[John Beaton]

Congratulations to the winners; thanks to Cathy, Turner, and Tim for a great job; and thanks to all the entrants and discussion participants for generating such rich commentary. In some ways it was like a super-workshop. But the attention paid to interpretation (especially by Cathy) and the added dimension of seeing how members compared and ranked the poems made this a very informative and enjoyable event.

John

[Alex Pepple]

Congratulations, Gail for the grand win and superb sonnet -- well-deserved win! And cogratulations to Kate, Nemo, Jehanne and our finalists and all the others who entered. Special thanks to Turner Cassity, Cathy, and everyone else who followed the event and commented.

This has been a very successful event!

Cheers,
...Alex

[Cally Conan-Davies]

What a fascinating event it has been. I will miss the daily revelations of finalists. And reading the expert comments, terse and tremendous, equally.

I didn't expect the buzz of amazement at discovering the authors! The only ones I knew were Gail's and David N.B.'s., having read the former elsewhere, and the latter in TDE workshop. I love surprises - and learning the names that matched the poems was a wonderful surprise! It's a bit like being blindfolded, and relying on the intensity of all other senses in the reading of the poem. Blind-bake.

Thank so much, Cathy. From the start, the event has reflected your sensibility, your poise, and your acumen.

Looking forward to next year already!

Cally

[Tim Murphy]

I hope everyone has enjoyed him/herself as well as I have. Best bake-off ever. Thanks all round, to Turner, to the submitters of sonnets, to the many commenters, and most especially to Cathy, whose close readings were the high point of the event for me.

[David Nelson Bradsher]

I'm so honored to be amongst the twelve finalists, and I truly appreciate Cathy's hard work (and Mr. Cassity's comments), as well as all who commented on my poem. I think I'll be posting a revision soon based on some pretty damn good thoughts received here.

Hope to be a more frequent visitor soon, and I think I'll start by commenting on some of these fine poems. Thanks again.

David

[David Rosenthal]

Congratulations to all of the contestants. Thanks Cathy -- your selection was excellent and your comments insightful. Tasty bake-off!

David R.

[Terese Coe]

Congratulations to Gail, Kate, Nemo, and Jehanne!

Cathy's interpretive skills are more evident than ever now, and I hope she writes more criticism as well as poems in future. Many thanks again to her and everyone at the Sphere who made this possible.

I'm also honored to have had a sonnet chosen for the finalist phase of the Bake-Off. I may not have time today, but I will respond as soon as possible to the varied and generous thoughts posted on "Cafe Noir."

[Wendy Sloan]

Awesome job, Cathy --
Congratulations winners Gail, Kate, Nemo & Jehanne.
I was thrilled to be among the chosen to participate, and y'all might be interested to know (if you don't know already) that my poem, "Women's Work", was a finalist in the 2006 Nemorov competition -- Andrew Hudgins, Judge. Always a finalist, never a bride!
I'm travelling now and don't have much access to a computer, but also will reply later to the generous comments on the poem's thread (zand the negative ones too!!).
Thanks, all.
Wendy

[Tim Murphy]

I shouldn't keep track, but my inner obsessive-compulsive does. I partially judge the success of our Lariat events by the breadth and depth of participation, and this is the runaway leader in page views in the seven year history of the board, over 13,000. I don't think we've ever topped 8000 before, and that was when the EfH judged Bake-off VI. Yes, like the superbowls, our bake-offs merit Roman numerals!

Again, thanks everyone! As Clive Watkins has observed, this board really sets us apart from all the other virtual workshops out there, and it takes a great deal of effort on the part of the entire community to make something like this happen. I too look forward to next year.

[Kate Benedict]

Since it was one of "our" poems, my hubby followed the discussion thread of "Into His Hand." One of his comments: "But what in the world is a Lariat Emeritus"!?