First, congratulations to all the finalists, thank you to all the participants -- those who submitted, those who posted and commented variously, and all the insight and enthusiasm you brought to the event, especially, the sonnets themselves. In my humble estimation, this is our most successful sonnet bake-off event ever. I hope some of the new members who came to or discovered
Eratosphere through the public announcements of the event outside the Sphere will stay awhile longer!
Mostly, congratulations to our 2013
Able Muse/Eratosphere Sonnet Bake-off winners Mathew Buckley Smith, Stephen T. Harvey, and Elise Hempel. I'll be contacting you privately with instructions for the publication of your sonnet in
Able Muse, print edition.
Furthermore, there are two other sonnets that had much appeal for me--for their grittiness, audacity, for their effective, subject, setting, fresh and vivid imagery . . . amongst their many other admirable attributes. Thus, with some minor edits, they too have been accepted for publication in
Able Muse. Yes, congratulations also go to Marly Youmans for "The Baby and the Bathwater," and Peter Spagnuolo for "For Two Lindens Newly Planted on Avenue D." Coincidentally, these two sonnets also achieved fourth and fifth place in the popular voting, making it possible for me to simply say that the event's top-five sonnets will be published in
Able Muse.
Finally, about the request for posting the honorable mentions, that's never been done in past bake-off, and I'll like to keep it that way. We've had our vigorous discussions, pro or con, about various facets of this bake-off, especially, about the sonnets themselves, how or why they were selected, and so on. I think we've all come out of it unscathed, and learned a thing or two along the way. However, I don't believe we're ready for another round of the same--especially since I'm already seeing signs of the tempest in a teapot brewing again in this thread. So, please,
no posting of the honorable mention sonnets by the judges or by the authors themselves.
Thank you everyone ... and until next year. And especially, thank you to our hosts and judges, Gail & Cathy for a splendid and most successful event!
Cheers,
...Alex