ANTHOLOGY DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 31 -- it is now or never

[CassandraW]

ETA: After some soul searching, I'm staying the course on theme and deadline for the anthology. Link in my sig to the anthology forum, if you're new in these parts.

I am considering jettisoning the anthology carnival theme and telling you all to just write what you like as long as it vaguely relates to carnivals. But I'd like to hear what the rest of the community thinks before I make a decision.

I love the idea of a unified theme on the order of the Blue Rock project -- building a world out of poems -- and I thought this theme gave some neat boundaries while still leaving a lot of room for people to play. I was (and still am) filled with ideas for it. But if the bulk of our poetry community does not feel the same way (and that's the way it is looking to me), we do not have an anthology.

So I'm putting it to all of you. Are some of you planning to contribute and just haven't had time? Should I stick to the course or should I modify the theme? If the latter, what are your suggestions?

I'll tell you what I'm NOT going to do. I'm NOT going to go through all of the poems posted on AW and do a "best of" anthology. That's a buttload of work, and frankly, it wouldn't be much fun for me. I'm a poet, too, and I'm selfish -- I want to create, not just sort and judge. And to be honest, I'm not all that into an anthology that's just a hodge-podge of unrelated poems.

What I want is a community project -- one where all of us contribute related work that all chimes together somehow, but in our own unique styles. It may be that there just isn't enough interest in such a thing. If so, fine. But if tweaking the theme would help, I'm willing to consider it.

Thoughts?

 

[Magdalen]

I've been really depressed lately and haven't let my poetry out of its cage for waaaaay too long. I know my contribution to the effort (so far) sucks big ones but I do have a teeny dot of an idea to improve it, so I hope to do so soon. More later.

 

[CassandraW]

I can sympathize, Mag. I've struggled with some depression, too, lately, and until recently was really busy. My summer got sucked up with all kinds of yuck. I took a hiatus from writing myself. It may be we've got a few of us in that boat.

Your contributions do NOT suck, by the way. Quite the contrary -- I'm really enjoying what you're doing. Indeed, I'm enjoying all the contributions so far. I'm just a little blue that we don't have more.

 

[Maggie Maxwell]

I like having the theme, but if opening it up would bring in more contributions, then I support that.

And yeah, Mag, your stuff is great!

 

[kuwisdelu]

I can say that, I'm sorry, but the current theme doesn't do anything for me, so it's certainly part of the reason that I won't be contributing.

(Not that I dislike it or anything — it's a fine theme; it just doesn't inspire me, and I can't think of anything to write for it.)

That being said, I certainly can't guarantee that I would be able to contribute anything even if the theme does change, so I don't know that changing it now would do any good. (And "carnival" in general only does so much more for me. Personally, I do better with more abstract themes like "space", but this isn't about me — and I ended up being too busy to contribute to that contest, too, anyway.)

Whatever happens, I wish the best of luck, and I hope it comes together, with or without me.

 

[CassandraW]

This was the only idea that got anything like real enthusiasm when I floated it a few months back. I'm not sure whether another idea would fare better. But I thought I'd see what people thought.

 

[Filigree]

I'm open to opening the topic, Cassandra. I'm still getting some poetry together and carnival-themed art. I've been really busy with work and commercial art, and I need to sneak up to the AZ State Fair to take some carnival-related photos. I suspect that we can craft a subtle theme from whatever comes in.

 

[CassandraW]

I've given this some more thought over the last twenty-four hours. I don't think it's fair to those who've contributed already to change the theme now, and honestly, I'm not sure it would make any difference to how many poems we're going to get anyway. (As I said, this was the only suggestion that got any real enthusiasm when I invited feedback a few months back.) It may be that we just don't have a large enough poetry community to make something like this fly, though I'm hoping that's not true. Maybe people aren't into an anthology. Maybe I haven't done enough to get people fired up. But I'm not convinced the theme is the issue -- any theme we choose will fire up some folks and leave others cold.

So I'm leaving the theme as-is, though I won't be too much of a hard-ass about poems that stretch it a little. By the end of October, we'll either have enough poems to do something with or we won't.

To make this clear, you need not mention Wendel's Wonderments or anyone in the carnival troupe in your poem. Your poem need not be narrative. You can write a haiku about a ferris wheel against a sunset or the texture of cotton candy. You can write a sonnet about a first kiss that happens to take place behind the beer tent. Free verse about a homeless guy cursing everyone out at the outskirts of the fair. (Hmm. I might write about that one.) Flashbacks to the past of the fair. A domestic dispute that happened to take place at a carnival. Etc.

