In one week, I'll be posting the first two bake-off sonnets, with Mr. Turner Cassity's comments and a few of my own.

In her Introduction to The Penguin Book of the Sonnet, Phillis Levin states that the sonnet is " . . . a mode of introspection, a crystallization of the process of thought, of a self arriving at self-consciousness.”

This seems to be borne out in this year's bake-off, as no less than 72% of the sonnets submitted were written in the first person,...

I know my mind and I have made my choice;
Not from your temper does my doom depend;
-- Edna St. Vincent Millay (Fatal Interview, sonnet XLV)

Dear Poets,

The deadline for the sonnet bake-off submissions has now passed. I made no final decision until after 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, just in case we had some submissions from as far away as Hawaii, but no, the last one was received at around 3 p.m. EDT.

What a ride! Sixty sonnets in total,...

In Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Afternoon on a Hill," she writes, "I will be the gladdest thing/Under the sun!/I will touch a hundred flowers/And not pick one." That's how I feel about reading and reading the sonnets submitted to me for this year's bake-off, very glad indeed.

Just a reminder that tomorrow (March 10) noon is the submission deadline. That's when "I will mark which must be mine" and then send twelve to Mr. Cassity for his comments.
...

The next issue of Able Muse will 1) feature a number of guest editors in all areas, and 2) attempt to feature as many Eratosphereans as possible in these areas … even including an Sphere-centric contest. With that, I’m pleased to invite the submissions on behalf of the guest editors. The pertinent details follow. In all cases, the submission guidelines for Able Muse are online here. The deadline for all submissions indicated below is May 1, 2009.

POETRY

1. To begin with, I have asked

...

"From A Very Little Sphinx"
-- Edna St. Vincent Millay

Come along in then, little girl!
Or else stay out!
But in the open door she stands,
And bites her lip and twists her hands,
And stares upon me, trouble-eyed;
'Mother,' she says, 'I can't decide!'


Dear Poets,

With only five days left until the bake-off sonnet submission deadline, already I am having to make some very tough decisions....