[Tim Murphy]

I have been having discussions with poets and staff about what we should do with our board to try to match (we can't top it) the shows we staged in 2008.

Sonnet Bake-Off number eight, or nine? Cathy Chandler has very gracious agreed to select twelve sonnets, and forward them blind to the Judge, me. My goal will be to replicate the close readings of Mike Stocks and Alan Sullivan. I suggest March for submission, and April for comment and balloting. Cathy will furnish instructions.

We must repeat the wildly successful Translation and Light Verse Bake-offs, and beg Lee Gurga and Steve Collington to continue their haiku teaching. I shall seek screeners and judges for the Bake-Offs.

I want to follow our Frost Fest of last July with a Wilbur Fest. Rhina and I will coordinate the event. Unlike Robert, Dick can participate! Many, many of us have written monographs and papers on our greatest living poet, and Dick is churning out poems but not buying any green bananas.

Last year we devoted the month of November to women's poetry. I would like to tackle two similar projects. Poetry by the young, chair persons to be selected by you. Young means FORTY or less! You rug rats figure that out. I'd also like to discuss men's poetry.

And of course we would all adore a return of Tim Love's Flash Fiction workshop.

December we will Deck the Halls. I'll get Rhina to return, but this year I shall screen.

So see what you think, Spherians.