early July — Translation bakeoff: Andrew Frisardi, Distinguished Guest; Adam Elgar, Host.
     Submissions: May 18-June 24. Event: July 6-..

Late July — Flash Fiction workshop: Nina Schuyler, Distinguished Guest; Tim Love, Host.
     Event: July 20-25..

Early August — Light Verse bakeoff: Julie Kane, Distinguished Guest; Jayne Osborn, Host.
     Submissions: July 2-August 6. Event: August 24-..

Early September— E.A. Robinson Festival: Robert Mezey, Distinguished Guest; Frank Osen, Host. {NEW!}
     Event: September 7-..

Late September — International Translation Day hosted by Adam Elgar.
     Event: September 23-..

Mid October — Poem Appreciation workshop: Amit Majmudar, Distinguished Guest; Michael Cantor, Host.
     Submissions: August 27-September 30. Event: October 21-..

Early December — Deck the Halls: Molly Peacock, Distinguished Guest; Alexandra Oliver, Host. {NEW!}
     Submissions: October 22-November 23. Event: December 7-..

OK, take it away!

Cheers,
...Alex

[Alex Pepple]

So, could the winter-cold silence here mean all interest is now lost in DG events? You guys/gals realize how much time and effort you're saving me in not having to run around corralling distinguished guests and picking hosts for events, right?

...Alex

[Orwn Acra]

In this fabulous thread, some ideas were suggested, including a list-poem bake-off.

[Alex Pepple]

Thanks, Orwn ... list poems should be an easy one to pull off - I'll just corral one of my favorite & agreeable listers.

...Alex

[Janice D. Soderling]

For me it just means that I have a lot on my plate. I am interested, and I'm sure others are too.

[Cally Conan-Davies]

Looking down the list, it seems we have enough bakeoffs, so more workshops are needed. Honestly, I've always enjoyed the workshops most of all, and learnt far more from the workshops we've had in the past than any other event on Eratosphere. The Haiku workshop with Lee Gurga and Steve Collington was the stuff of legend. People pay huge college fees to get an education like that!

The Women Writers event was magnificent, too. Can anyone think of anyone truly distinguished in their genre/field/obsession to come and converse with us for three or four days? Masterclasses.

I know such people usually get paid lots of money for doing things like this. Does anyone know anyone great who would rave at a sponge like me for the love of it alone, or for peanuts?

Cally

[Susan d.S.]

I agree with what Cally says, this sounds like a lot of bake-offs (now that I know what they are). I don't know who has been here in the past, so it is hard to suggest new names, but I like the idea of masterclasses and workshops.

[Maryann Corbett]

I'll volunteer to be a host for something in the latter part of the year if needed.

But may I humbly propose a new event, one that won't necessarily require a judge and that might invigorate critique?

I propose we pick a week in which everyone who wants to may kick off a thread with a close reading of an excellent contemporary poem by somebody else. Explain to us why it's good. Show us everything there is to be seen in it. Then people can add ideas, or ask questions, or disagree, as they like.

I propose that the poem can be of any sort and that it might be more fun if we discussed poets who are not Sphere regulars and not our usual formal models.

I know we like to pick winners here, and I'm not quite sure what sort of winning this might lead to. But perhaps someone else will have an idea.

[Janice D. Soderling]

I like Maryann's idea.

[Orwn Acra]

I like Maryann's idea too. How contemporary is contemporary?

If one includes DtH, we now have 5 bake-offs planned for the year which I think is enough.