[Catherine Chandler]

I'm with David on this one. Those were the accepted rules with the sonnet bake-off. Actually, I enjoyed the suspense of last year's translation bake-off as well. When one of my poems did make it, it was all that much sweeter.....

[Alex Pepple]

Our tradition with all the bake-offs have been no prior email notification. It has served us well and we will continue to operate in that fashion. Yes, there are pros and cons either way, but we will maintain the status quo of no prior notification ... until there's overwhelming argument as to the benefits of change in this regard.

I wish all the participants good luck and hopefully, you'll get the pleasant surprise of your translation making it as one of the finalist posts.

Cheers,
...Alex

[Chris Childers]

Well, that sounds settled! Actually, I too was inclining in the direction which Alex has announced; the excitement surely is part of the fun, although I can understand the desire to kill the tension. But precedent carries the day, and y'all will just have to tune in to find out.

Chris

[Mark Allinson]

If the translator can correct it, email the correction to Chris before balloting.

Says Timmy on the Villon thread.

Just a general query, Chris - what is the position with regard to revision of the poems in the Bake-off?

Others might care to revise on the basis of comments.

[Tim Murphy]

I'm opposed to notification. Half the fun is looking in each day for six days to see "Did I make it, did I make it?" There is some precedent for revisions being made to texts posted in prior Bake-offs.

[Chris Childers]

Mark, good question. Tim claims that there is precedent for revisions in the bakeoff, but I'm less sure. I think for the integrity of the 'competition'--which, like the points in Who's Line Is It Anyway, doesn't much matter--poems should be voted on as they are, unrevised. Much more important is whether comments result, in some cases at least, in improved versions; for the sake of the original poems & of the art, I certainly hope they do.

Chris

[Mark Allinson]

Thanks, Chris. Yes, I agree, that all poems should remain as entered.

Much more important is whether comments result, in some cases at least, in improved versions; for the sake of the original poems & of the art, I certainly hope they do.

The quality of comment in these bake-offs is so high that I will be surprised if some of the poems posted here are not significantly improved by the event.