June 6th forum announcement

Dear Poetry Fans,

Poetry & Poets in Rags

Congratulations to our IBPC winners: Ryan Laks, 'Lo Qi' at The Versifier Online Poetry and Art Forum, on his first; Millard R. Howington, just 'Millard' at South Carolina Writers Workshop, for second; Gary Charles Wilkens, 'G.Wilkens' at Poets.org, for third; and, for the HM, G. Lupino (id est G. Lupino) from The Critical Poet.

David Biespiel, has been wonderful, to take on the task of judging three months running. Problem is, he's helping us catch up from a month that two other judges didn't fill. So he judges three months, and yet is on our marquee for two. And we in the online community of poets are so very fortunate to have such an esteemed and gifted poet/editor to join us, and read these poems for us. As I write, I am awaiting the first issue of Poetry Northwest, the great publication he has revived and is now Editor of. Once I have it, I will then begin my collection of all the new Poetry Northwests. Get on board with me. Here is where to subscribe: "Necessary Reading... Don’t Miss a Single Issue."

Sometimes I look at News at Eleven, and wonder how in the world I selected so many items from the USA, even the Northeast. Am I being socio-centric? Or is it just that so much about literature gets published in America? Well, I don't have to worry about that this week. The correct perspective might just put the world capital of poetry somewhere in Yemen, where one of our articles comes from. But, we shall begin with the state of culture in Iraq, and continue our trip around the world from there.

We have some gems in Great Regulars this week, a Billy Collins poem comes by way of the UK for us. Plus two additions. It's been a while since I've linked to Jeff Baker's column at The Oregonian. Before we had a Great Regulars section, he was one. So now that he's writing poetry articles again, he is one. And since his name comes early in the alphabet, he leads Great Regulars off. Finishing the section this week, is a poem from The Times Literary Supplement. As of this week, any time I catch a poem in TLS, it will be in this section.

By the way, it's becoming a cult thing. Have you taken Sarah's quiz?

Yours,
Rus

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