Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award results
 

The winner of the 24th & final Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award is Carol Frith for "Dying Firethorn." Dana Gioia was the judge.

Finalists were: Dan Campion, Catherine Chandler, Midge Goldberg, Stephen Harvey, Jean L. Kreiling, Susan McLean, Kyle Potvin, Marion Shore, Maura Stanton. Katherine Barrett Swett & Rob Wright.


Congratulations to Carol and all the finalists.

Great showing by current and former Eratosphere members. Congratulations to all!

Susan

Yes, congratulations to all these good poets.

(Are we allowed to ask why this will be the final Nemerov contest? We can't help it, you know.)

Wow! all that talent. And to think I was thinking of entering. Congratulations all.

Congratulations, everyone! Can't wait to read these. (Also ... I second Maryann's question.)

I had not heard before that this would be the last Nemerov contest. I too would like to hear why it will be ending.

Susan

Congrats to all, and a special note of compassion for my Powow buddy Jean Kreiling, who has been a runner-up about six times. I think it is improper and possibly immoral to discontinue the contest until Jean wins.

Congratulations to Carol and all the finalists!
I hate to think of the contest ending, because - like the latest news from West Chester - it sounds so much like saying "Well, New Formalism had its moment, and now it's back to free verse, everybody". I REALLY do not want that to happen.
Also agree with Michael that it should go on until Jean wins--and some other people. For years I have been encouraging friends to enter, saying "New people win it all the time." I want everyone to have more chances!

Garden Stater that he is, Bill Baer would be infuriated to know that I am using here an adjective derived from the wisdom of another Bill, but all I got from him was the Belichickian "It's time."

Well, that is inarguable, Michael. But it does suggest to me that if someone else wants to run a sonnet contest, there is a huge pool of eager entrants waiting for a chance to send their entry fees. Bill Baer seems to prefer to retire his brand when he stops calling the shots, but there is nothing to stop anyone else from doing something similar (preferably someone who actually knows something about formal verse).

Susan

How about the Able News Review?

Things one should ask when considering whether to run a sonnet contest:

What's the going rate for a judge with really good name recognition among formal poets?

How many entries has the Nemerov been getting in recent years? Do the entry fees cover the prize and the judge's fee?

Does it create any problems for a magazine to commit to publishing a winner and finalists?

Oh, and whom do we trust to screen the entries?

Bill Baer might be willing to be consulted about how he ran his contest, if there is someone interested in starting up a contest of their own. I hope that I was not interpreted as suggesting that Baer does not know something about formal verse. Since the new head of the West Chester conference does not seem to be expert in the subject, you never know what can happen. Wikipedia states that the Nemerov contest tended to receive over three thousand entries. A new contest would probably receive fewer, at least until it gained a reputation. I believe that Baer did the screening of entries himself, and that the judge looked at only the top dozen or so, but I could be wrong. If a judge doesn't have to look at many entries, his or her fee may not be extremely large. However, anyone who organizes a new contest can run it any way that he or she chooses.

Susan

I talked to Bill Baer at length yesterday, mostly about unrelated things, but he has already been approached by at least one person interested in continuing the mission. Bill has been generous with his time & I am sure he would be generous with others as well.

Alex also knows how to find me, and I can give him most of what he would want to know, if he is interested.