[Alex Pepple]

Dear Eratosphereans,

The sonnet bake-off this year will run with an exciting twist -- a tag-team of of Distinguished Guests cum Hosts. Get ready for our very own well-known and beloved Eratosphereans, who happen to be well-known Sonnet experts as well, with Nemerov Sonnet Award wins to prove it ... drum rolls for Cathy Chandler and Gail White!

HOW TO SUBMIT: To enter, please send one previously unpublished sonnet per person by email to: ablemusesonnets(AT)gmail(DOT)com with "Sonnet Bake-Off" as the subject and the sonnet in the body of the email, by midnight (U.S. EDT) on Wednesday, July 10, 2013.

Gail and Cathy will receive all entries simultaneously and agree on ten finalists. They plan to start posting the ten finalist sonnets, two per day, with their comments, starting on Monday, July 15, ending on Friday, July 19. In order to allow sufficient time for comments on all ten finalists, popular voting for readers’ first, second and third choices will begin on Wednesday, July 24 and end at midnight (EDT) on Saturday, July 27.

Results will be tabulated and a popular winner will be announced on Tuesday, July 30, at which time all ten finalists’ identities will also be divulged. Gail and Cathy will also announce their own top picks.

Please note! New this year: We are asking for previously unpublished sonnets because the top three sonnets will be published in an upcoming issue of Able Muse (i.e. in the biannual review of poetry, prose & art).

BIOS

Gail White has edited three anthologies and published three books of poetry, the latest being The Accidental Cynic (Prospero’s World Press, 2009). Her work appears in several anthologies, including Villanelles and Killer Verse, both from Pocket Poets. She received the Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award in 2012. Her latest chapbook is Sonnets in a Hostile World (White Violet Press, 2011). She lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

Catherine Chandler, winner of the Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award in 2010, is the author of Lines of Flight (Able Muse Press, 2011), This Sweet Order (White Violet Press, 2012), and Glad and Sorry Seasons (Biblioasis Press, 2014). Her poems, essays, interviews, translations and podcasts have been published in numerous journals and anthologies in North America, the United Kingdom and Australia. Recently retired from McGill University (Montreal) where she lectured in Spanish in the Department of Translation Studies and also held the position of International Affairs Officer, Catherine now teaches music theory and performance for the Commission scolaire des Trois-Lacs in southwestern Quebec. She fell in love with sonnets when, in 1969, while browsing in a little bookstore in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, suffering from her first broken heart, she saw a copy of Edna St. Vincent Millay's Collected Sonnets and opened it randomly to "Time Does Not Bring Relief". She bought the book for 60 cents (her hourly salary at the local ice cream parlor) and the rest is history.

Participate one, participate all ... and, thank you, and good luck to all participants!

Cheers,
...Alex

[Lois Elaine Heckman]

Just one question, Alex, since I am a newcomer here:

Should we put our names in the text of the email with the poem, on the subject line, or must author recognition come exclusively from the e-mail address?

Thanks for this fun opportunity!

[Alex Pepple]

Hi Lois,

Just make sure your name is somewhere where it can be found -- such as subject line, or better yet, in body of the email.

Best,
...Alex

[Lois Elaine Heckman]

Thanks for the info, Alex. Will do.

[Catherine Chandler]

In the 48 hours since Alex's call for submissions, Gail and I have received over three dozen sonnets! Please keep them coming! All styles and permutations welcome!

[Alex Pepple]

Great news, Cathy! I've been publicizing the event, and it seems that's bringing in a few more entries than usual.

Cheers,
...Alex

[Jeff Holt]

Thanks for the invite, Alex, and even more for this year's twist! This will make this competition a lot more fun, I think.

Jeff

[David Rosenthal]

At first I was excited by Cathy's post about three dozen entries in 48 hours. Then I saw this in another forum:

Originally Posted by Alex Pepple

Gail & Cathy tell me there's not been much submission from Eratosphereans (even though there's been a good deal of external submissions). What are you waiting for, Sphereans!? Time's running out ... submit submit submit!!!

I thought the whole point of these things was that they were fun, friendly in-house things. Now it is open to "external" submitters, and the top three get published in AM -- sounds like a regular old contest, not an Eratosphere bake-off. Well, I'll just go ahead and admit it: it doesn't sound like much fun any more to me.

David R.

[E. Shaun Russell]

Originally Posted by David Rosenthal

I thought the whole point of these things was that they were fun, friendly in-house things. Now it is open to "external" submitters, and the top three get published in AM -- sounds like a regular old contest, not an Eratosphere bake-off. Well, I'll just go ahead and admit it: it doesn't sound like much fun any more to me.

Someone will surely correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that the idea behind attracting "external" submitters is to bring new blood to the forums in the hopes that they will become regular Eratosphereans themselves. In that sense it remains an in-house thing, but is merely inviting houseguests.

[S. A. Wyatt]

I was glad to hear that the contest is open to outsiders, but I was sad to hear there are so few submissions from current members. I'm hoping the numbers are being inflated (or deflated?) to motivate people. I'd like to see a good mix.

Sean