Deadline is October 31, if you're interested in contributing.

 

[jst5150]

Continue. Market the topic more in this forum and ask moderators to mention it in their forums, too. Don't change the pike position mid dive.

 

[CassandraW]

To be honest, a while ago I started feeling like I was singing and banging a tambourine on the subway when most people just wanted to read their newspaper.

For a couple of months, I marketed this thing to death and drove the mods and admins up the wall with requests for stickies and a dedicated forum. I bumped the threads, mentioned the anthology in other forums, carried an advertisement with a link in my signature, and extended the deadline. I admit, I backed off on the cheerleading because it didn't seem to generate additional enthusiasm and it was starting to depress me.

I don't mean to make excuses for myself. Perhaps this just isn't my forte, or perhaps I picked the wrong project -- probably both. I hope the next laureate does better.

But I do think people know about the anthology.

 

[shakeysix]

I've been working on short stories and put the project to the back of my creative stove top but will go to work. Sorry--s6

 

[edutton]

I love the theme, but have been having trouble getting inspired to do any writing at all, of late... I have a set of beta notes waiting for me and have been so busy with work and life that I haven't even had time to read them, let alone make edits. I really do intend to have SOMETHING written for this before the deadline, though.

 

[CassandraW]

I've been working on short stories and put the project to the back of my creative stove top but will go to work. Sorry--s6

I love the theme, but have been having trouble getting inspired to do any writing at all, of late... I have a set of beta notes waiting for me and have been so busy with work and life that I haven't even had time to read them, let alone make edits. I really do intend to have SOMETHING written for this before the deadline, though.

I hope you'll both find time and inspiration to contribute -- I would love to see what you do.

 

[edutton]

I hope you'll both find time and inspiration to contribute -- I would love to see what you do.

It's already day 5 of Halloween , so hopefully my spooky side will wake up soon... maybe watching Something Wicked This Way Comes will help kick-start the process.

 

[CassandraW]

I look forward to seeing it.

so. 27 days to go. I don't intend to extend the deadline again. If we get enough poems to bookify, great -- I'll make it happen. Frankly, though, I think we need at least double, (probably more like triple) what we have now to make that worthwhile.

 

[Norman D Gutter]

Cassandra:

Despite minimal inspiration of late, I was able to knock out a poem and submit it. I appreciated your comment on that.

I posted another poem in the forum that I wasn't sure was close enough to the anthology theme, hoping for yes or no feedback on that, but didn't get any. If you look at that other poem ("Magic") and think it works, I'll officially submit it.

NDG

 

[CassandraW]

Cassandra:

Despite minimal inspiration of late, I was able to knock out a poem and submit it. I appreciated your comment on that.

I posted another poem in the forum that I wasn't sure was close enough to the anthology theme, hoping for yes or no feedback on that, but didn't get any. If you look at that other poem ("Magic") and think it works, I'll officially submit it.

NDG

Thank you, Norman. My apologies -- somehow I missed seeing "Magic." I'll take a look at it this afternoon. Please know that I did not mean to ignore you (and I'm very happy you submitted).

 

[CassandraW]

By the way, if any of you have posted something and want my feedback, please feel free to nudge me -- especially if it relates to the anthology. I promise I did not mean to snub you.

 

[CassandraW]

If I might make a request --

Would some of you consider putting a little plug for the anthology (and the deadline) in your signatures? Even if you have not submitted?

I am not sure whether it would help bring in additional poems. But it might. If nothing else, it would make me feel good. TAMaxwell did so a while ago, and (if I have not told you so, TAM) I am very grateful every time I see it.

A few folks did that for the "space" contest, and I think it helped keep it in people's minds.

Thank you for your consideration.

 

[edutton]

I'll think about it...

 

[CassandraW]

Thank you, e.d.

That might give me enough heart to finish the damn poem I've been churning over for a month...

(Seriously, thank you.)

 

[Maggie Maxwell]

It only seems right to advertise something I'm enjoying participating in and I know others would enjoy too. I do it for the Sci-fi/Fantasy Secret Solstice Story Swap every year. Of course I would do it for this anthology.