[Aaron Poochigian]

A number of posts on this thread have suggested giving members access to the 116 sonnets which I ranked below the top ten. I am fully open to that idea, and I would be curious to find out what other judges might have chosen for their top ten. A decision to open the file to all members would be Alex's, and he, far more experienced than I in administering contests, no doubt has sage reasons for keeping the other entries undisclosed.

That said, I should confess that I am an exceptional twenty-first-century person in that I do not believe quality and beauty in poetry (and in general) are nearly as "subjective" as is now almost universally assumed.

[Tim Murphy]

Aaron, one year I posted twelve, and after the vote concluded I posted my next best twelve. I do remember that I had 118 submissions, so like you I ploughed through a lot of sonnets.

[Julie Steiner]

If you ask the authors' specific permission to have their work included in a secondary celebration, and they give it, I have no problem. But from a copyright standpoint I really think they need to be asked first, because they only authorized the use of their work for the initial event.

I assume that many people may already have submitted their non-finalist poems to venues that take a dim view of things having previously appeared online. The workshop threads get pruned periodically, but the Bake-off threads are forever, so some venues do consider this "previous publication." Some sonneteers might be willing to risk that for a chance at being a finalist, but not willing to risk that for a somewhat lesser honor. (Especially if the final outcome of the secondary activity is their sonnet being passed over yet again!)

[Claudia Gary]

I agree with Julie. Personally, I was considering entry in another contest as Plan B if my sonnet hadn't been a finalist, and I'm sure others had the same idea.
(Is it true that the finalist sonnets are archived here for posterity? If so, then doesn't that mean the changes others have so generously suggested can't be made?)

Claudia

[Siham Karami]

Huge congrats to Julie (your fantastic and inventive sonnet was my first choice), Susan (your mastery of the form shows through), and Elise (excellent work with emotional impact—I remember voting for your winning sonnet last year)!! And huge thanks to Aaron (I had no idea!) and Alex on a successful and enjoyable bake-off.

As for the level of subjectivity, I think skill and beauty and emotional impact can be recognized on a more objective level than "choice," wherein the latter (emotional impact) can sway one's selection considerably. It was a hard choice to make really.

[Alex Pepple]

In response to the request from some members to post all 126 sonnets, I'm afraid that it's untenable. Discounting the onerous task of posting all of them here, there's the main roadblock that several non-finalists have communicated to me privately--in light of the latest discussions in this thread--that they don't want their sonnets posted, given that they've submitted them elsewhere for consideration for publication. Even without that, we can't post them here without first requesting for permission from all the authors, and then processing the responses that come back, etc.--which is yet another onerous task. So, sorry there are just too many issues that can't be resolved sufficiently to make that suggested/requested mass posting possible.

Cheers,
...Alex

[Mary McLean]

Yup, as one of the ones who didn't make the cut, I'm happy to be encouraged to post it for critique on the metrical board but not to have it archived as part of the contest.

[Paddy Raghunathan]

I did vote for "X," so I am glad it won. I own two of Elise Hempel's books, but did not think of "The Jitterbug" as one of her better efforts. That said, I am happy for Elise.

Congratulations to the winners.

[Gregory Palmerino]

Originally Posted by Poochigian Aaron

I do not believe quality and beauty in poetry (and in general) are nearly as "subjective" as is now almost universally assumed.

You may be correct Aaron, but I did find it interesting that Gail White (who knows a thing or two about sonnets) thought that this year's finalists were some of the strongest that she's read in a long time in a Bake-off. Whereas Tim Murphy and others thought this year's finalists were overall weak. As I believe you said in a post, a different DG would have picked ten different sonnets. In any case, thank you for your fine work on this contest and for your good nature.

C'est la vie,
Greg