Congratulations, Gail. I got a Pushcart nomination for my poem "Ashes, Ashes," workshopped here a long time ago. I don't expect to win the prize either, but it is nice to be nominated.

Susan

I've just spent a wonderful afternoon in London with Melissa, having lunch, doing a bit of shopping (for lovely stationery, mostly, which is a passion we share!), talking, laughing, drinking coffee... it was simply delightful.

More good news: Melissa has convinced me that I should go to Poetry By The Sea next May, so that'll we'll meet again; I'm planning to do just that! I hope to meet lots of old friends there, and some new ones too.

(Who's going to PBTS? There'll be a separate thread on it next year, but it won't hurt to say so here, if you're thinking about it...)

Jayne

Jayne, an afternoon in London with you and Melissa sounds delightful. I expect to attend Poetry by the Sea, so I hope I'll see you there.

Susan

It hasn't been a great year, but this counts as good news for me: I'll be teaching my own literature course in the spring (at Ohio State). What's funny is that it's an American literature course, even though my specialization for the past several years has been English Renaissance poetry, but fortunately I have enough love for / knowledge of American lit to put together what I think is an engaging syllabus. My course theme is character-heavy, so I'll be focusing mostly on short stories, but it will be nice to slip in some Edwin Arlington Robinson, Claude McKay, Eliot, and perhaps a few others.

Did anybody notice the uk election result?

This thread is for our personal good news, David. Let's not taint it with talk of politics! :D

Jayne

What's more, it certainly isn't for catastrophically bad news.

Thanks for getting this thread I love back on-track, Jerome. I've had two drinks of that noxious stuff and am wondrously well-preserved at 52.

Poetry by the Sea
 

Jayne and Jerome, it was so lovely to see you both! It's good news indeed that you plan on Poetry by the Sea, Jayne, and Jerome, we will continue to work on you... I hope many others will be joining us in CT in May. It promises to be a great week. Marilyn Nelson is the keynote, and Sphereans galore will be leading workshops and panels (including yours truly): http://www.poetrybytheseaconference.org/schedule.htm