[Catherine Chandler]

I know my mind and I have made my choice;
Not from your temper does my doom depend;
-- Edna St. Vincent Millay (Fatal Interview, sonnet XLV)

Dear Poets,

The deadline for the sonnet bake-off submissions has now passed. I made no final decision until after 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, just in case we had some submissions from as far away as Hawaii, but no, the last one was received at around 3 p.m. EDT.

What a ride! Sixty sonnets in total, with a male/female submission ratio of 70% to 30%.

Most popular themes?

40% death
20% love
15% misc. vignettes/"slices of life"
5% war
20% (combined) on the themes of food, faith, animals, illness/disease, the art of poetry

(Of course some categories crossed over, such as death/war, love/death, etc.)

Tomorrow morning I will mail the selections to Mr. Turner Cassity for his comments, which I hope to receive back here in Canada in time to start posting the first two on April 1.

There were at least five sonnets that, due to the number agreed upon, I was unable to send, and over which I agonized. Truly.

I would like to thank the sixty poets who sent in their sonnets, and hope for a lively discussion of the finalists on the 'Sphere!

Until April 1,

Cathy