Now accepting sonnets for bake-off
 

Just to cover all bases, this is the third notice that it is now time for Sonnet Bake-Off 2012, and we're open for submissions!

Send your entry to host Gail White at gailxpoet@cox.net.

Last day for Submissions will be April 15.

DG Tim Murphy will take over from there. Finalists will start being
posted on April 27.

Three entries so far, and I expect many more!

Can I assume that a Sonnet Bake-Off is some kind of a poetry competition?

Is there anywhere I can see the details? (Is the competion for sonnets?)

It's very tempting when one finds an email address, a submission date, and very little else, to start posting all sorts of stuff off to it - in the vague hope ........

Do you remember when you were a little girl, and you noticed that the central heating vents were rather like letterboxes, and you 'posted' your dad's union-card, and the ration-book nan needed to get her sweets?

Email drops with no further elucidation still look that way to me.

Just saying ..........

;-)

..........

Things us newbies might like to know would include:

what formats are you comfortable to receive entries in (txt, Word Documents, Latex .....)?

how broad (approximately) is the definition of sonnet (curtal sonnets, long sonnets)?

what supplementary detail needs to be included (Eratosphere member name, shoesize)?

The explanation, again...
 

Christopher, look at post 22 on this thread for an explanation of bakeoffs generally.

Gail has posted info in other places on the board that specify: ONE sonnet per poet.

I think I'm safe in saying that Gail would prefer to have the text of the poem in the body of the e-mail. That saves the step of saving to disk. Don't bother with .doc or .rtf unless your poem's formatting requires that. Most sonnets aren't tough to format.

If you adjust your settings so that you can see ALL the threads ever posted on the Distinguished Guest board, you can look back at all the years of Bakeoffs and get an idea of what's acceptable. The standard 14-liner is the safest bet.

If your Eratosphere member name isn't your real name, or the pen name under which you publish, then do include it with the poem.

Gail, I hope I'm not overstepping in offering these answers.

Christopher,

The bake-offs are yearly in-house competitions against fellow Sphere members. Each one has a theme. This one is for sonnets. I think any sort of sonnet would work, but that is up to the discretion of Gail, who is filtering the entries, and Tim, who is picking his favorite 12.

Tim's choices will be put up on the Distinguished Guest. The author's name is removed, and everyone comments on the selections and usually has fun guessing who wrote what. It's not a workshop, but people do comment critically and often very pointedly.

Then we vote and the winner receives nothing. It is a lot of fun, though, even if you don't submit anything (I rarely do).

You can look back in the archives of the Distinguished Guest forum and see last year's bake-offs. Past ones have included light verse, free verse, repeated forms, children's poetry, short poems, flash fiction, and translations.

Or just do what Maryann said. I type slowly.

Thanks Maryann, that was what I needed.

A guy can get disoriented shopping in an unfamiliar mall.

Actually, Orwn, this is the eleventh sonnet bake-off since I started it in 2002 or so. All the finalists and comments are in the DG archives. The winner this year receives a 1956 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost.

Thanks Orwn also.

There is such a lot to see around here, especially when you're new.

I should know but can't remember: are there any limits on what we can submit (eg workshopped/not workshopped on Erato)?
Regards,
David

David, I've never insisted on workshopping at the Sphere, though some of our contests so require. Ok by you, Gail?

Thanks to everyone for giving all the explanations while I was elsewhere. I forgot how many people would be new to the world of Bake-Offs and would need to know more than the bare bones of how to submit to one. I've received 15 submissions already & I hope there will be many more.

STATUS REPORT: We have 25 sonnets entered in the bakeoff so far, and 10 more days before submissions close. Just a reminder to get your sonnets in before midnight on April 15!

OMG!!! Only 25 so far? :eek: I received 60 in 2009 and 68 in 2011, and I believe Tim had over a hundred once! I hope you get more soon! Maybe over this long week-end . . .

Don't worry, Catherine, I'm sure there will be a big line at the post office on April 15!

RM

Post office? :eek:

Ehem. I think Rick is making zee leetle joke in reference to zee dread Tax Day in the US. (Except that this year I think it's actually the 17th.)

Ehem. I live in Canada and our tax return cut-off date is April 30th. Guess I've been away too long . . .;)

Gail and everyone,

It's not a good idea to compete with the taxman, so, let's extend the deadline to 17th. How's that!

Cheers,
...Alex

so this is extended then?

Yes, Cyn. It's extended as indicated.

Cheers,
...Alex

So, with the deadline extended to April 17th, here is another reminder to finish polishing up your sonnets and send them in!

Tim is right in saying that entries do not have to be workshopped on the Sphere, and they do not have to be previously unpublished. They can even be former bakeoff submissions (though not finalists). You can coin something new or dredge something out of the distant past. Anything with the standard 14 lines.

One more time, the address for submissions is gailxpoet@cox.net.

Gail: somewhere along the mysterious internet lines I seem to have lost the thread (sorry). Can't find any come back about submitted sonnets. Guidance pls.

doina

Doina, go here and you should see a list of all the threads on the Distinguished Guest board. The threads that are named sonnet # 1, sonnet # 2, etc., plus some identifying word, are the bakeoff sonnets. The numbers are scrambled, but those are the threads with the contending poems and the comments about them.

Hope this helps.

Sorry to be slow on the uptake, Doina. Maryann has given you the right advice.

Wrong thread.