I loved reading all the sonnets and comments and it was fun trying to guess who wrote the poems. (I knew who wrote "I Need Men," "Stuffed," and "Matriarch" but not the others.) I never would have been able to pick my favorites, as I liked all of them for different reasons.

Congratulations, Cally, Tom, John, Adam, the finalists, and the HMs. I'm delighted my poem, "A Change of Tune," was given an HM. And thank you Cathy and Sam for this splendid event. I look forward to next year's.

Me, too.

Martin

Congratulations to you, Cally, and the other winners and participants.

Thanks also to you, Mary, for the recording. I like that laugh at the end.

To Sam and Cathy, thanks for organizing this so very well.

I had time to read all the threads this year and enjoyed them. It's like a workshop environment in some ways, but it's interesting to see how the comments evolve when the writer, whose identity may or may not be known, is not part of the conversation. It probably gives truer insight into what happens when a poem goes out into the world unaccompanied by its author.

A fine event.

John

"Try not to conflate the author of the poem with the first person narrator of the poem,"

--Actually, I was asking if you knew about the nature of N's affair, since you wrote the poem, Anna, after all. :) (I hadn't assumed the author and N were one and the same)

Tracey

Congratulations to all the poets, and thanks again to Cathy and Sam.

And what a terrific reading, Cally!

Best,
Jean

Oh I do! :) And I have absorbed all the comments about the level of mystery in the poem and may well revisit it at some point. (And thanks for all the other nits as well, everyone! Changes will be made.)

But from the author's perspective, some degree of mystery remains imperative in the nature of the poem, which is, as someone commented, intended to be more about the narrator's enjoyment of herself as a sexual being and the level to which this is, or is not, perceived by the other parents and teachers (NOT the kids, who are, in my experience, oblivious to these nuances pre-middle school) rather than the identity of the person she is going to meet. :)

I'm late to the party, but I want to join in the congratulations to the finalists, especially the winners, Cally, Adam and Tom, and expressions of gratitude to our sterling pair of administrators.

Warm congratulations, Cally, for a SuperCallyrific effort—almost a walkover, but for Adam's strong finish.

The HM was more than I hoped for, so I'm chuffed too. Thanks, Cathy.

Peter

My chapbook publisher, Maverick Duck Press, just got back to me and said he WOULD be interested in publishing a chapbook of the 26 sonnets, if we want to pursue it.

I'm not sure how to proceed with the copyright discussions. Perhaps if everyone who "owns" one of the 26 sonnets could email me (evnsanna_at_comcast_dot_net) the copyright status of their sonnet? I have full rights to mine, which has only appeared in a local poetry journal.

What would we want to title the chapbook?

I will also negotiate with him regarding contributor copies etc.

Or let me know if you don't want to proceed with this plan.

Cheers!

I wish someone could do a book of finalists from all the bakeoffs past and present. What a great anthology that would make.

David R.

Perhaps the title of one of the sonnets?

Anna,

I have the rights to Matriarch. I don't know of any poet who would pass up the chance to get published, whether its the NY Times or the Rural Reader (which actually reviewed my last book). I think the Rosenthal plan is maybe a better idea. How about "Win, Place, and Show Sonnets 20 --2011."

What are we waiting for?